A practical discourse concerning swearing especially in the two great points of perjury and common-swearing / by William Wake ... Wake, William, 1657-1737. 1696 Approx. 207 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 105 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2005-10 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A66244 Wing W252 ESTC R38405 17356786 ocm 17356786 106438 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A66244) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 106438) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1106:30) A practical discourse concerning swearing especially in the two great points of perjury and common-swearing / by William Wake ... Wake, William, 1657-1737. [2], xxix [i.e. xlv], [15], 144 p. Printed for Richard Sare ..., London : 1696. Reproduction of original in the Cambridge University Library. Includes bibliographical references. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Oaths. 2004-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2004-12 SPi Global Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2005-01 Rachel Losh Sampled and proofread 2005-01 Rachel Losh Text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-04 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion A Practical DISCOURSE CONCERNING Swearing : ESPECIALLY In the Two Great Points OF PERJURY AND Common-Swearing . By William Wake , D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty . LONDON : Printed for Richard Sare , at Gray's - Inn-Gate next Holborn , 1696. THE PREFACE . THO' the Prevalence of those Vices , which the following Treatise is design'd to Correct , might be more than enough to justifie the Publication of it ; and the Seasonableness of the Attempt , be a sufficient Apology for the Meanness of the Performance : Yet having been Induced to Write upon this Subject by such a Consideration , as , I think , cannot justly be excepted against ; it may not be amiss , before I proceed to what I chiefly aim at in this Preface , to give some short Account , How I came to be Engaged in it . IT has been the great , and almost singular , Care of our English Government , to Provide , by its Municipal Laws , not only against False-Swearing ; ( a Vice in which the Interests of Publick Society are so apparently concern'd , that scarce any State has suffered it to go unpunish'd ; ) but even against Common and Vain-Swearing too : And which , because it does not so immediately affect Mens Civil Interests , I cannot tell whether any Laws , besides our own , have thought it their Business to meddle with it . HOW prudent such a Provision , as this , is , even with respect to the Publick Welfare , can be doubted by none , who either believe it to be the Concern of States and Kingdoms to maintain a General Sense of Religion in the Minds of Men ; or have considered what a mighty Influence an Oath , in Particular , has upon the Affairs of Government ; and of what Importance it must therefore be to it , that Men should be kept under a very Serious and Reverend Esteem of it . There being nothing more certain , than that if once Men be allow'd to Profane an Oath by Common and Vain Swearing ; they will from thence be apt to go on , in a little while , to a farther Contempt of it : And so , by degrees , arrive to an Unconcernedness even for Perjury its self ; as often as it shall be for their Interest to Forswear themselves ; and they may hope to do it without the danger of a Present Punishment for their Impiety . IT must therefore be acknowledged to have been not only a Pious , but Politick Design too , of those great Men , whosoever they were , who by putting a Restraint upon Common-Swearing , first endeavour'd to raise an Oath to a Just Respect amongst us : And concluded , with our Saviour , that the best Way to cut off the very Ground of False-Swearing , would be to make it Penal for Men to Swear at all ; unless it were upon some great occasion , and when it was either absolutely necessary , or ( at least ) very fitting for them so to do . AND as I think it is for the Honour , as well as Benefit , of our Country ; that our Civil-Laws have taken such Care in a Matter which has been generally neglected by most others : So I cannot but observe it to the Praise both of our Religion , and of the Present Government ; that of the Two Attempts that have been made , of this kind , among our selves ; the * First was since the time of the Reformation ; as we know the Latter , and more Perfect , is owing to the Wisdom and Piety of the Present Establishment . BUT because the best Laws signifie but very little , unless they be , withal , both generally made known , and duly observed : It has , therefore , been the Care of our Law-givers to shew their Prudence no less in their Provision for the Publishing of this Law , than in the Substance of the Law its self . And as in the Case of Perjury , ( in which the Civil Courts are principally concern'd ; ) it has been order'd that the * Statutes , relating to that Sin , should be solemnly declared at every Assize : So for this , ( which-seems to be more properly Religious ) they have appointed the Publication of it to be made in the * House of God , and at the Time that Men are Assembled for his Service in it . I SHALL need say very little to shew either how * Ancient a Custom this has been in all Christian Countries ; Or with what good Reason our own Law-givers have herein follow'd the Examples of their Fore-Fathers , upon the like occasions . For sure if ever Men will be disposed seriously to consider their Duty , we may justly hope they will then , especially , be so , when they come together for Divine-Worship . And when it shall there be shewn them , that both their Present , and their Future Welfare are concern'd in this observance ; That what the Law enjoyns under a Civil Penalty , is no more than what the Gospel had before required upon Pain of Eternal Damnation : Either Men must be utterly lost to all Rational Conviction , or they will be prevail'd with , by these Motives , to forsake a Vice ; in which there is so great a Danger , so little Pleasure , and no Advantage . IT was upon the first Solemn Publication , at which I was present , of this Law in that Church , in which it has pleased God to call me to Minister , that I composed the following Discourses ; and embraced that Advantage , which the Publick Authority had so happily put into my hands , to lay open the Hainousness of a Vice , which had not some such Care been taken to Correct ; it would , I fear , have been very difficult for us , by all our other Endeavours , ever to have put a stop to . BUT tho' the Occasion which I took to Write upon this Subject led me no farther than to Treat of Common and Vain-Swearing ; yet having resolved to Write upon it , I was willing to make a farther Progress in it : And to pursue it in all the several Parts of it , that our * Saviour's Method , ( the Ground I chose to go upon ) should direct to me to do . AND , first ; As he laid the Foundation of his Discourse , upon the State of this Matter under the Law ; so have I here , ( but in short , ) endeavour'd to shew , How the Case of Swearing stood , under that Dispensation . And if in my Account thereof I have adventured to give a more general Interpretation of the THIRD COMMANDMENT , than some others , of much greater Knowledge in these Particulars , have done : I shall only say , That , I think , I have done it for such Reasons , as will abundantly suffice to justifie me in it ; and that in forsaking them , I do but close in with many more , neither less learned , nor less approved of , than they . HAVING thus laid the Foundation for a Right Understanding of our Saviour's Discourse upon this Subject ; I go on , with him , to the Consideration of that which is , on all hands , allow'd to have been expresly Forbidden to the Jews under the Law , viz. the Sin of Perjury : And have endeavour'd to furnish my Reader with such Principles , as may serve to direct him both how to avoid it ; and how to discover , whether he has at any time , or upon any occasion , unhappily fallen under the guilt of it ? And having thus laid open the Nature of this Sin ; I proceed , in the next place , to shew the Malignity of it : And how desperate an Offence is thereby committed , not only against God ; but against the Common Peace and Welfare of Mankind . THE truth is , Perjury , as it is a Sin of the most Hainous Nature , whether we consider the Honour of God ; or the Interests of Men : So has it always been pursued not only with the severest Denuntiations of Vengeance in the other World ; but , for the most part , with very shameful and bitter Punishments in this . INDEED , among the * ancient Romans , tho' the Censors enquired very scrupulously into it ; yet , for a long time , the Penalty of it , was only a † Publick Infamy . And so happy were those Times , that that alone was thought to have been Punishment enough for it . But as the Manners of Men grew worse , so both they were forced to * Encrease the Rigour of their Laws as to this Matter : And most ‖ other Nations proceeded against it with the utmost severity ; and thought the Guilt of it could be expiated with nothing less than the Life of him who fell under it . And tho' contrary to what I have now observed of the Roman Law ; our own * Statutes have , of latter Times , been more favourable to such Offenders : Yet by our ‖ Old-Common-Law they were treated with such a Rigour , as tho' it did not extend to Death ; yet seems to have been more bitter , than even Death its self would have been . FROM this Sin of Perjury , by all confess'd to have been no less forbidden under the Law , than under the Gospel ; I go on , to that in which some have thought the Perfection of the Gospel above the Law to have consisted , as to this Matter ; namely , to enquire , Whether it be Lawful for us Christians to Swear at all ? THAT it were very much to be wish'd , that Men would Live so Well , and Deal so Faithfully with one another , as not to need ever to make use of an Oath for the confirmation of what they say , is not to be questioned . Nor do I doubt but that they might live so , as to avoid it in many Cases , in which they too easily indulge themselves in the use of it . But yet still , the present State of the World consider'd , I do not see how it is possible , for the Best Christian , altogether to decline it : Nor is there any reason why Any one should make it a Matter of Conscience wholly to avoid it . WE are told , indeed , of * Gregory Nazianzen , that upon his Conversion to the Christian Faith , he resolved , once for all , never to Swear while he lived ; and that he did manage himself in such wise as to keep to his Resolution ; and did not Swear to the Day of his Death . And several of the * Ancient Fathers there are , who have spoken , in such Terms , of this Matter ; as if such a Resolution had not been so much the Particular Praise of that Great Man , as the Common Duty of All Christians . But yet , when all is done , either the Methods of Government must be wholly changed , and some new Models be set up , that were never yet practised in the World : Or were those Fathers now living , they must set some Bounds to their Expressions ; and plainly Restrain them to that , which I do indeed look upon to have been their True Meaning ; viz. Not to Forbid All Swearing whatsoever , but only * All Voluntary , and Vain Swearing ; and in which they were most certainly in the right . IT was a Remarkable Deference that was paid to the Honesty of One heretofore among the Athenians , * That being call'd , upon a certain Occasion , to Swear to the Truth of what he said ; and being come to the Altar ( as the Manner there was ) in order thereunto ; the Judges would by no means allow of it , but thought it a shame that a Person , of such known Integrity , should not be credited without an Oath . And in some of the * Ancient Canons , confirm'd ( as to this Matter ) by the Civil Laws ; there was that Respect paid to the Priestly Function , that he who was admitted into Holy Orders , was from thenceforth free from All Obligation to Swear , even in those Cases , in which All Others were expresly required to do it . Only , if need were , they might be obliged to give some other Caution of their Fidelity , that did not seem so much to reflect upon the Sacredness of their Character . BUT still , to Swear upon a just Occasion , was in the general allow'd to be not only Lawful , but Necessary : And those very Exemptions that freed some certain Persons from it , did but the more confirm the Churches Approbation of it in Others . TO enter upon a Particular Examination of the several Passages of the Primitive Fathers which seem to speak against All Swearing whatsoever ; is an Undertaking neither Proper for this Place , nor otherwise Necessary for the Vindication of what I have Asserted in the following Discourses . But that the most Severe among them did allow of Swearing , when duly Required , and Reverently Perform'd , is evident from hence ; That we find the most Religious Emperours , and over whom those Fathers , which seem to speak with the greatest Warmth against it , had a very Powerful Influence ; nevertheless both to have Solemnly * Sworn themselves , and to have continued the ‖ Necessity of others doing likewise . And yet , it does not appear , that ever they were censured by any of those Fathers upon this Account . BUT this is not all : They did not only Consent to the Necessity of Mens Swearing , as Imposed by the Imperial Laws ; but they themselves Pursued the same Method ; and by their own Constitutions required it likewise . IT was a very Solemn , and ( which ought yet more to be Remark'd ) a Voluntary Oath too , that * Athanasius made , in his Apology to Constantius ; to free himself from a certain Suspicion which that Emperour had , it seems , ( without any just Grounds ) taken up against him . St. * Austin freely tells us what his own Practice , in this particular , was : That he neither chose to Swear , when he could avoid it ; nor refused to Swear , when he was lawfully required so to do . Even * St. Basil himself , than whom none has Written more expresly against All Swearing ; yet , in his Canonical Epistles , not only imposes no Punishment on those who Swore as they ought to do ; but by assigning a suitable ‖ Pennance to those who Sware amiss , did , in effect , acknowledge the Lawfulness of Swearing , when piously and carefully perform'd . And a more ancient Father than he , St. Cyprian , complaining of the Decay of Discipline in the Church ; and that so far as to ascribe the Decian Persecution to the declension of it ; inveighs indeed bitterly against the Iniquity of those Times , * for Swearing falsly , and without a due regard to what they Swore ; but says not a word against the thing its self : Which yet , had he thought all Swearing whatsoever to have been unlawful , he would hardly have let pass , without declaring , upon that occasion , his Resentments against it . IT was much about the same time , that we find * Another of those Holy Men reflecting , with some warmth , upon Novatian , for obliging those , to whom he gave the Communion , to Swear to him , that they would never fall off from his Party . This he represents to us as a most Wicked Attempt ; but without the least Reflection upon the Act of Swearing , as if there would have been any thing blame-worthy in that , had the Substance of their Oath been lawful , and the Nature of it allowable . Nor can it , indeed , be thought that Novatian himself , who set up for a more exact Observance of the Discipline of the Church than any other of his time ; and pretended , for that very reason , to separate from the Communion of the Catholick Bishops , that they did not keep so strictly , as they ought , to it ; would not only have obliged others to Swear to him , but would have * solemnly sworn himself ; ( and that whilst he was yet in the heighth of his Reputation ) had there been any thing in the Act of Swearing contrary to the Opinion of the most Precise Men in those Days . And if we look yet lower , we shall meet with whole Councils which have not only consented to the same Practice , but have been the Authors of forcing Men to submit to it : as the ‖ Council of Ephesus , in the Case of Nestorius , is particularly observed to have done . And from all which it plainly follows , that the ancient Fathers were not against All Swearing whatsoever : Nor intended any more by their Expressions to this purpose , than what several of the Heathen Moralists themselves did , when they advised their Disciples to abstain , in like manner , from Swearing altogether ; but yet expounded themselves so , as to shew , that by Swearing , they meant only Voluntary Swearing ; and that they should forbear even that too , only where there was no need of it , nor any sufficient Engagement laid upon them to oblige them to it . I SHALL conclude these Remarks with that Notable Account which Josephus has given us of the Essenes ; one of the strictest Sects among the Jews , and so conformable in their Manners to the Rules of the Gospel , that some have mistaken them for Christians . Now one of the Maxims by which , ( if we may credit that Historian ) they govern'd themselves , was this of our Saviour , * Not to Swear at All. And yet to this very Rule ( among others ) they bound themselves with an ‖ Oath ; the better to secure their observance of it . And the only Account that we can give of which seeming Contradiction , between their Principle and Practice , is this ; That in Matters of this nature , tho' the Expressions be general , yet they must still be moderated with such Limitations as both the Nature of the Thing its self requires , and the general Consent of Mankind agrees , ought to be put upon them . But especially , when , by so doing , there is nothing allow'd of , but what is both innocent and reasonable : And the denial whereof would unavoidably run Mankind into endless Mischiefs and Inconveniencies . AND now , having said thus much in Answer to the Two Great Prejudices which seem'd to lye against the Account which I have given of our Saviour's Prohibition , Swear not at All : The one taken from the Universality of the Words themselves ; the other , from the Opinion , which the most Primitive Fathers , have been thought to have entertain'd of this Matter ; and shewn that some Temperament must be allow'd of in the Exposition of it : I shall say no more in behalf of that Interpretation which I have given of it , than this ; That if the Principles which I build upon be allow'd ; ( as , I think , I have * shewn they cannot reasonably be deny'd ) then must my Explication be confess'd to be both very Natural in its self , and very Agreeable to that which was Evidently our Saviour's Design in that place ; viz. To rescue the Authority of the Third Commandment , from those Abuses which the Jews had made of it . And tho' by this means it will follow , against the Errour of Some , that All Swearing , is not forbidden ; yet will it also follow , against the Licentiousness of Others , That all Vain and Needless Swearing , but especially That of Mens Common Discourse , is Utterly Wicked and Unjustifiable . BUT our Saviour was not content to restrain Men from the Practice of Customary-Swearing only ; but , if I am not very much mistaken , did also farther aim at Another Corruption , very frequent among the Jews ; and improved by them to very bad purposes ; and that was , of Swearing after some other manner , than by the Name of God only . THIS was indeed a very prevailing Practice not only among the Jews , but among most * other Nations , in those days . And that which render'd it the more dangerous , was , that they accounted it a Matter of Piety , to Swear after this Manner : ‖ And thought that they hereby shew'd a great respect to their Gods , in that they did not make use of their Names , upon every ordinary Occasion . And the Consequence of it was with them , as we are told it was with the Jews ; That they fell , by this means , into a Customary Practice of Vain-Swearing ; and often times accounted it no great Crime , even to forswear themselves . IT is I know very confidently affirm'd by some , That it was no part of our Saviour's Design to Abolish such Swearing ; which they are still willing to favour , as innocent and allowable . But if this Swearing were not only justly to be * Reproved in the Jews , but was made use of by them to very ill Purposes too ; And if the * Design of our Saviour was to Correct those Abuses which that People had introduced into this Practice , and to prevent Our falling into the like Hereafter : then , since this could no way so effectually be done , as by forbidding this kind of Swearing Altogether , and that his Words Do Naturally invite Us to such a Construction ; I cannot imagine why we should not Rather Extend them to such a Sense , than put some kind of Violences upon them for the sake of a Practice , if not plainly ‡ Evil , yet to be sure not Good ; nor that can naturally lead to any Wise or Good End. But I shall insist no longer upon a Point , which , however it be determined will , either way , meet with a sufficient Resolution , as to what concerns our Practice ; and then 't is no Great Matter what becomes of our Speculations concerning it . And it is Time for Me to Go on from the Consideration of what our Saviour has forbidden us ; to Inquire , How He has directed us to Behave Our selves , in Our Communication with One Another . IN the Prosecution of which Enquiry , I must here Once for All freely Confess , that I have not kept so Closely , to the Words of our Saviour , as in the Other Particulars I took Care to Do. The Reason of which was , that I was willing , upon this Occasion , to Consider All the Several Sorts of Confirmation that are commonly made Use of in Mens Conversation with One Another , Under the Degree of an Oath : And which being the Only Thing Our Saviour was here concern'd to Forbid , I thought that Whatsoever was Short of That , might , at least , be fairly Reduced to the Design of this Place . I HAVE , indeed , endeavoured in my Reflections upon this Occasion , to shew , that not only the Design of our Saviour did Extend to All these ; but that his very Expressions Themselves might be so Interpeted , as to Comprehend the most of Them. And some very Learned Men there are , who have Accordingly Given us such an Account of Them. But as I will not make my self a Party in this Debate ; so having fairly Represented the Grounds upon which they Go , and given them all the Strength that , I Conceive , They are Capable of ; I shall leave it to Every One to Judge as he sees cause to Do. Only as to the Rules of Practice which I have drawn from my Remarks upon this Point ; those , I think , are Plain and Secure : And may , as such , be follow'd without any Danger , or Scruple , by Us. FROM the Direction of our Saviour , How we ought to Behave our selves in Our Conversation with One Another ; I pass on to the Reason given by Him , Why we Ought not to proceed any Farther ? Namely , That Whatsoever is more than These , Cometh of Evil. And of this I offer Two Interpretations , Both Good , and Both indifferently Agreeing with his Words , as they stand in the Original . And I thought it Better for Me to Take Both , than to Prefer That which our Own Interpreters seem Rather to have Approved of : That so I might the more clearly shew upon what just Grounds this Assertion of our Saviour is founded ; and what Good Reason He had to Require us , to Manage our Conversation , according to Those Measures he had before Prescribed to Us. HAVING thus Gone thro' the Discourse of our Blessed Lord upon this Subject ; I Conclude all with Two farther Considerations , the better to Improve what I had before Offer'd , and to Reduce the Whole to Practice . In the Former of which , I Enquire into the Causes of that Great Encrease which has , in these latter times , been made of Both the Sins forbidden by our Saviour on this Occasion ; viz. Both of False , and of Vain-Swearing : And having done this , I , in the next place , take Occasion from thence to lay down such General Directions , as seem to be the most Proper , under Our present Circumstances , to Draw Men off from the Practice of them Both. And tho' Here , ( as indeed throughout this Whole Treatise ) I have endeavour'd to bring my Reflections into as Narrow a Compass as it was possible , without either falling into Obscurity on the One hand ; or Omitting what was fit to be Taken Notice of on the Other : Yet , I hope , I have laid down such General Rules , as being carefully Applied , may suffice to serve the Necessities of the Most of those , who shall need either Direction , or Satisfaction as to these Matters . AS for the Composure of the following Discourses , it is as Plain as I was Able to make it ; and as the First Design I had in Composing of Them , Required it to be . But because it May now be expected that I should Answer for the Grounds of my Assertions ; and give some Account upon what Reasons I Built Them : I have therefore taken Care for the Satisfaction of Those who are more Learned , to add all Along such Observations , as shall , I trust , he sufficient to Vindicate me from having , either in my Interpretation of Holy Scripture , or in my Deductions from it , advanced Any thing without some tolerable Reason ; and seldom without some Good Authority also , for my Doing of it . IF , after All , it shall be Ask'd how I come to Publish my Reflections upon this Subject , I shall only Add thus much to what I have already said ; that as I first Composed these Discourses out of a just Respect to the Publick Authority , and for the Benefit of Those whom God has Committed to my Charge ; so being Perswaded that what was , I Hope , not Un - Usefully Heard Once , may be more Profitably Read , and Consider'd again ; and Reach many from the Press , whom it is not Possible for me to Instruct from the Pulpit : And having never met with any Original Treatise in our Own Language , that had so particularly handled this Whole Argument ; I was willing to Contribute my Part , towards the Reforming of a Vice , which our Laws had taken so Worthy a Care to suppress . THIS was the Motive that first led me to the Publishing of These Plain Discourses ; And I hope , through God's Blessing , They may not be Altogether Unprofitable to this End. Thus much I dare say , in Behalf of them ; That to the Pious and Unprejudiced , they Will offer Reasons enough to Convince them of their Duty as to these Matters : And for those who are not so ; it is in Vain to Hope by Any Arguments whatsoever to Reclaim Them. The Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas , St. Ignatius , St. Clement , St. Polycarp . The Shepherd of Hermas , and the Martyrdoms of St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp . Translated and Published with a large Preliminary Discourse , by W. Wake , D. D. 8 o. Sold by R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holbron . THE CONTENTS . CHAP. I. IN which it is briefly shewn , How the Case of Swearing stood with the Jews , under the Law. Page 1. The meaning of that expression , It hath been said by Them of Old times , briefly hinted at : And an Enquiry made into the Prohibition of our Saviour ; Thou shalt not Forswear thy self , &c. § . 1 , 2 , 3. The State of this Matter under the Law , deliver'd in four Particulars . p. 4. 1. That the Jews , were ( in General ) allow'd to Swear . § . 4 , 5. But yet , 2. That they were to Swear only by God's Name . § . 6. &c. 3. Nor by God's Name on every light , or frivolous Occasion ; nor , particularly , in their Common Conversation with One Anothor , § . 10 , &c. 4. Much less Falsely , which was the main thing they were required to have a Care of , § . 12. CHAP. II. Wherein is consider'd , What Perjury is ; and How many ways it may be Committed ? And some Reflections are offer'd to shew the particular Heinousness and Malignity of it . p. 13. Oaths are of two kinds ; Assertory and Promissory : and Perjury may be divers ways committed in Each of Them. § . 1. I. In an Assertory Oath . By Swearing to the Truth of any thing , which at the same Time we either Certainly Know to be False , or do not Know to be True. § . 3. By Prevaricating in any Considerable Circumstance of what we Swear to : Of which several Instances are offered . § . 5. II. In a Promissory Oath . p. 17. He forswears himself , who Promises to do that which at the same time He does not intend to perform . § . 7. Or to Do that which He knows He cannot Perform . § . 8. Or which He knows He Ought not to Do. § . 10. Or to Act contrary to what He had before sworn to do . § . 12. He Forswears himself , who having Sworn to do Any thing , afterwards neglects to make Good his Promise . § . 14. What things are required , in All Kinds of Oaths , to prevent our being Perjured , in taking of Them ? § . 16. He who causes Another to Forswear himself , is as Guilty of Sin , as if he had done it Himself . § . 17. Nor is he clear , who requires another to swear to that , which He has reason to believe , will make Him Guilty of perjury . § . 18. Of the peculiar Malignity of this Sin. p. 26. 1 st . With respect to God. § . 21. 2 dly . To our Selves . § . 27. 3 dly . To Other Men. § . 34. CHAP. III. Wherein is shewn , That All Swearing whatsoever , is not forbidden under the Gospel : And an Enquiry is made ; What that Swearing is which our Saviour has prohibited , as Absolutely Evil , and Unlawful ? p. 39. Our Saviour's words seem to Prohibit All Swearing ; and have been so Understood by some . § . 1. The meaning of Them shewn in the Three following Conclusions . 1. That it was not the Intention of our Saviour to Forbid All Swearing whatsoever ; as simply , and absolutely Unlawful , under the Gospel . § . 3. There was no Reason , why He should do it . § . 4. &c. It is Certain He did not intend to do it . § . 12. &c. 2. That we are not to Extend the Meaning of such Expressions , to the utmost sense that the Words are capable of ; when it otherwise Appears that We ought not so to do . § . 20. 3. That to know what the true Meaning of our Saviour here was , we must consider , what was Amiss in the Common Practice of the Jews , as to this Matter ; and what our Lord design'd to Correct in it . § . 24. The practice of the Jews enquired into . § . 25. Our Saviour's prohibition from thence explain'd . § . 27. And shewn to Forbid , 1. Common-Swearing . § . 27. 2. Swearing Otherwise than by God only . § . 30. Practical Observations on Each of These : And , 1. As to Common-Swearing . To swear in our Common Discourse with One Another , is Absolutely Evil and Unlawful . § . 33. No Man should ever choose to Swear in Any Case , where he can fairly Avoid the doing of it . § . 37. But especially , we should have a Care of entring into Promissory Oaths , as the most dangerous of any to be taken by Us. § . 41. 2. As to swearing Otherwise than by God only . It is certainly safest never to use any Oath , but by the Name of God only . § . 44. It is Unlawful to swear after any Other manner , for those Evil Ends that the Jews had , and that Others commonly have , in the Doing of it . § . 47. CHAP. IV. Of the several Ways of Confirming what is Spoken or Promised , under the degree of an Oath : How far they may be made Use of in Men's Private Conversation ? And for what Reason it was not sitting that Men should have been Allow'd to Go any farther ? p. 76. The meaning of that passage , let your Communication be yea , yea ; nay , nay ; inquired into ; and the Account given by some of it Rejected . § . 2. That we may Repeat what we affirm or deny ; the better to give Credit to the Truth of what we say . § . 5. That we may Confirm what we say , by adding an Asseveration to it . § . 7. And in some Cases , may go yet higher : and do more to confirm the truth of what we speak . § . 10. Whether it be lawful to Use Imprecations for this End. § . 15. An Enquiry made , into the Reason offer'd by our Saviour , why we must not go beyond those bounds : viz. That whatsoever is more than these , Cometh of Evil. p. 93. And the Truth of it shewn at large , from several Considerations . § . 23. &c. CHAP. V. Wherein an Enquiry is made into the Causes both of that Common and False-swearing which so much abounds in the World : And some directions are offer'd for the better Prevention of Both of Them. p. 112. 1 st . Of the Causes of Common , and False-swearing . How Men come to swear so frequently in their Ordinary conversation . § . 4. Whence it is that they are so ready to do it , on Every little Occasion ? § . 6. Four Accounts offered of it : to § . 16. How Men are brought so easily to Forswear themselves ? § . 16. 2 dly . Some directions offer'd for the Correction of both these Evils . Of Perjury . § . 23. Of Common Swearing . § . 29. &c. The Whole concluded . § . 44. &c. St. Mat. V. 33. * Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of Old Time ; * Thou shalt not forswear thy self , but shalt perform unto the LORD thine Oaths . 34. * But I say unto you swear not at all : Neither by Heaven for it is God's Throne ; nor by the Earth for it is his Footstool ; neither by Jerusalem , for it is the City of the Great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy Head , because thou canst not make One Hair White or Black. 37. * But let your Communication be Yea , yea ; Nay , nay : * For whatsoever is more than these cometh of Evil. A Practical Discourse Concerning SWEARING . CHAP. I. In which it is briefly shewn , How the Case of Swearing stood with the Jews , under the Law. WHATSOEVER be the meaning of that Expression so often repeated in this Chapter , and made use of by our Saviour as an Introduction to the Duty He was here about to propose to us ; Ye have heard , that it hath been said BY , or rather † TO , Them of Old Times : ( Whether in those words He designed to referr to the Law , as delivered by Moses to the Jews ; Or as Expounded , and Corrupted , by the Glosses of Those who follow'd after : ) Yet this I take to be without all doubt ; that in the Command , or rather Prohibition , before us , there is nothing proposed to us but what may , if not in Express Terms be found in the Law of Moses , yet by plain and undoubted Consequence be drawn from the Words of it . 2. IT has been thought by ‖ Some , that what the Evangelist here renders , Thou shalt not Forswear thy self , was Originally delivered by our Blessed Lord , in the very Words of the Third Commandment ; Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in Vain : * And that what follows in the latter part of this Verse , But shalt perform unto the Lord thine Oaths , was added by him from Numb . xxx . 2 . as an Exegetical Explication of that Precept ; and to shew , that what he was about to deliver concerning it , was principally to be understood of Promissory Oaths ; and to which he supposes that Commandment was always intended , more Especially , to referr . 3. WHETHER this Conjecture be Good or no , yet this , at least , we may be Confident of ; That we cannot take a better Course to Understand what our Saviour meant to prescribe to us Christians , as to this point of Swearing ; than to consider How the Case of an Oath stood heretofore under the Law , and What God proposed to the Jews concerning it . 4. AND here , ( 1st ) It is certain , that it was , in the general , permitted to Them to Swear ; provided that They did it with that Due Care , and after such a Manner , as I shall presently shew God required Them to Do it . 5. THIS , in many Cases , the † Law of Moses expresly Obliged them to : * And their most Holy Men not only did it upon Other Occasions ; ‖ but when they did it , look'd upon it as an Honour paid to God , and as a Service which should not fail to be both Accepted and Rewarded by Him. And to take away all scruple , as to this particular ; GOD himself not only , upon several Occasions , Sware to them ; but declared by his Holy Prophets , That † Every Tongue should Swear by him ; * And that They who did so should be Commended . 6. IT is certain , therefore , that it was allow'd to the Jews to Swear , whenever a just Occasion required their doing of it . But then ( 2dly ) They were to Swear ONLY by God's Name , and not by the Name of Any Other . 7. THIS was Implied in the Third Commandment ; but was expresly Declared to Them in several other parts of their Law. So in the VI th of Deut. vers . 13. Thou shalt Fear the LORD thy God , and Serve Him , and Swear by his Name . And again , Chap. x. 20 . Thou shalt Fear the LORD thy God ; Him shalt thou Serve ; and to Him shalt thou Cleave , and Swear by His Name . And in the L th of Isaiah , God again repeats this Command , and that with a more than Ordinary Vehemence , Verse 23 : I have Sworn by my Self , the Word is gone out of my Mouth in Righteousness , and shall not return ; That unto me Every Knee shall Bow , every Tongue shall Swear . And from all which it is evident , not only , that God reserved This to himself as his Own peculiar Prerogative ; but , withal , for what reason He did so ; Namely , Because this is a Part of that Religious Service which is Due to Him Only , and which cannot , without Impiety , be applied to Any Other . 8. HENCE we find , that when Joshua , in his last Exhortation to that People , thought in necessary , above all things , to warn them against Apostatizing from the Worship of their Own God , to the Gods of the Canaanites , among whom they dwelt ; He thought himself particularly concern'd to mention This to them , among the Other Instances of that Service which they were to pay to God Only : Josh. xxiii . 7 . Come not , says He , among These Nations that remain among you , neither make mention of the Name of Their Gods ; nor Cause to Swear by Them , neither Serve Them. — But Cleave unto the LORD your God. 9. AND when in process of time They began to break in upon this Caution , and to Swear by some Other Names ; We may observe how grievously God resented this , almost beyond any Other of their Sins ; Amos viii . 14 . They that Swear by the Sin of Samaria , and say , Thy God , O Dan ! liveth ; and the Manner of Beer-shebah liveth ; Even They shall fall , and never rise up again . 10. BUT this was not yet all : God required the Jews not only , when they did Swear , to Swear by his Name ; but moreover , ( 3dly ) To take care not to Swear by his Name upon Every Ordinary Occasion , nor without a due Regard to what they did Swear by it . So the express letter of the Commandment assures us ; Exod. xx . 7 . Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in Vain : And in which , tho' the Original Word be dubious , and may indifferently signifie either what is Vain , or what is False : Yet , I think , we ought not So to set up One of its Senses , as to exclude the Other ; but should rather suppose , that God therefore pitch'd upon a Term which comprehended Both , that so we might , from the Ambiguity of it , inferr , that Both those kinds of Swearing were Vnlawful . 11 ▪ NOW in this Opinion I am the rather confirm'd in that I find the * Chaldee Paraphrast , the most Authentick , as well as most Antient Interpreter of the Old Testament , of the same mind : And for that reason rendring it in One part of the Command by a Word which properly signifies in Vain ; in the Other part by an Expression , which originally denotes Falsly . And since it cannot be doubted but that light and vain Swearing is in its Own Nature sinful , and what must , by Consequence , have always been Forbidden by God as such : I cannot but wonder what should move Those , who freely Allow this , and acknowledge the words of the third Commandment to referr indifferently to both the significations here proposed ; yet , after all , to doubt , * Whether God design'd to Prohibit any thing more than Perjury by it . 12. BUT ( 4thly ) and to conclude these Reflections : Tho' for the Reasons now mentioned , I am perswaded , that all Vain and Common Swearing does not only fall within the Design of the Third Commandment , as now Expounded to Us , but was Originally forbidden in the very Letter of it : Yet as Perjury , or False-Swearing , is by far the Greater Sin , and more dishonourable to God ; so I do not at all question , but that it was more especially Therein prohibited by Him. 13. AND so much the words of our Saviour , Matth. v. 37 . do Undoubtedly imply : Who for this reason deliver'd this not only as a Good Sense of the Command , but as the Allow'd Interpretation of it among the Jews ; Thou shalt not Forswear they self , but shalt Perform unto the LORD thine Oaths . Nor indeed could they possibly have made any doubt of this , after that express Prohibition which God had given them to the same purpose , Lev. xix . 12 . Ye shall not swear by my Name falsly ; Neither shalt thou profane the Name of thy God : I am the LORD . 14. SUCH was the Case of Swearing under the Law : And I need not say , that Christ , ( Who came not to destroy the Law , but to fulfil it , and who in the very Instance before us has effectually done so ; ) still requires at least the same Care , as to this matter , of Vs now , that God did of the Jews heretofore . But because this last Point is not only of much the greatest moment of any in this Case , but taken for Granted by our Saviour , as a Thing of which no one could make any doubt : I shall Therefore begin my Reflections with a particular Consideration of it ; and shew , 1st , What it is for a Man to forswear Himself ? And how many ways he may be Capable of so doing ? And then , 2dly , Wherein the peculiar Malignity of this Sin does Consist ? And having so done , I shall need say nothing more to perswade any serious , considering Christian from the Practice of a Sin , both so Hainous in it self ; and so Ruinous , not only to Our Future Happiness in the Other World ; but even to our present Peace and Security in This. CHAP. II. Wherein is consider'd , What Perjury is ; and How many Ways it may be Committed ? And some Reflections offer'd to shew the particular Hainousness and Malignity of it . 1. TO proceed the more clearly on this great Point , I must first of all Observe , that to Swear , is properly nothing else but to Call God to Witness ; To Appeal to God for the Truth of what we Speak ; as the highest Confirmation We are Capable of giving to it . 2. NOW the Truth which we may be required , by this means , to Confirm ; may relate either to what is Past , or Present ; ( As when we Affirm a thing to Be , or not to Be ; To have been Done , or not Done ; In such a Manner , and with such Circumstances ; Or Otherwise : ) Or it may relate to somewhat yet to come ; ( As when we Oblige our selves to Do such a thing , or Not to Do it ; and that under such certain Conditions , or without them ; as the Nature of our Engagement shall Chance to be . ) The Former of these is usually called , an Assertory ; the Latter , a Promissory Oath . And because a Man may divers ways Forswear Himself in Each of These , if he has not a due Care to prevent it ; It will be necessary for me distinctly to Consider , what are the general Ways by which we may be most likely to Contract such a Guilt in Either of Them. 3. FIRST then , In the Case of an Assertory Oath ; He Forswears Himself , who Swears to the Truth of any Fact , which at the same time He either Certainly knows to be False , or does not know to be True. As for Example ; That such or such a Thing was Done , by such or such a Person ; which , at the same time , He either Knows that Person did not Do , or has no sufficient Evidence to move him to believe that he Did Do. For this being a down-right Lie in the Assertion , must needs become a Perjury by the Addition of an Oath to it . 4. AND here it matters not whether a Man certainly knows what he Swears to be False : It is enough that he does not know it to be True. Nay , or should it happen to be True ; yet if he thought it to have been Otherwise , and yet Swore to the Truth of it ; He Forswore Himself : Nor will his Mistake at all Contribute to the Excusing of his Perjury before God. 5. AGAIN : A Man may Forswear Himself , not only by Swearing that which is Altogether Vntrue ; but by Prevaricating in any the least Circumstance of what he delivers , and confirms with an Oath . As for Instance ; * If He Swears to a Matter as Certain , of which He has only a Probable Assurance : * If he Affirm that upon his Own Knowledge , which He has received only upon the Credit of some Other . * If He Adds any thing to what He Relates ; Or willingly Conceals any thing that may give light , or weight to ; or , in any other Circumstance , notably Affect the Point to which He Swears . In All these , and the like Cases ; He who knowingly and designedly Prevaricates , or otherwise departs , but in the least Tittle , from the Truth of what He delivers , Forswears Himself ; tho' what He says should , in the main , be never so True. 6. IN short ; He who will Swear with a Good Conscience , in any Oath of this kind , must first duly Consider what he is about to say ; and then must proceed according to the strictest Measures of Truth and Fidelity in it . He must neither Add to , nor Diminish from , what he knows to be the Truth . Must deliver what is Certain , as Certain ; What is Doubtful , as Doubtful : What he knows Himself , as upon his Own Knowledge ; What he has Received from Others , as Received from Them : And in so doing he may be sure that he shall not forswear himself . 7. AS for the Other kind of Oaths , Secondly ; Those which relate to somewhat yet to come ; he is to be accounted , in the first place , to forswear himself , who promises upon his Oath to do that , which , at the same time , he resolves not to perform : As for example , That he will meet a Man in a certain place , where yet he intends not to meet him ; Or that he will do him such a kindness , which he resolves , all the while , not to do for him . 8. AND , because no one can be supposed really to intend to do that , which he knows , before-hand , he Cannot do : therefore , Secondly ; He who Swears to do any thing which is apparently beyond his Ability , and which he cannot but be sensible is so , must be reckon'd to fall under the same guilt ; and to forswear himself , as effectually , as if he had directly intended not to perform what he obliged himself to do . 9. THUS if a Trader who is not worth a Hundred Pounds in the World , nor knows which way to find credit to raise such a Sum ; shall yet , to over-reach another , who is a stranger to his Concerns , and to gain some present advantage to himself by it , Swear , upon a certain day , to pay him Five Hundred ; and fail of fulfilling it : He must be look'd upon to have been forsworn , not only after such his failure , but from the very first Minute that he swore to do that , which he knew it was not in his power to perform . Nay , tho' by some lucky accident , which he did not fore-see , he should be enabled to make good his Promise , and accordingly fulfil it ; yet would not this clear him of having sworn falsly , at the time that he made his Oath : Because , at that time , he had no prospect that he should be able ; nor could by consequence really intend , to be as good as his word . 10. AND for the same reason it will follow farther , Thirdly ; That if a Man swear to do any thing which he knows it is not Lawful for him to do ; he forswears himself , tho' , at that time , he should intend to fulfil it . Because by so doing , he obliges himself to do that which he knows he Ought not to do ; nor , if he means to behave himself like a good Man , must presume to perform . 11. INDEED , as to these two last Instances ; If the Promise so sworn to , as I have supposed , had neither any known Impossibility in it , nor was Vnlawful to be fulfill'd , at the time when the Oath was made ; but by some following Accident became either Impossible or Vnlawful , before the time in which it ought to have been accomplish'd : In this Case , the Person who swore , will have done nothing amiss ; nor be otherwise Obliged by his Oath , for the present , than to perform what he promised , as far as he is yet Able , and it may be Lawful for him to do it . But if , in process of time , these Impediments should be removed , and the Obligation of his Oath still continue in force : Then he will , from thenceforth , become engaged to a compleat performance of his Promise ; and forswear himself , if he shall neglect , or refuse the fulfilling of it . 12. BY consequence , Fourthly ; He who Swears to do any thing contrary to what he had before sworn to do ; ( his former Oath still continuing to oblige ) must swear falsly ; and put himself under an absolute necessity of being forsworn . Because , in this Case , either he must keep his latter Oath ; and then he will be guilty of Perjury by the breach of his former Obligation : Or he must stand to his first Engagement ; and , by so doing , act contrary to his second Oath . 13. AND this I say , supposing the former Oath still to continue to oblige . For , otherwise ; If the Oath first made , were either in it self unlawful ; and , as such , from the beginning of no force : Or if the Obligation of it were founded upon such Circumstances , as render'd it valid only for a certain Time , and under some certain Conditions ; and either that Time is pass'd , or those Circumstances are altered ; and so the Reason , and Foundation of the Oath Ceasing , the Obligation of it Ceases together with them : In all these Cases , the latter Oath will be never the less lawful to be taken , for its being contrary to the Tenour of a former , which either never did oblige at all ; or the Obligation of which was evidently expired , before the taking of the other . 14. BUT , Fifthly : Tho' a Man should promise nothing , but what he is both Able to perform , and may Lawfully fulfil ; and should truly Intend , when he swears to it , to Act according to his Oath : Yet , if he shall afterwards change his Mind ; Or , by any culpable neglect , omit to make good his Promise , or render himself uncapable of doing it ; In all these Cases , he will become perjured by such his omission : Not indeed from the time that he took the Oath ; but from the time that he should , and , but for his own fault , might have perform'd it . 15. AND this I say , supposing , that the Oath was neither obtain'd by any such force or fraud , as render'd it void from the beginning ; and that the Person to whom it was made , and who was alone concern'd in the advantage of it , does expect , and insist upon , the performance of it . For otherwise , if either the Oath were void from the beginning , and did never oblige at all ; or if he to whom it was made , and for whose security it was taken , shall think fit to release it : In this Case the Person who took the Oath will become clear of all obligation by it ; and not be forsworn , tho' he should neglect to fulfil , what he had promised to do . 16. IT will , I presume , be needless for me to add , Sixthly ; That he who will keep himself from swearing falsly , must deal clearly , and openly , in all that he swears unto . * Must intend to be understood , according to the common and natural import of the words in which he swears . * Must use no Equivocation , no Mental-Reservation , whereby to impose upon those to whom he swears . But must account himself obliged to do , according as his Words and Actions declare : And not think to escape with his * Pretence , who swore with his Tongue , but kept his Mind free from being obliged by it . Because all these are , in truth , such manifest Prevarications , so opposite to the Fairness and Ingenuity of an Honest Man ; that a Man must be desperately deluded indeed , before he can think that he may escape the guilt of Perjury , by such means . 17. I WILL rather observe this one thing farther , and which indifferently respects both the kinds of Oaths I have now mentioned : That as , in all these Cases , he who neglects to acquit himself according to the true meaning of what he swears , forswears himself ; so if he shall by any means knowingly , and purposely , seduce , perswade , affright , or otherwise tamper , with any other person , to forswear himself ; he will , by his so doing , become partaker in the Perjury ; and render himself even more guilty , than he who by his encouragement , or instigation forswears himself . 18. NAY farther : * He who exacts an Oath of another , whereby he either certainly knows , or may reasonably suppose , that the Person of whom he requires it will forswear himself ; does by that means , if not involve himself in an equal guilt , yet render himself not much less criminal , than he who commits the Perjury : And must expect to render an Account , not only for the Dishonour which , thereby , is done to God ; but also for his Vncharitableness towards his Neighbour's Soul. 19. FROM what has been said , it may appear , What it is for a Man to Forswear himself ? And how many Ways he may be liable so to do ? I proceed , ( 2dly ) To offer some Reflections to shew , Wherein the Peculiar Malignity of this Sin does consist ? 20. NOW that will appear from this one plain Observation ; and which no one , who understands what an Oath is , can make any doubt of : Namely , That he who Forswears himself , does thereby not only in a most desperate manner * Affront the Majesty of God , and * Wound his own Soul ; but does , moreover , * Render himself criminal towards his Neigbour also ; and , as much as in him lies , * Declare himself a Common Enemy to Mankind . 21. FOR 1st : As to what concerns the Majesty of God ; What can strike more directly at that , than this Sin of Perjury ? When a Man shall not only presume to Lie , and Cheat , and Abuse his Neighbour ; but , the better to accomplish all this Wickedness , shall dare even to Appeal to God for his Integrity : And , by so doing , endeavour to intitule him , who is Truth its self , to a part in his Sin ; as if he would approve of his Villany ; and become , in some measure , Confederate with him in his Impiety . 22. THIS is the true Meaning of every Wilful Perjury : And then I need not say , what a Complication of Guilt and Impudence , there must needs be in it . 23. IF we consider the Nature of this Sin , with respect to Men , the least that can be said of it is this ; That it is a wilful , deliberate , Imposition upon the Candor and Sincerity of him to whom we swear : Which sure must be one of the basest , and most dis-ingenuous Practices in the World. 24. AND as for the Design of it ; that is , usually , not at all less sinful , than the Means that are made use of for the accomplishment of it . Whilst the Person to whom we swear , is not only to be deceived , but , by vertue of that deceit , is to be injured in his Estate ; his Reputation ; nay or , it may be , to the loss of his very Life it self . 25. AND this , God knows , were bad enough , were the Sin to end here . But that it does not ; It proceeds still farther : Whilst for the accomplishment of this vile purpose , the false swearer does not only not tremble at the thought of the Divine Justice ; but flies in the very face of it ; and recurrs to God both for the countenance of his Treachery , and for the confirmation of the Lie , by which it is to be brought about . 26. NOW he who can be so hardy as to do this ; must either not believe that there is any God at all ; or he must disclaim his knowledge of , and concern for , what is done here below : Or , if he confesses both these ; he must then be concluded to defie his Vengeance . For I cannot suppose any one to be capable of so far mistaking the Divine Nature , as to think , that a God of Truth , will either endure to be made a Party to what is false ; or not avenge himself on that Man , who shall presume so to do . 27. SUCH therefore is the Malignity of this Sin , as it relates to God : Nor is it , 2dly , any less as it respects our selves . 28. FOR proof whereof I must observe , that in every Oath God is appeal'd unto , not only as a Witness of the Truth of what we say ; but as a most just and powerful Judge too , to punish us for our falshood , if it be not . 29. THIS is so Essential to the Nature of an Oath , that , without it , all the security of such an Appeal would be quite lost ; and the design of Swearing , overthrown . For what reason would any one have to believe another upon his Oath , more than upon his Bare Word ; but that both he who swears , and he to whom the Oath is made , do believe , that God is thereby made the Surety of what is spoken : And will avenge both Himself first , and then the Person whose Trust is , by this means , deceived ; upon that Man , who shall be so presumptuous , as by swearing falsly , to abuse both ? 30. NOW this being granted ; and which , without destroying all the Benefit and Intention of an Oath , cannot be deny'd ; it must follow , That there is hardly any Sin by which a Man does so directly wound his own Soul , and cut himself off from all the hopes of Salvation , as by this . Because in this Sin , a Man gives up all claim to God's Mercy ; nay more , desires God so to deal with him as what he says is true ; that is , in other words , to damn him , if it be not . And what can he who has done this pretend to , or even hope for , at God's hands ? Who has already given Verdict against himself ; and with his own Mouth pronounced , or rather chosen , his own Doom ? 31. AND this I take to have been the Ground of that terrible Clause in the Sanction of the Third Commandment ; the like whereof we do not meet with in any other , nor can we suppose that it was added to this , without some peculiar design in the doing of it : Thou shalt not take the Name of the LORD thy God in Vain ; For the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his Name in vain . He will not hold him guiltless , that is , he will not forgive him : Will not treat him with that Favour he will do other sinners : But will look upon him as a guilty , condemn'd Malefactor ; one whom his own Mouth hath convicted , and will punish him accordingly . 32. SUCH is the Danger to which every Perjury a Man commits , exposes his immortal Soul. And if we may estimate the Hainousness of any Sin , by the hatred which God bears to it ; we must then conclude this to be one of the most grievous of any ; as we are sure it is of all others , in a singular manner , odious to God , and destructive of Our Salvation . 33. I ADD , 3dly : That it is , above any other Sin , the most injurious to Mankind ; as being , in its own nature , directly opposite to the Peace and Security of the World. 34. I HAVE already observed , that the general Cause which moves any one to forswear himself , is either to gratifie his own Lusts , or to promote his Interest ; tho' at the Cost of his Neighbours Welfare . And , I believe , whosoever shall consider the main Instances wherein this Sin is usually committed , will find that I was not mistaken in my Judgment of it . 35. BUT the Evil does not stop here ; but often times affects the Publick , as well as violates Mens Private Rights . Such are all those Perjuries which are committed in the Publick Administration of Justice ; and by means of which , either Honest Men are Condemned ; or Evil-doers are Acquitted ; and the Ministers of Justice are made the Instruments of Vnrighteousness ; and all the Ends of their Institution are rendred not only Vseless , but even Hurtful to the Common-wealth . 36. AND thus far , every single Act of Perjury is an Offence against Man , as well as a Sin against God. But now , if we shall consider the Nature and Tendency of such a Practice in the general ; and reason upon the proper and natural Effects of it ; we shall find it to be a Common Abuse of Mankind : Destructive of the very Foundation of Humane Society ; and which being allow'd of , must tend to the overthrow of all Peace , and Right , and Property , in the World. 37. AND that I thus prove : The Foundation of all Society , and without which no Affairs of Life can be transacted , is that Common Trust and Confidence , which Men naturally have in one another . Without this , no State , no Community , tho' never so small ; not a Private Family can subsist . There can be no dealing with , nor dependance upon , one another . Every Man must become afraid of his Neighbour ; and not account his Goods , or even his Life it self , any longer his Own , than he can guard them against the Cunning or Force of the next Man he meets , and who ( for ought he knows ) may design to rob him of both . 38. WHICH being so , it must follow , That whatsoever does in its own nature tend to Overthrow this Trust between Man and Man , must be look'd upon as a Crime against Humane Society ; because it naturally leads to the destruction of it . 39. NOW that Perjury , in the most outrageous manner , does : Inasmuch as it violates the strongest Security , that one Man is capable of giving to Another , of his Truth and Sincerity . And therefore the false swearer is so far from deserving any Favour of Men , that were he dealt with , as he ought to be , he should be accounted to have forfeited all Right to the Benefits of Society : Should be treated as a kind of Out-law in the Common-wealth ; an Enemy to Truth and Justice , to Peace and Property ; and no longer under the Protection of those Laws , by which others are preserved in their Rights and Liberties . 40. AND now , when such is the apparent Malignity of this Sin , that it renders Men not only Obnoxious to God's Vengeance , but even Vncapable of his Mercy ; and , as if that were not enough , exposes them to the Resentments of Mankind too : One would think nothing more could be desired to draw Men off from the practice of such a Vice , as at once bespeaks them unworthy to live upon the Earth ; and , without a very extraordinary Repentance , will be sure to shut them out of the Kingdom of Heaven . 41. IT is indeed a Matter of very sad Consideration , to think , that under so Pure and Holy , so Just and Sincere an Institution , as that of the Gospel ; there should be any need either of laying down any Rules for the Prevention of such a Sin , or of Vsing any Arguments , to draw Men off from the Commission of it . But alas ! Experience shews , that there is , at this day , but too much need of Both. And that after all which either the Commands of God , or the Laws of Men , have been able to do for the Suppression of it ; yet by reason of False-swearing , not only Mens Souls suffer , but our very Land its self mourneth . 42. I SHALL conclude these Reflections with the same Exhortation that the Prophet Zachary heretofore made to the Jews ; under much the same Circumstances with ours at this day , as to what concerns this Great Evil : Zech. viii . 16 . These are the things that ye shall Do : Speak ye Every Man the Truth to his Neighbour ; Execute the Judgment of Truth and Peace in your Gates . And let None of you imagine Evil in your Hearts against his Neighbour ; And Love no False-Oath : For All These are Things that I Hate , saith the LORD . CHAP. III. Wherein is shewn , That All Swearing whatsoever , is not Forbidden under the Gospel : And an Enquiry is made , What that Swearing is , which Our Saviour has Prohibited , as Absolutely Evil and Unlawful . 1. IT has been the Mistake of * some who have attended more to the Words of our Saviour , in that Passage of St. Mat. ch . v. 34 . I say unto you , Swear not at All ; than either to the Occasion , or Design of them ; to Conclude , That All manner of Swearing Whatsoever is utterly Forbidden to Christians under the Gospel . And indeed not only the Prohibition of our Blessed Lord in that place ; but that Express Confirmation which we meet with of it , in the v th of St. James , ver . 12. does seem , at the first sight , to give but too much Countenance to such a Conclusion . 2. TO clear this Difficulty , and to shew How far it may still be lawful for a Christian to Take an Oath ; but yet withal , with how great Care and Circumspection he ought to Do it ; I shall now enter upon a particular Enquiry into this whole Matter : and endeavour with all possible Exactness to discover , what the Design of our Saviour was , in that passage upon which this difficulty is founded , and by which it must be determined . 3. IN pursuance of which Enquiry , I shall not doubt in the ( 1st ) Place to Affirm ; That How much soever the Words under Debate , if strictly taken , may seem to favour such an Opinion ; yet it was never the Intention of our Lord utterly to forbid All Swearing whatsoever , as Simply and Absolutely Vnlawful , under the Gospel . And that I Affirm , upon these two Accounts : 1 st . That there was no Reason Why He should Do so ; but rather a Great deal of Reason to the Contrary . And , 2 dly . That it is Certain He did not Do it : And therefore that we must put some Restriction , upon that seemingly General Prohibition before mentioned , Swear not at All. 4. And 1 st . That there was no Reason why our Saviour should have Forbidden all Swearing whatsoever , is Evident from hence ; That an Oath being in its Own Nature nothing else but an Appeal to God for the Truth of what we say , must be Acknowleged , when Duly and Reverently taken , to have nothing Evil , or otherwise Irregular in it : but on the contrary , to be an Act of Religious Worship ; and by which the Honour and Authority of God , are eminently advanced . Forasmuch as by Calling of God to Witness in all Places , and upon all suitable Occasions , We confess Him to be Every where Present ; To Know and Observe all the Affairs of Men ; To be the Searcher of the Heart : In a word , To be most True and Faithful Himself ; and a most Just and Powerful Avenger of all Falshood and Treachery in Others . And by all this , We do evidently Declare and Magnifie his Divine Perfections ; and shew to all the World what a Sense we have of his Goodness and Greatness . 5. HENCE it is that God Evermore Reserved this as a proper Part of that Worship which was Due to Himself Only ; and might not , without Impiety , be given to Any Other . He commanded the Jews not more to * Serve him , than to Swear by His Name : And when , in process of time , they began to Swear by some Other Gods ; I have shewn you both How grievously He † Resented the Affront , and How severely He was pleased to Punish them for it . 6. NOW this being the Case of an Oath , that , when Duly and Reverently taken , it is so far from having any thing Amiss in it , that it is rather and Act of Religious Worship ; and , as such , Honourable to God , as well as Vseful to Mankind : What Reason can there be given , why our Saviour should Aim at the Vtter Abolishing of it ? Or what is there to be Assign'd in it , Unworthy of that Religion , which He Came to Establish in the World ? 7. BUT if there be therefore no Reason to be given , Why our Saviour should have Forbidden All manner of Swearing ; Sure I am there are Reasons enough to be offer'd , Why He should not : And those such as will render the Opinion of Those who pretend He has Done it , very Improbable ; which is All I am yet concern'd to Do. 8. FOR , indeed , What Practice is there upon which the Peace , and Welfare , and Security of Mankind , does more depend , than upon the Serious , and Sacred Vse of an Oath ? It is this Unites Men into Society with Each Other : Secures to the Magistrate , the Obedience , and Help of the People ; and to the People the Careful , and Regular Government of the Magistrate . It is upon This Assurance that the greatest Affairs of Life are transacted ; Mens Fortunes , determined ; and Justice its self Upheld and Maintain'd . By This , Evil-doers are Convicted ; Injuries are Redress'd ; And Right is Administred . Thro' This , Men are enabled to Treat with Those whom they never saw before : Of whose Integrity they can have no Other Security ; nor , Having This , do they desire any Better . In short ; How great a Confusion , How insuperable a Mischief , the utter Abolishing of all Swearing , must bring to the Affairs of Mankind , this One Consideration may suffice to shew ; that , ( the Treachery and Distrust of Humane Nature considered ) it would almost utterly destroy all Confidence in One Another ; would Dissolve Society , and lay the Ground of an Eternal Fearfulness and Suspicion between every Man and his Neighbour : and so bring in , in Good Earnest , that State of War , which some have fancied Men naturally are Born in ; and which , 't is certain , nothing but Mutual Trust and Compacts , can keep them from . 9. AND , if this be so , can it Reasonably be imagined that our Saviour Christ , who was so Great a Lover of Men , and who so well knew of what Use , or rather of what Necessity , the Religious Practice of Swearing was to the World ; would , without any just Ground for his so doing , have Utterly Forbidden the Continuance of it ? 10. BUT especially , when it shall farther be Consider'd , that God , under the Law , did not barely Tolerate this Practice in the Jews , as a Necessary Condescension to their Infirmities : But upon every fitting Occasion , Himself ‖ Sware to them ; and in many Cases , † Required them to Do likewise ; as has been before observed . 11. NOW this , as it * plainly shews , that there can be nothing sinful in the Practice of Swearing , in the General ; so does it render it still more Improbable , that our Saviour should not only , without need , have deprived Mankind of so Useful an Institution ; but by doing of it , should also have cast some sort of Reflection upon the Law of God its self , which not only Allow'd , but Required the Vsing of it : And that too with Relation to that part of it , of which He tells us , nevertheless , in this very Chapter ; That He came not to destroy the Law , but to fulfil it . And which we ought not therefore to doubt was what He Intended , in the Third ; as we Confess it was what He Did , in the Other Commandments . 12. I CONCLUDE , therefore , that upon all these Accounts it is , at least , very Improbable , that our Blessed Saviour should have designed Vtterly to Forbid all manner of Swearing as Sinful and Vnlawful . I add , 2dly , That whatever that Passage , we are Here enquiring into , may seem to Offer to the Contrary , it is Certain He did not do it ; as I shall now make Appear . 13. THAT St. Paul has solemnly Sworn in almost every One of his Epistles , is a * Truth so Evident , that it must be Impossible for any One who knows what an Oath is , to be able seriously to doubt of it . God is my Witness , says He , Rom. i. 9 . I call God for a Record upon my Soul , 2 Cor. i. 23 . The God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ , who is Blessed for Evermore , knoweth that I lie not , 2 Cor. xi . 31 . Behold , before God , I lie not , Gal. i. 20 . And several other Expressions he elsewhere has of the like nature . 14. NOW in All These , either this Great Apostle was Guilty of Sinning , or he was not . That he committed any Sin in thus Writing ; but especially a Wilful , Known , and Deliberate Sin ; is very hard to suppose : I am sure must never be allowed by those who believe him to have been acted , by the immediate Inspiration of the Holy Ghost , in what he wrote . And yet supposing our Saviour to have utterly forbidden the Use of Swearing , to All Christians , and upon Any Occasion ; How shall we ever be able to Excuse him , from a Gross , Presumptuous Contempt of his Commandment ? 15. THAT St. Paul should have continued all his Life ignorant of such a Prohibition , is very strange : Nor has it , that I know of , been Pretended by Any . 16. THAT he had any particular Allowance made to him , to exempt him from the Obligation of it , and to Authorize him to Act directly Contrary to the Command of Christ , and to the Common Duty of all other Christians , does not appear ; nor ought , without some very good Grounds to be supposed by us . I conclude , therefore , * That had the Use of Swearing been utterly Taken away under the Gospel ; neither would St. Paul have laid so great a Stumbling-block in our way , as he could not but think his Example might be likely to prove to the Church of Christ : Nor would the Holy Ghost have given so much Countenance to a Practice , neither very Commendable in its self ; nor , upon any Account , to be Imitated by Those , for Whose Benefit and Instruction , those very Epistles were Inspired by him . 17. BUT we have not only the Example of St. Paul , tho' that were enough , to direct us in this Matter . Our Blessed Saviour Himself has done likewise ; and * that by the Confession of those , who yet will by no means allow of his Apostles Swearing . It has been thought by † some , that that Form of Speech so often used by our LORD in Confirmation of what He delivered , Verily , verily , I say unto you ; was not meerly a Vehement Asseveration , but rather a Direct and Forman Oath . Tho' in this , I confess , I am not so well satisfied , as to be willing to lay any great stress upon it ; yet that he did , truly * Swear , at his Arraignment before the High-Priest , is hardly to be doubted . When being Adjured by him , ( after the Manner used among the Jews ) to tell him Whether he were the Christ , or No : He readily complied with the Obligation that was laid upon him ; and answer'd plainly , that he was . And in the x th of the Revelations , St. John puts it beyond all dispute , that the Angel , with whom he discoursed , did do likewise , and that with great solemnity too ; For he lifted up his hand , and SWARE , by Him that Liveth for Ever and Ever : Ver. 5 , 6. 18. I CONCLUDE therefore , That what God both * Prescribed , and * Practiced under the Law ; * What not only St. Paul , but our Saviour Christ himself , and an Angel from Heaven , continued to Vse under the Gospel : * What , being duly perform'd , is for the Honour of God , and the Benefit of Mankind ; but , being * Vtterly Forbidden , must turn very much to the Detriment of the World : As it cannot be in its self Evil , so neither was it ever intended to have been Abolish'd by our Blessed LORD as such . 19. BUT what then shall we say to this Passage of St. Matthew ? Swear not at All. Can any thing be more Express ? Or could our Saviour have spoken more plainly , had he design'd to have done , what some pretend he has done ? 20. TO this I Answer , and it is the next Consideration I have to offer for the clearing of this Difficulty , ( 2dly ) That it is not enough that the Words of any Prohibition are General , to oblige us to understand it in the utmost extent that the Expressions are capable of : But we must withal consider , what it is reasonable to suppose was designed to have been forbidden by them . 21. FOR Proof of which Remark , Let us look back only to the 21 st Verse of this Chapter ; where we meet with a Case not very different from that before us . Ye have heard , says our Saviour , that it has been said by them of old times , Thou shalt not Kill . And in the xx th of Exodus , the Command is Absolute and Express , Thou shalt not Kill . And some , we know , have been so very tender as to imagine , that it is no less unlawful in any Case , or upon any Pretence , to put a Man to Death , than others have thought it to be to take an Oath . And yet at the same time that that Prohibition was delivered to the Jews , God himself establish'd the Power of Life and Death , in the Civil Magistrate ; and in one of the first Laws that was given to Mankind , declared , That whoso shed Man's Blood , by Man should his Blood be shed . 22. TO know therefore how far we are to extend the Force of any Prohibition ; we must consider , not only how General the Letter of the Law is , but what were the Occasion and Design of Making of it . Now the End of the Sixth Commandment was to restrain Private Violence ; and to tie up Mens Hands from rashly Assaulting , and Hurting of one another . And therefore to Private Persons , and in all the Common Circumstances of Life , the Command is Absolute , and admits of no Restriction ; Thou shalt not Kill . But in the Publick Administration of Justice ; In Defence of a Man 's own Life ; In a Lawful War , where the Welfare and Security of our Country are at stake ; in these Cases , as the Design of the Law is not concern'd , so neither must the Meaning of it be extended to them . 23. AND so it is in the Point before us : Swear not at All , says our Blessed Saviour . But in what Cases ? And after what Manner ? Why not on every Slight Occasion ; Nay not on Any Occasion , where , without violating the Bonds of Justice and Charity , you can avoid the doing of it . And even there where you cannot , yet Swear not after the Manner that the Jews were wont to do ; for whose Correction our Saviour , as I shall presently shew , deliver'd the Prohibition , of which we are now speaking . 24. AND this brings me to the ( 3d ) and last Thing I have to observe , for the clear Understanding of the Words before us : And that is this ; That if we will come to a Right Apprehension of our Saviour's Intention in them , we must Examine what there was Amiss in the common Practice of the Jews , as to this Matter ; and by that we shall be able the more easily to judge , what is forbidden to us in it . 25. NOW the Faults of the Jews , as to this Point of Swearing , were these : 1st . * That they allow'd themselves to Swear , almost upon any Occasion , tho' never so Vain and Impertinent ; Provided only that they did not Swear by the Sacred Name of God ; and which indeed , they agreed , was not to be taken into their Mouths but upon some great Occasion , and with a due Regard had to the Honour of it . But that which was yet worse , was , 2ly : † ▪ That they supposed that by Many of those lesser Oaths , they were not so strictly obliged to Speak , and Act , according to the Intention of them ; but that they might , without being Forsworn , either Dissemble their Knowledge , or Neglect their Promises , which they Confirm'd only by such Oaths as these . 26. THAT these were the Measures by which the Jews govern'd themselves , as to this Matter , both their own ancient Writers tell us ; and our * Saviour himself , in part , declares to us . And I need not say any thing to shew , that the Design of all this was to avoid the Obligation of the Third Commandment ; to the Due Observance whereof , our Saviour therefore , in this place , intended to reduce his Disciples . 27. AND to that end , 1st : That he might the better keep up the Reverence of an Oath , he expresly forbids that Customary and Familiar Vse , which the Jews had been wont to make of it . I say unto you , Swear not at All ; Neither by Heaven , for it is God's Throne ; nor by the Earth , for it is his Footstool ; nor by Jerusalem , for it is the City of the Great King. That is , Swear not at all after * that Way that the Jews were wont so readily to do ; Nor in † such Cases , in which they therefore made use of these lesser Forms of Swearing , because they thought it neither Decent , nor Lawful , to Swear by the Name of God. 28. NOW that which yet more confirms to us the Reasonableness of this Interpretation , is , that our Saviour himself , in the prosecution of this very Subject , plainly restrains his Discourse to the same Cases , in which the Jews were wont to use those Forms of Swearing , which he here mentions . But let your Communication , says he , be , Yea , yea ; Nay , nay . That is , in your Private Discourse and Affairs with one another ; let it suffice you , instead of Swearing after the manner of the Jews here reproved , barely to Affirm or Deny what you have to say : Or at the most to add some Innocent Asseveration to it , for the farther satisfaction of him to whom you speak ; For whatsoever is more than this , cometh of evil . 29. AND thus far it was undoubtedly the Design of our Saviour , to Forbid the Practice of Swearing Altogether ; and to declare it , in such Cases , to be Vtterly Evil and Vnlawful . And therefore , as to what concerns this kind of Swearing ; ( and to which both the Practice of the Jews here intended to be Corrected ; and the Instances given of the Oaths which they made Vse of ; and the Direction of our Saviour how to behave our selves on such Occasions , do All evidently refer ; ) the Prohibition is Vniversal , and admits of no Exception ; I say unto you , Swear not at All : no not tho' what you Swear be never so True , or you should be never so much Provoked to Swear to it . 30. BUT indeed , I am apt to believe that our Saviour intended somewhat more than this , in his Prohibition as to this Matter : And that , because the Abuses which the Jews are charged with in this particular , required somewhat more to be done for the security of that Commandment , which he was here concern'd to restore to its full Force . And that is this : That because such is the Nature of Mankind , that we are but too apt to trifle with the most Sacred Things ; as we see the Jews , in the Case before us , most notoriously did ; who for that reason set up the lesser kind of Swearing here mentioned , that so they might both the more freely use it , and the more easily break thro' the Obligation of it : Therefore our Saviour resolved , at once , to prevent all future Corruption of this kind , by utterly * Forbidding Men to Swear any otherwise , than by the Name of God only . 31. AND if this be allow'd , then here we shall again have another good Account of the Vniversality of our Saviour's Prohibition as to this matter . I say unto you , Swear not at All ; that is , not at all by Heaven , or by the Earth , or by any other the like Forms : But when you shall find it needful to Swear , Swear directly by the Name of God ; and then you will both the more rarely do it , and when you shall do it , will be the more likely to Swear truly , and to Perform to the LORD your Oaths . 32. FROM what has been said , we may now see what that Swearing is , which our Blessed Lord has forbidden , as Vnlawful to us Christians : Namely , First , To Swear at all in our Common and Private Affairs , with one another ; when there is neither any Suitable Occasion for it ; nor any Necessity laid upon us so to do . And , Secondly , To use those little , affected Modes of Swearing , which Custom and Design brought in among the Jews , and which are still but too much allow'd of among us at this day . And by Both which , the Majesty of God is profaned ; Perjury is encreased ; Faith and Confidence are lessen'd among Men ; and their Immortal Souls are continually exposed to Ruine and Destruction . I shall therefore make a few Practical Reflections , upon Each of these Kinds of Swearing ; and so conclude this Chapter . 33. AND , First : As to the Case of Light and Customary Swearing , it is certain , That for a Man to Swear in his Common , Ordinary Conversation ; where there is either no need at all of an Oath , or none that is Proportionable to that Reverence which ought to be paid to it ; is Absolutely Evil , and Vnlawful . It is indeed to Profane the Sacredness , and to Prostitute the Design of an Oath : And puts such an † Affront upon God , as we would be ashamed to put upon one of our Fellow-Creatures . 34. AND yet , alas ! How ordinary a Practice is this among us ? And how often do we see Men Call God to Witness , not only without need , but with such little regard too ; that I am afraid many times they do not know themselves when they do so . 35. NAY and well were it for them , if they did this only upon too light Occasions : But very frequently they do it upon such , as are extremely Indecent , if not Sinful . To Bear Witness to their Lewdness , their Profaness , and their Debauchery . To Bind their Obligations of Iniquity upon their Souls : And to Confirm their Envious , their Malicious , and Covetous Purposes , against their Neighbour . 36. THESE are , God knows , very terrible Considerations : They make me even tremble at the remembrance of them . And yet thus is God's Name profaned without Horrour ; and we suffer it without Concern . 37. BUT I must go yet farther : For tho' this be that Swearing which our Saviour seems chiefly to have spoken against in this place ; yet I doubt not but that much more is required of us . And therefore I add , 2dly : That as a Man ought never to Swear , but up on some Great , and Solemn Occasion ; so neither should he Swear , of Choice , even Then ; Nor till he ha● first indeavour'd , as far as is fitting● to avoid it . 38. IT was the Opinion of ● Heathen Moralist , that a Good Man ought never to Swear , but upon On● of these Two Accounts ; Either t● Serve his Friend , Or to Vindica● Himself from some Foul and Scan●dalous Aspersion . 39. THO' in this , I think , he was too severe ; yet as , I presume , there are not many Cases in which a Man ought voluntarily to Swear ; so , I believe , this one General Rule may comprehend the most of them : Namely , That we should never do it , but when it is necessary , either for God's Glory ; our Own Justification ; or our Neighbours Good. But as for any other Considerations , I am perswaded , that it were better a Man should sit down under any tolerable Inconvenience , than flee to an Oath for the prevention of it . 40. AND this I say as to the Case of Voluntary Oaths : As for those which are Imposed by Publick Authority , the Subjects Rule must be to yield to them in all Honest and Lawful Matters ; and to take such , as he can , with a good Conscience , take . As for the Reasonableness of Requiring them , that is their business to consider who oblige us to the taking of them : And who ought to remember , that they shall assuredly answer to God for it , if by imposing them too often , and upon too slight Occasions ; where neither the Necessity of Government , nor the Publick Peace require the doing of it ; they shall cause God's Name to be profaned ; shall burden their Neighbours Conscience ; and , by degrees , take off very much from the Religion and Reverence of Swearing . 41. But , 3dly : and to conclude these first sort of Remarks . As the Commandment here referr'd to by our Saviour , Thou shalt not Forswear thy self ; and expounded by that additional Paraphrase , But shalt perform to the LORD thine Oaths ; has ever been look'd upon to relate * more especially to Promissory Oaths ; in which the Danger of Perjury is much the greatest , and there will therefore need the greatest Care and Circumspection to be used , in order to the prevention of it : So am I apt to think , upon all these Accounts , that we ought to look upon our selves as yet more concern'd to Avoid such kind of Oaths , as far as it may be in our power so to do , rather than any others . 42. A WISE Man will oblige himself , as seldom as he can , by a bare Promise : Because he cannot tell what may happen , nor to what Inconveniencies he may expose himself , by the making of it . And surely much less ought a Good Man to bind a Promise upon himself by an Oath ; unless it be upon some urgent Occasion , and in which he shall account it to be his Duty so to do . 43. AND this may suffice to have been observed , with relation to the First thing here forbidden ; viz. the Frequent , and Vnnecessary , and Vnworthy Vsage of an Oath . As for the other Case proposed ; I mean the Abstaining from those lesser Modes of Swearing here referr'd to ; and , I believe , forbidden too by our Saviour : It may be consider'd ; 44. 1st : THAT tho' it should be doubtful whether it be simply , and absolutely Vnlawful , to make use of them ; yet it cannot be questioned but that it must be much Safer , not to do so : Nor can there be any reason given , why a Wise and Good Man , should ever venture upon the use of them . 45. THAT it must be much Safer to abstain altogether from them , is manifest from hence , that it is ( at least ) probable that our Blessed Lord did intend , in this place , to restrain the use of them : I am sure no one can ever shew , upon any good Grounds , and such as may justifie a Man's Conscience in the allowance of them , that he did not . 46. AND then , for the other part of my Assertion ; That there can be no reason for a Good Man to venture upon the use of them , it is evident ; Because , those things which , in such a Case , a Man swears by , must be consider'd either as relating to God , and Terminating the Oath in him ; And * then , to swear by them , is the same thing as to swear by God himself ; and to prostitute such Oaths to a Common Vsage , is as criminal as to profane the very Name of God : Or if they are uncapable of being thus referr'd to God , and for that reason may be thought not to oblige ; then is the use of them vain and delusory ; and so either no End at all ; or , to be sure , no good one can be design'd by them . 47. BUT , 2dly : Whatever becomes of this Reflection , thus much is certain ; That to use any of these Oaths with the Intention of the Jews , here condemn'd by our Saviour ; that is to say , for the Promotion either of Common and Vain Swearing , on the one hand ; or of Fraudulent and Deceitful Swearing , on the other ; or to recurr to such kind of Oaths in any Case , in which we should not think it decent , or lawful , to Swear by God himself , is absolutely Vnlawful ; and undoubtedly prohibited by Christ , as such . 48. BUT here then I must not be Mis●understood : For tho' I say that a Good Christian ought not to Swear by any , but God only ; yet I do not pretend that we must always do it with a direct Mention of his Name ; and in those express Terms , * which some have vainly thought alone properly to constitute an Oath . Many are the Forms into which the Substance of an Oath may be cast , and in several of them the Name of God not at all express'd ; and yet the Oath be made by him only . 49. THUS St Paul , tho' he generally mentioned the very Name of God , yet sometimes he put his Oath into another Form ; and * Protested by the Rejoycing which he had in Christ Jesus our Lord , 1 Cor. xv . And when often times we our selves lay our Hand on the Holy Scriptures , and having first conceived the Substance of the Oath , conclude with this Form , So help me God , and the Contents of this Book : We as really Swear by God Alone , as if we had altogether stopp'd in the former part of our Appeal ; or only said with the Apostle , God is my Witness . 50. IN all these Cases , it is enough that we make it plain that we refer to God , and to him Only , for the Truth of what we speak : And then howsoever our Words may run , the Oath will still be understood to terminate in him Alone . 51. I SAY to God ONLY : Because otherwise tho' we should Swear expresly by God , yet if we shall joyn any Other together with him , as the Jews did sometimes heretofore , and as those of the Church of Rome do notoriously at this day : In such a Case , our Oath will again be faulty ; and we shall , in the very Manner of our Swearing , be guilty of a Sin , but little less criminal , than that of Perjury its self . 52. AND thus have I offer'd to you such Considerations , as seem'd necessary to shew , what that Swearing is which our Saviour has truly Forbidden under the Gospel . I shall conclude this Point , with those Words of the Son of Sirach . Ecclus. xxiii . 9 . Accustome not thy Mouth to Swearing , neither Vse thy self to the Naming of the Holy One. For as a Servant that is Continually Beaten , shall not be without a Blew-Mark ; so he that Sweareth , and Nameth God , Continually , shall not be Faultless . He that useth much Swearing , shall be filled with Iniquity , and the Plague shall never depart from his House . CHAP. IV. Of the several Ways of Confirming what is Spoken , or Promised , under the Degree of an Oath ; How far They may be made Use of in Mens Private Conversation ? And for what Reason it was not fitting That Men should have been Allow'd to Go any Farther ? 1. HAVING now shewn , from the Words of our Blessed Saviour , how careful a Good Christian ought to be not only Not to Forswear Himself ; but , as far as he is able , Not to Swear at All : It remains , for the final clearing of this Subject , that we go on , upon the same Principles , to enquire , How we are to behave our selves , in our Common Discourse , with One Another ? And here the Rule proposed to us is this ; Let your Communication be Yea , yea ; Nay , nay : And this Reason given , why we ought to confine our selves within the bounds of it ; For , says our Saviour , Whatsoever is more than this , cometh of Evil. I shall distinctly consider each part of it ; And endeavour , First , To shew you , What our Duty , with relation to this Matter , is : And then , Secondly , To convince you , of the Reasonableness of that Motive , which our blessed Saviour has here made use of , to oblige us to walk according thereunto . 2. And , First : For what concerns the Rule here laid down ; It was the Opinion of a very learned Man in his Remarks upon this Passage ; That these Words of our Saviour , Let your Communication be , Yea , yea ; Nay , nay ; are to be expounded by those of St. James , to the same purpose , Jam. v. 12 . Let your Yea , be Yea ; and your Nay , Nay : And the account he gives of Both of them is this ; That our Actions should be agreeable to our Expressions ; and that whensoever we promise any thing , we should be sure to take especial care that our performance be accordingly . 3. THO' this be , no doubt , the Duty , and should be the Care of every good Christian ; yet can I , by no means , think it a proper Account of our Saviour's Meaning in the Words before us : In which it was certainly his Intention to direct us , How to manage our selves in our * Discourse , or as we render it , our Communication with one another ; and not how to conform our Performances to our Promises . 4. THAT St. James had a regard to this Passage of our Saviour , in that Exhortation which he gave to the same purpose , I make no doubt : Nor shall I deny , but that they may possibly have Both of them meant the same thing . But that either the One , or the Other , intended to restrain the Doctrine here delivered concerning Swearing , to Promissory Oaths only ; or indeed aim'd at any thing more than to shew us , How we should behave our selves in our Conversation with one another , does not appear from either of their Expressions ; nor ought , without Reason , to be supposed by us . 5. AND therefore , 2dly , and to come more closely to the Explication of the Words before us : As it is plain from the whole Tenour of our Saviour's Discourse in this place , that a good Christian may , without all scruple , Affirm what is True , or Deny what is False ; so the least we can inferr from the Repetition here made of the Yea and Nay , is this ; † That if One Assertion or Denial of either should not be sufficient to satisfie the Person with whom we converse , of the Truth of what we speak , we may renew our Discourse , and confirm it again and again to him : And by that means move him the rather to believe us , when he shall find us constantly to persevere in our Assertion or Denial of it . 6. NOR , indeed , can any Question be reasonably made of the lawfulness of our doing thus much , to satisfie the Jealousie of our Neighbour , and to justifie our own Fidelity . For if we may innocently declare what we know Once , what harm can there be in doing it a second time ? And if it be requisite that we should do so , to gain the better credit with our Brother ; and to convince him the more undoubtedly of the truth of what we say : seeing both the End for which we do it is Innocent , and there is nothing Vnlawful in the Act its self ; where can the harm of such a Repetition be ? 7. THIS therefore is the least we can suppose our Saviour hereby intended to allow us to do , for the better Confirmation of what we Promise , or Assert . And I cannot tell but that his Words may fairly be extended a great deal farther ; and be understood , 3dly ; To allow us , if need be , not only to re-iterate what we say , and thereby to fix the belief of it the more firmly in the mind of him with whom we converse ; but that with some kind of * Earnestness too in the Repetition : With some such Vehemence of Expression as may serve to add a New Force to our Words ; and effectually shew that we have both duly consider'd , and are very well assured of the Truth of what we Report ; Or of our Resolution to fulfil what we Promise , in them . 8. THIS was the Method which our Blessed Saviour himself commonly follow'd in his own Conversation : And frequent Instances we meet with of it , in all the parts of his Gospel . So in this very Chapter , Verse 18. * Verily I say unto you : And again , Verse 26. Verily I say unto thee . And that this may reasonably be presumed , to have been allow'd us in the present Passage , we may conclude from hence ; not only that this is the least degree of Assurance we can give to the Truth of what we say , above that of a simple delivery of it ; and neither cometh of Evil , nor tendeth to it : but that the very Expressions themselves which we render Yea , and Nay , do import , not a bare Affirmation , or Denial ; but that with some such Vehemence as this . Insomuch that in the Holy Scriptures themselves , we find the word which we render * Yea , made use of instead of an Asseveration ; and by our own Interpreters translated accordingly . † And even where it is not so , yet the Discourse its self shews , that there is somewhat more than a meer Affirmation designed by it ; as might easily be made appear , in several Examples , were it needful to insist upon it . 9. LET us add to this , that in the Stile of the Sacred Pen-men , the Repetition of any Word , generally Denotes somewhat of a * Vehemence designed by it . Hence it is that our Saviour does not only commonly make use of the Asseveration before mention'd ; but when he would imprint what he said , in a more particular manner , upon Mens minds , and engage them to a more serious Consideration of it ; Doubles it too ; Verily , Verily , I say unto you . And from all which put together , we may , I think , very safely conclude , That we also , after the Example of our Blessed Master , may not only with great plainness and earnestness Affirm the Truth of what we speak ; but may , if need be , add some such Asseveration to it , as he was wont to do ; and even fairly Interpret the very Words before us , to allow of it . 10. FROM what has been said , it appears ; Either that such Asseverations as those I have now been speaking of , do expresly fall within the Design of the present Text , ( and that some have thought to be the more probable ; ) Or most certainly , * are not repugnant to it . But now , 4thly : and to advance yet one step higher : What shall we say to another sort of Confirmation , frequently made use of heretofore , and not uncommon with us at this day ; whereby to convince Men of the Truth of what we say ; and that is , by Pledging ( as it were ) somewhat which is very valuable to us , for the certainty of it . 11. THIS is that kind of Confirmation , which , as distinguished from the fore-going , is usually called * Obtestation : And it differs from an Oath in this ; That an Oath has always a respect to God , and either expresly , or by construction , denotes an Appeal to Him for the ●ruth of what we utter : Whereas , in the Way I am now speaking of , we only interpose the Authority of somewhat , which is either Evidently Certain , or Apparently Dear to Us ; to bespeak our Sincerity in what we Deliver under the Caution of it . 12. SUCH a Ratification as this is that which we meet with so commonly in the Old Testament , * As thy Soul liveth . And it has been thought by some , that Joseph really did no more than this , when he seem'd to † Swear to his Brethren , by the Life of Pharaoh , Gen. xlii . 15 . And as for the New Testament ; ‖ What if that Form of Speech made use of by St. Paul , 1 Cor. xv . 31 . and which some , as we have seen , will have to be an Oath , was indeed no more than an Obtestation : I Protest By your Rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our LORD . At least I cannot but think , that Those | Primitive Christians , of whom Tertullian speaks , meant no more ; who refused to Swear by the Fortune , or Genius , of their Emperours ; lest they should seem to Appeal to the Deities of the Heathen : But yet freely gave Assurance of their Fidelity to them , by their Health and Safety , which ( as he expresses it ) was very dear to them ; and equal , in their account , with the greatest Oath . 13. THAT such kind of Confirmations as these , of the Truth of what we speak , may ( upon occasion ) not only Innocently , but Commendably , be made use of ; for the better prevention of down-right Swearing , is , I think , not to be doubted : But yet I cannot tell , whether they may be reckon'd to fall within the direct allowance of the present Text , tho' they are certainly * consistent with the design of it . And therefore , I do suppose that next to Formal-Swearing , these kind of Obtestations ought the most rarely , and with the greatest caution , to be made use of by us . 14. BUT if the Matter be weighty ; and if it be needful to do somewhat more than ordinary to convince the Person with whom we discourse , of the Truth of what we speak : And if such a lesser Ratification of it , will prevent our recurring to the last and highest , I mean , that of an Oath : I cannot see why we should not rather chuse to pledge our own Honesty or Truth ; Or to corroborate what we say , by comparing the certainty of it , with somewhat of which there can be no doubt ; such as our own , or his Life with whom we converse ; rather than accustom our selves to Call God to Witness in any Case , in which it may lie in our power to avoid it . 15. AND thus have I done with the several kinds of Confirmation of what we affirm , below the Degree of an Oath . I cannot tell whether it may be needful for me to take notice of yet another Method , which has but too much obtain'd in the World , to the same purpose : And that is , 5thly , When to Assert the Truth of what they speak , Men flee to some Curse or Imprecation upon themselves , if they Prevaricate in it . But as every Oath does in its Nature imply an Appeal to the Justice of God , as well as to his Knowledge ; and , by consequence , does inferr a * Tacit Imprecation of his Vengeance upon us , if we deal falsly with our Neighbour : So thus much we may be sure of , that were such Imprecations , otherwise , never so lawful , in order to this end ; yet they ought not to be used at any time , or upon any occasion , in which we may not lawfully take an Oath . And therefore that both out of Charity to our Selves , and out of Reverence to God's Judgments ; we ought to lay aside the Practice of such Curses altogether : Seeing they can neither be ever made without Horrour ; nor may be made in any Case , wherein we may not give our Oath , not only with an Equal Satisfaction to our Neighbour , but with greater Decency and Conformity to the Principles of Christianity . 16. AND now , to lay together , in short , the several Rules , by which we are to Govern our selves in our Communication with one another ; according as I have hitherto been more largely stating of them to you . 17. IF what we say be a Matter of meer indifference ; so that it is of no great consequence , either to our selves , or any other , whether we are believed or no : In that Case it may suffice * barely to relate what we know of it ; without troubling our selves , by any of the Ways I have now been speaking of , to give any farther Confirmation to it . 18. IF our Discourse be of such a nature , that it may concern our Neighbour to give credit to it ; or it may , perhaps , upon our own account , be convenient that he should do so : We may then confirm ▪ the Truth of what we assert , either by a * repeated Assurance of it ; or , if that will not suffice , by adding such an * Asseveration as may shew that we speak very seriously , and with a well-grounded Confidence of what we say : such as Verily , or Indeed , or In-Truth you may Believe me ; or by some other Expressions of the like nature . 19. IF this does not yet satisfie the Mind of our Neighbour , and the Subject of our Discourse be so important as to demand a still higher Conviction of the Truth of it ; then , Thirdly , I conceive we may proceed to a yet higher and more forcible confirmation of what we say , by that more weighty kind of Assurance , which , if not comprehended under the Expressions of the present Passage , is yet certainly within the Reason , and may be built upon the Grounds of it . Such are those * Obtestations so usual among our selves , Vpon my Word ; If I am Alive ; As I am an Honest Man , and the like . And such was that of St. Paul heretofore , 2 Cor. xi . 10 . As the Truth of Christ is in Me. Only as these are still greater Corroborations of the Truth of what we speak than the Other ; so ought they to be used more seldom , and with greater care , and upon more weighty occasions ; when 't is very highly expedient that we should be believed in what we say . 20. AND here we must stop in our Communication with one another . For the next Degree of Assurance , above this , is an Oath : And that I have already shewn you , must very rarely be made use of ; indeed never but when we either cannot , by any means , avoid it , or the Matter is such that we ought not to decline it . 21. WHICH being thus resolved , in answer to the first thing I proposed to consider ; Let us go on , in the next place , to see , what the Import of that Motive is which our Saviour here proposes to us , to engage us to keep within these Bounds , in our common Affairs with one another ; and that is , That whatsoever is more than these cometh of Evil. 22. IT has been doubted by Some whether what we render Cometh of Evil , might not more properly have been translated , ‖ Cometh of the Evil-One . But as the Original is certainly capable of either of these Senses ; so the Assertion of our Saviour will hold good in both of them : The Custom of Vain-Swearing being altogether wicked and unreasonable ; and not only proceeding from an Evil Principle , but in its nature , tending to an Evil End too ; and upon all these Accounts Coming from the EVIL ONE . 23. AND First ; Whatsoever is more than these Cometh of Evil. And that whether we respect * Ou● Selves , or * Others ; * The Custom o● Making , or the * Cause of Requiring an Oath , for the Confirmation of what we say . 24. IF we consider the Grounds of Common-Swearing with respect to * Our-Selves : It must proceed either from an * Evil-Custom , or from an * Evil-Principle ; and upon both those Accounts , be utterly Wicked and Vnjustifiable . 25. FOR ( 1st : ) As to the * Custom of such Swearing ; We know that every Sin is by so much the more hainous in its self , and more dangerous to our Souls ; by how much the Habit of it is the more deeply rooted in us . Insomuch that it is from this that a Man takes his Denomination ; and is look'd upon to be either a Good , or a Bad Man , according as the Common Practice of his Life bespeaks him to be . 26. THE Best Christian may be tempted , and fall into Sin ; and sometimes do that which he ought not to do . But yet whilst this is not his Custom ; whilst the General Bent not only of his Desires , and Endeavours , but of his Actions , and Conversation too , lie towards his Duty ; neither will God exact every such Sin of him , nor ought Men to censure him too severely for them . For this is the Misfortune of our Present State , and while we are in this World , will always be so ; that in Many Things we shall Offend All. 27. BUT when once any Sin becomes habitual , and Men make a common , or rather a constant , Practice of it : the very custom of it renders such a Sin both unpardonable by God , and justly censurable by all good Men. 28. SO that supposing then that Common and Vain-Swearing are sinful ; as both our Saviour here warrants us , and I have before shewn , we ought to account it : The Custom of such Swearing must be yet more Evil ; and the Sin not the less , but the greater for proceeding from it . 29. BUT indeed before Men can arrive to such a Custom , there must be in them some Evil Principle or other to give Birth to it : And such Swearing must , upon this account also , Come of Evil , that it must be derived from some Source that most certainly is so . 30. FOR since such Swearing is not only plainly Forbidden in the Gospel , but is withal , in its own nature , so Indecent , and Vnfitting ; that 't is impossible for any Man who has either any true Value for God , or has ever seriously consider'd the Meaning of an Oath , to approve of it : Certain it is , that that Man must be either very negligent of Himself , and very unsensible of his Duty ; or he must be become altogether wicked and profane , who allows himself in the customary practice of it . And from which soever of all these Principles his Swearing does proceed , what our Saviour here tells us of it will still remain true , That it Cometh of Evil. 31. NOR will this Usage be found to fall any less under the same Character , if we shall consider it with respect to those who require such Oaths of Others , and prompt Men on to the Practice of them . 32. * FOR since to encourage another to Sin , but much more to require what is Evil of him , must be highly criminal ; as being not only contrary to the Duty which we owe to God , but also to that Charity which we ought to have for our Neighbour's Soul : Certain it is , that no one who looks upon it to be unlawful to Swear vainly can , without Sin , allow , much les● encourage and oblige another so to do . And therefore it must remain that upon this Account also , as well as upon those I have already mentioned , this Practice must be confessed to Come of Evil. 33. BUT , indeed , were it not for the Evil , that is to say , the Wickedness of Men ; there would be neither any Need of Swearing at all , nor any Temptation to it . And this will yet more Verifie our Saviour's Assertion ; and shew that the very Ground and Foundation not only of False and Vain-Swearing , but of all Swearing whatsoever , Cometh of Evil. 34. NOW that I thus make out . The only Solid Reason that can be given why Men should ever Swear at all , is upon the account of its Usefulness , or rather Necessity , for the Confirmation of what they say . But now were it not for the Corruption of our Nature , and that Falseness and Insincerity , which so much abounds in the World ; and for those Jealousies and Suspicions , which Men have entertain'd of one another upon the account of it ; Where would be the Need of any such Confirmation ? Were there no such thing as Malice , or Envy ; Interest , or Design ; Covetousness , or Injustice ; Lying , or Dissimulation , known among us . But , on the contrary , every one was Honest and Ingenuous ; and might securely be trusted by his Neighbour , as such . In short , were our Condition so happy , that Men reckon'd their Word , as Sacred as their Oath ; And would be as careful of what they Said , as of what they Swore ? 35. BUT because , God knows , the Case is much otherwise with us ; and Men are so full of Tricks and Cheats , are so Subtle and Deceitful , so Vain and Vnconstant , that we know not where to have them , or when to rely upon them ; and it is hard to find out any Bond that is sufficient to assure us that they act sincerely ; therefore it has been found necessary to recur to this Obligation : That if there be any Fear of God , or any Sense of Goodness remaining to them , they may by this means , at least , be engaged to deal uprightly ; and not presume to Call God to Witness , but when they are resolved to Speak and Act , as they ought to do . 36. AND now when such is the Ground of our Appealing to God at all ; when 't is the Wickedness and Falseness of Mankind that has given occasion to the Vse of an Oath ; and without which there would never have been any need of it : Well may our Saviour give this for his Reason why all Honest and Good Men should decline Swearing , as much as they can , That it cometh of Evil ; that is , was found out as a Remedy to the Evil of our Natures , and to Secure the Truth of False and Insincere Men. * For sure a better , or more sensible Motive cannot be offer'd to engage such Persons to abstain from it , than this ; that 't is an Affront to their Honesty , a Scandal upon their Integrity : At least that it is a Tie which was never intended for Men of their Character ; nor can be allow'd by them , without seeming to own , that they are not so faithful and ingenuous as they would be thought to be . 37. BUT , Secondly : As the Practice of Swearing , especially in our Common Dealing , and Conversation with one another , howsoever it be consider'd , Cometh of Evil ; so , to complete the Iniquity of it , will it be found to Tend also unto Evil : And upon that Account , as well as upon those already mention'd , to come from the Evil One. And that especially in these ( 3. ) Respects : As it is apt , ( 1. ) To give an Evil Example to Others . ( 2. ) To take off from the Reverence of an Oath ; and from that Due Regard which ought to be had to it . And , ( 3. ) In the Consequence thereof , to lead Men into a General Profaness ; into an Vnconcernedness for , if not into a Contempt of , whatsoever is Sacred . 38. AND ( 1st . ) The Common Practice of Swearing , Tendeth to Evil ; Inasmuch as it is Apt to give an Ill Example to Others . For tho' this be a Sin which has neither any Pleasure , nor Profit , to recommend it ; nor should Men therefore , one would think , be apt to be tempted to it : Yet alas ! Experience shews us , that even Custom its self is alone sufficient to propagate an Evil Practice ; and to prompt Men to do that themselves , which they see others do before them . 39. THIS is so just a Reflection , that it is , perhaps , the Only Account that can be given , How Men Come to Swear so Ordinarily , and upon such little Occasions , as they do : In such Cases , where there is neither any manner of need of an Oath for the confirmation of what they speak ; nor have they , often times , any such design in it . But 't is a fashionable way of Adorning , or rather of Profaning their Discourse ; the Practice of it is become almost Epidemical : And they have , insensibly , accustomed their Tongues to it , till at last they neither know how to avoid it , nor are themselves sensible when they do it . 40. SO easily are Men brought to Profane the Name of God! And such a Mischievous Influence has the Practice of Common-Swearing , begun at first by a few Profligate Men , had , to spread a General Contempt of the Divine Majesty over the Face of the Earth ; and to weaken One of the most Sacred Bonds of Truth and Fidelity , that was ever given to Mankind . 41. AND this brings me to the next Ill-Effect , which this Customary Swearing has had , in Consequence of the Foregoing : And that is , ( 2dly . ) To take off from the Reverence of an Oath , and from that due Regard which ought to be had to it . 42. THAT Perjury is a Sin both too lightly Consider'd , and too commonly Practis'd among Us ; is too plainly seen , and has , I believe , been too sensibly felt likewise , by many of us , to suffer us to make any doubt of it . And how far the Prevalence of Common , and Vain-Swearing , may have contributed to this Evil , I shall leave it to every serious Christian to consider . 43. IN the mean time , thus much is evident ; That an Oath , from being one of the most Sacred and Sure Bands of Faith between Man and Man , is now become of very little Benefit or Security to us . Men take them without fear , and too often without considering what they do : And when they have taken them , they many times shew as little Regard to them in their Practice , as they at first did Reverence in Approaching to Them. 44. AND , indeed , how should we expect that he who puts no Value upon an Oath in his Common Talk , should be much more Concern'd for it , only by the Addition of a little more Solemnity to it ? Or be afraid to Break his Promise , or to Dissemble the Truth , which he Ratifies by an Appeal to God , when Imposed upon him ; who has no Regard to Either , tho' he Swears to them an Hundred Times of his Own Accord . Alas ! An Oath is only terrible to a Young Beginner : To him who Considers what it is ; and who has the Fear of God's Knowledge and Justice , still Vigorous upon his Mind . But to him who Swears every Hour that he lives ; who Trafficks with it , and could not tell how to carry on his Business without it : Who Swears with as little Concern as he Talks ; and Values an Oath , no more than he does a Common Lie : What can we expect but that as such a One's Regard to this Sacred Tie is very small ; so his Care to answer the End of it should be proportionably small too . 45. TO such a terrible Height of Wickedness is Common-Swearing apt to bring Men at the last . Nor does the Evil of it stop here ; but , ( 3dly ) and lastly ; From the Particular Contempt of an Oath , carries Men on , by Degrees , to a General Profaneness ; to an Vnconcernedness for , if not a Neglect of , whatsoever is Sacred . 46. AND this is still but the Natural Progression of this Sin ; and the Next Step to that I before mentioned . For since the Honour of God , and his Power and Justice , are all despised , and that in a most outragious manner , by the Sin of Perjury ; so that a Man must have laid aside all Regard to These , before he can harden himself to the Practice of That : What should hinder him who is become so great a Proficient in Wickedness as to be able to trample under foot the Honour , the Power , the Justice , and even the Vengeance of God too , in One Great Instance ; from proceeding , if need be , to do it as readily in any Other ? 47. THAT to Swear is not only truly an Act of Religion , but one of the most Solemn Acts of it ; and most apt to stir up in our Minds a Fear of God , and Reverence of his Name , is not to be deny'd ; 48. THAT to do this Lightly , and Vnadvisedly ; but especially to do it Falsly ; only to carry on our Own Designs , or to promote our Own Interests , at the Expence of God's Glory : must be not only horridly to profane the Sacredness of an Oath , but to flee directly in the Face of God , and to bid defiance to Damnation ; the necessary Importance of an Oath , will not suffer us to doubt . 49. NOW when once Men are become so deeply rooted in Impiety as to be able to do this , what is there left to restrain them from a General State of Profaneness and Irreligion ? It is but proceeding upon the same Principles , and doing that in the Other Instances of Religion , which they do in This : And why they should not do so , if ever their Passions or their Interests should prompt them to it , I cannot see ; and we need not question but that they will go on accordingly . 50. IF therefore we have any Regard to God's Glory ; if any Concern for our Own Souls ; let both these perswade us not to allow our selves in a Practice so offensive to the one , so dangerous to the other . 51. LET those despise the Sanctity of an Oath , and Prostitute it to a Common and Profane Vsage ; who know not how Sacred a Thing it is , and how dangerous to indulge the Customary Practice of it . But let it suffice us to take that liberty which our blessed Lord has left to us , not only as the most safe ; but as ( in the General Affairs of Life , ) sufficient too . And let us so much the rather content our selves with it , by how much the more plainly it appears from all those Considerations I have now been offering to you , That whatsoever is More than That , Cometh of Evil. CHAP. V. Wherein an Enquiry is made into the Causes Both of that Common , and False-Swearing , which so much Abounds in the World : And some Directions are Offer'd for the better Prevention of Both of Them. 1. I HAVE now done with our Saviour's Discourse , relating to the Point of Swearing ; and might with that , have reasonably enough concluded my Reflections upon This Subject . But because there are some things which I could not so well refer to any of those Heads I have before treated of ; which yet , I conceive , may usefully be observed by us upon this Occasion : I shall chuse rather to put them together , a little out of place , than wholly to pass them by . 2. NOW the Summ of what I would farther propose , for finishing of this whole Subject , may be Reduced to these two General Heads : I st . I will consider , How it comes to pass , that Men are so Forward to Swear , almost upon Every Occasion ; and too often Venture , even to Forswear themselves . And having given such an Account as may be necessary of this Matter , I will go on , II dly , To Offer some particular Directions , for the better Correction and Prevention of Both those Evils . 3. AND , 1 st . Let us consider , How it comes to pass , that after all our Saviour has said to the contrary ; yet we see Men , nevertheless , not only so Forward to Swear , almost upon every Occasion ; but too often Venturing even to Forswear Themselves . 4. IN the Prosecution of which Enquiry , it is not my Intention to make any laborious Search into the Causes of that Common-Swearing which has so Vniversally , almost , Obtain'd in the World ; and makes up a Great part of Mens Ordinary Discourse with one another . For tho' that be , without Controversie , a very Grievous Sin , yet is it withal a very Vnaccountable One too . A Sin which Men commit to Serve no End ; to Gratifie no Lust ; to Carry on no Business by . Without Profit ; without Pleasure ; I had almost said , and without Temptation too . In short ; A Sin by which they Dishonour God , and Ruine their own Souls , to no purpose : but do the Work of the Devil , without that Common-Encouragement which , in most other Cases , he allows wicked Men , to reward their doing of it . So that for ought I know , the Best Account that can be given , why Men ever fall into this Sin at all , is ; That they have slipp'd into the Habit of it , they know not how : and Custom has made it a Fashionable Vice. They look upon it as a Modish Way of Discourse ; and think it would bring an Imputation upon their Breeding , if they should altogether Forbear it : And render their Conversation Flat , and Insipid ; for want of that Profaneness , which indeed is , many times , the only thing that is remarkable in it . 5. BUT this is not that Swearing I am now concern'd for : Nor do we find that our Saviour has had any regard for such Sinners as these . If Men will run into Evil Habits without Need , it is but fitting they should Perish without Pity : And not expect to be argued out of a Vice , which is so far from having any Shew of Reason to Justifie it ; that it has not so much as any Temptation , that may serve to make an Excuse for it . The Swearing , I am now speaking of , is of another nature , and practised by a better sort of Men. By such as acknowledge the Obligation , tho' they do not sufficiently consider the Sacredness of an Oath : And for that reason allow themselves , on every little Occasion , to flee to the Use of it ; as long as they do but take care not to confirm any thing , but what is true , by it . And whence it comes to pass , that so many , even among the higher rank of Christians , are yet thus forward to Swear ; is the first thing I proposed to Enquire . 6. AND here ( 1st . ) It may be consider'd , that every one , who has any sense of Probity remaining in him , desires to be Believed ; especially in what he seriously Affirms or Denies : And cannot but think it very hard to be suspected of any Falseness and Vntruth in his Discourse . Besides that , often times , it may be of Concern to him that he should be Believed : And to leave his Veracity in doubt , may prove not only to his Disgrace , but to his Damage also . 7. NOW Interest and Reputation , are Two of the Dearest Things in the World to most Men ; and the Love of which they can the most hardly overcome . And therefore when these shall prompt a Man rather to confirm the truth of what he speaks with an Oath , than to run the hazard of suffering in one , or , it may be , in both of them ; there had need be a deep sense of Religion , and a very awful dread of an Oath indeed , rooted in a Man's Heart , to keep him from so doing . 8. LET us add to this , ( 2dly ) That unreasonable Jealousie which abounds in Mankind towards each other ; and moves them upon the least appearance of Reason ; nay , and often-times without any ; to suspect one another . Hence it is that if a Matter be but of never so little importance ; if it be for a Man's advantage , or disadvantage ; for his pleasure , or trouble , to be thoroughly convinced of it : It is seldom known that they will be satisfied with the bare Word of him who reports it unto them ; or with any thing less , than his Swearing to the Truth of what he says . And if , out of Conscience to his Duty , and being unwilling to break in upon the Sacredness of an Oath , he should chance to refuse so to do ; it is great odds but he shall be urged and provoked to it : And hardly avoid the censure of speaking falsly from those , who having no respect for an Oath themselves , will not easily be perswaded that another should have any higher regard to it ; or refuse to Swear upon any other account than this , that he is conscious to himself that what he says is false ; and therefore he dares not Swear to the Truth of it . And many there are , even among the better sort of Men , who by this means are betray'd into an undue Usage of an Oath : And chuse rather to Swear , when otherwise they would not do it , than to bear the Reproaches of those to whom they speak , by a peremptory refusal of it . 9. AGAIN ( 3dly ) To Men who have either no true sense at all of Religion upon their Minds ; or have not sufficiently consider'd the Nature of an Oath , and convinced themselves thereby how much the Honour of God is concern'd in our using of it ; and how cautious we , therefore , ought to be , upon what Occasions we do Swear : The customary forwardness which we complain of in most Men to recur to this way of confirming what they say , may be , and ( I believe ) has been , a great inducement , to the over-easie practice of it . 10. THERE are few Christians so ignorant as not to know , that Perjury is a very hainous Sin , and such as may not be committed , without the Peril of Salvation . But yet there may be many who are still to learn , that to Swear upon a small occasion , tho' a Man swears nothing but the truth , is of its self criminal ; and , as such , forbidden in the Gospel . Now such Persons as these , being sensible how usual it is for Men to do this , look no farther ; but follow on as they see others go before them ; nor feel any Remorse of Conscience for doing that , which they never understood had any great harm in it . 11. AND that which may possibly have contributed to confirm them in this practice is ; that they see themselves call'd upon to Swear , so very often , not only in their own Private Concerns , but even by Publick Authority . For since Charity , as well as Duty , obliges us to think that nothing is done by that but upon the most mature deliberation ; and we know how great a number of wise and good Men must concur to the making of a Law with us ; whose Wisdom we cannot , and whose Piety we ought not to doubt of : It is but reasonable to conclude , that they had certainly a due Regard to the Honour of God in all their Constitutions ; and would never require us to Swear on any occasion , in which they esteem'd it either unlawful , or unseemly for us to do it . 12. HOW far such Reasoning as this may have disposed some unwary Persons to Swear more frequently , and upon lesser occasions than they ought to do , I cannot tell : But I think it may deserve to be consider'd , Whether the Multitude of Cases wherein not our Laws only , but those of all other Countries , do oblige , or , at least , allow Men to Swear ; may not have somewhat contributed to that forwardness of doing it , which we see and complain of in them , upon other occasions : And have disposed them to be more ready , than they ought to be , to recur to an Oath in such Cases , wherein there is neither any Command of Man , nor any Excuse before God , for their doing of it . 13. I SHALL offer but one Account more of this Unwarrantable Readiness of Men to Swear ; And that is ( 4thly ) From the Refusal which some , of late , have made of All Swearing whatsoever : And in opposition to whose Errour , some may possibly have been so unwary as to run into the contrary Extreme ; and to have concluded , that so far is it from being unlawful to Swear in any Case , that , rather , there is none so small in which they may not freely do it . 14. IT is the Infirmity of many , of more Warmth than Judgment , that they are always in Extremes : And think the only way to secure themselves from Error , is to fly as far from it as they can . Not considering that there may be as little Reason in one Extreme , as in another ; and that , according to the old Remark , Truth , as well as Vertue , is seldom found in either . 15. THUS some out of an over-eager Opposition to Popery , have cast off Episcopacy ; and for fear of Superstition , would have all Decency thrown out of the Church . And I verily believe we had not seen at this day so much Profaneness and Irreligion among us , had not the detestation of some Mens Hypocritical Pretences to Godliness , first prompted on others to fly out into a Loosness of Living , and from thence into a Neglect of every thing that is Sacred . And how far this Vice of Common-Swearing may have gotten Grounds by the same Means , and have been improved too among the rest ; I shall leave it to those who have consider'd , from what Time it has begun more especially to prevail among us , to determine . 16. SUCH therefore may , I suppose , have been the Causes of that Readiness which we find in Men to Swear , even upon the most common , and unjustifiable Occasions . But now , as for the other Sin proposed , that of Perjury ; I can scarcely tell to what Cause to ascribe the little Concern which many shew of falling into that ; because , indeed , I can scarcely tell what Cause should be sufficient to harden their Consciences against it . 17. THAT the Frequency of Swearing , and the little Occasions on which Men sometimes allow themselves in the Practice of it , may have very much taken off from their Reverence of an Oath , I can easily believe ; and by that means have disposed them to Swear more carelesly , and with lesser consideration than they ought to do . 18. THAT by their often and careless Swearing , they may probably sometimes have incurr'd the Guilt of Perjury , unawares ; and by that means have been unhappily made acquainted with it ; I do not doubt . 19. BUT yet still , to Swear falsly , where a Man knows what he does ; and deliberately Designs so to do ; this adds so much not only to Common-Swearing , but even to an Vnwilling Perjury also ; that a Man ought to become a great Proficient in Wickedness , before he can bring his Mind to it . 20. THIS therefore is a Sin which I can ascribe to no other Cause than that of a Profane Heart , and a Hardned Conscience . Whether it be that a Man falls into it through an absolute Infidelity ; or that by a long , habitual Continuance in Sin , he is at last become deprived of God's Grace , and is given up to be led Captive by Satan at his Will. For otherwise , Perjury is a Crime of so detestable a Nature , and which has so much of the falseness of the Devil in it ; that were there but any Spark of Piety remaining in the Soul , it were impossible a Man should ever be perswaded to commit it : Or having once committed it , should be able to endure his own Torments ; much less should ever return to the Commission of it again . 21. I SHALL therefore seek no farther for the Cause of this Sin ; but shall confidently conclude , that the Habit of it can proceed from nothing less than an Vtter Dereliction of God , and an Extinction of All Sense of Good and Evil in the Soul. 22. WHICH being thus resolved ; Let us now go on , II dly , To Consider , What Directions may be offer'd for the Correction of these Great Evils . 23. AND , 1 st : For what concerns the Point of Perjury ; As I have now shewn , that a Man must be arrived to an Extraordinary Pitch of Wickedness , before he can allow himself in the commission of it ; so I know no way there is to draw Men off from that , but only to awaken their Consciences , if it may be , to a serious Consideration of their Sins ; and by that Means to bring them to a sincere Conversion from them . 24. INDEED could even Charity its self warrant us to think , that it were possible for Men to be so far deluded , as not to know False-Swearing , I do not say to be a Sin , but to be a most hainous and damnable Offence ; such a Sin for which God has no Pity ; and it may almost be question'd whether he will afford Men his Grace for Repentance of it ; there might then be also some hope , that by a better Information of their Judgments , as to this Matter , they might perhaps be reclaimed from it . 25. BUT when such is the Notoriousness of this Crime , that 't is impossible any one should fall into it without knowing that he does at the same time Defie God , and make a Mock of Damnation ; we must conclude that 't is in vain to hope by any particular Applications to Correct this Evil : And that we must resolve either to reduce such a Person to a general sense of Piety and Vertue ; or to leave him in the guilt of this , as well as under the power of his other sins . 26. AND this , I say , as to what concerns the Point of Moral Conviction and Perswasion . For , otherwise , one Method there is , and 't is the only one I can imagine , by which a stop may be put to the Practice of this , without medling with a Man 's other Sins ; And that is , by a strict Execution of Humane Justice upon him : And which out of Charity to our Neighbour's Soul , as well as out of Duty to God , and with Regard to the Publick Welfare ; it is great pity but all Magistrates should , with all possible Vigour and Severity , do . 27. HOW much the Welfare of Mankind is concern'd in the Suppression of False-Swearing , I need not say : And what Provision our Own * Laws have made for the better effecting of it , cannot be unknown to those who are intrusted with the Administration of them , and who are especially concern'd to take notice of it . Let me only beg leave earnestly to Recommend it to all such , so far to consider the great Trust which is Reposed in them ; and what an Interest every honest Member of the Common-wealth has to demand their Care in this , more than in any other Sin committed to their Censure ; as not to admit of any Excuses , nor to shew any Favour , to such Malefactors : Who if , by this means , they shall be brought to a true Sense of their Sin , and to Repentance for it ; will then think themselves Gainers by their Prosecution : And if they shall not , I am sure cannot , by our Laws , be too severely punish'd for it . 28. BUT , 2dly : As for the other sort of Swearing forbidden by our Saviour , yet too easily Indulged by many Christians : Whether it be that of their Common Discourse , where there is no Need at all of it ; Or in the Prosecution of their Ordinary Affairs , in which there is no Sufficient Occasion for it : Many are the Directions that may be offer'd for the Prevention of such a Practice , proportionable to the several Principles upon which Men may be prompted to allow themselves in the Vse of it . 29. FOR ( 1st . ) Should they chance to go on in such Swearing , for want of being Convinced of the Danger and Vnreasonableness of it ; The surest Way , in this Case , to draw them off from their Practice of it , will be to shew them how expresly it has been Forbidden by our Saviour ? What an Affront it puts upon the Majesty of God ? And how Indecent a Thing it is , ( were there nothing else to be said against it ) to Call the Great Lord of Heaven and Earth to Witness , on such Silly and Trivial Occasions , as such Persons cannot but acknowledge , they very often do . 30. BUT ( 2dly . ) Tho' possibly Men may know , in the General , that thus to Swear is not convenient ; yet still they may neglect to take all that Care and Pains with themselves , that is necessary for the intire avoiding of it , because they are not sufficiently perswaded , how great the Sinfulness of it is . This is , I believe , the real Case with very many : And if so , then 't is plain that here again the Best Way to draw them off from this Evil Custom , will be to Convince them of the mighty Danger and Malignity of it . To shew them , that thus to Swear , is not , as they may imagine , some light and ordinary Offence ; nor will be pass'd over by God , as such . That to Swear , is to Appeal to God ▪ And if that be done without great care , and a suitable occasion for it , we shall put such an Affront upon Him , as we would be ashamed to put upon one of our Fellow Creatures , and would not endure that any should put upon our selves . 31. THESE and the like Considerations , if plainly urged , and seriously laid to Heart ; can hardly fail of convincing any rational person of the sinfulness of this Practice . And having done that , they must , in the consequence of it , oblige him to Correct it too ; if he be truly such an one as we now suppose him to be , viz. an honest and upright Christian. 32. BUT ( 3dly . ) Should not this be the Case ; but the Person who is engaged in this Evil Habit should be one who pursues this Swearing not so much out of any particular ignorance of , or unconcernedness for , the Sacredness of an Oath ; as out of a general levity of Mind and insensibility of his Duty : Then it will not be sufficient to argue with him , concerning the Nature and Importance of an Oath , and with what Care and Circumspection we ought to approach to the taking of it : But we must proceed with such a one in a more General Way ; and bring him to Reverence an Oath , by teaching him to be more considerate ; and to have a greater value for all the other Acts of Religion . 33. SUCH a Person as this , as he does not Prophane God's Name out of any particular dis-regard which he has for an Oath , more than for any other thing of the like nature , so neither must he be brought off from the doing of it , by any particular Considerations relating to the Sacredness of an Oath ; but must be perswaded , in the general , to become Serious and Devout ; to honour God , and to pay a due Respect to every thing that relates to him : And this will Compose his Thoughts , and Influence his Affections in all the Offices of Religion ; and in this Particular among the rest . 34. BUT now ( 4thly . ) and to go yet higher : What if the Person who thus Swears , should not only be more careless and inconsiderate , than he ought to be , in the Business of Religion ; but should , by Principle , be become a despiser of it ? What if he be one who Believes not in any God at all ; but Laughs at all our Talk either of a Providence here , or of a Judgment hereafter ? 35. THO' in this Case , as in the foregoing , the best way to Reclaim such a one's Common Swearing would be to Convince him of his Errors ; and , by so doing , to cut off the first Cause of this Irregularity : Yet till that shall be done , somewhat , I think , may fairly be offer'd , upon his own Principles , to Restrain this Vice , without medling with any of his others . 36. FOR , indeed , how foolish and ridiculous a thing must it be for such a one , ( if he be in good earnest , ) by Swearing , to Appeal to God , who professes to Believe None ; or at least None that has any Concern for , or Knowledge of , what we do here Below ? How absurd , for him to refer himself to the Censure of a Future Judgment , who would be thought not to own any State at all after this in which we now live ; nor , by consequence , to revere any such Final Inquest . 37. OR if in all this he only acts a part ; How base and dis-ingenuous must he then shew himself to be ; to offer an Oath for the confirmation of what he promises or asserts ; Who neither believes any Obligation to be thereby laid upon him to deal ever the more sincerely for it ; Nor can have any design in Swearing , but only to impose upon the Credulity , and to ridicule the Religion of his Neighbour ? 38. WHETHER therefore Men acknowledge the Principles of Religion or no , yet certainly Common Justice and Honesty ; nay , or even Honour its self , ( which with some Men is of greater Authority than both ; ) should make them ashamed to Swear , in any Matter , for the Confirmation of the Truth of what they Speak : Because they know , in their own Hearts , that they do but impose thereby upon those with whom they deal by the shew of an Obligation ; which , how great-soever it may be to others , yet to them is of no force ; nor lays any restraint at all upon them . And , as for their Ordinary-Conversation ; since to Swear in that , is to Prophane the Name of a God , whom other Men do believe in , tho' they themselves do not ; and which they cannot therefore but think must be very ungrateful and offensive to them : Methinks even Civility and Good-Manners should teach them to forbear such Oaths , if not for the perpetual Contradiction which they thereby run into , as to their own Principles , yet at least for that Affront which they know they put upon other Mens . 39. THESE then are the Ways by which Men are to be drawn off from their Customary and Profane-Swearing , upon the Principles of Reason and Religion . There is yet ( 5thly . ) Another Method , which the Care and Piety of our Laws has set before us , and which it is to be hoped shall now , at length , be made use of in order to this end ; and that is , by a strict Exaction of that Penalty , which they have order'd to be inflicted upon such Offenders , for the restraining of their Profaness : And which how small soever it may seem to be , and in truth is , in comparison of the Sin of taking God's Name in vain ; yet , being duly required , might go very far towards the prevention of it . 40. IT is true there was somewhat of this kind * long before attempted ; and which one would have hoped should have kept this Sin from becoming so Common , or rather so Vniversal , as it is , among us . But alas ! What can the best Laws do , if they are never put in Execution ? And how little that Law has , of late Years , been either Publish'd , or Executed , as it ought to have been ; is a Reflection that may deserve the Consideration of many among us . 41. IN the mean time we all now know how that Ancient , and almost Antiquated Law , is not only Revived , but Improved too , in order to this End : And such Care taken , that if we would but heartily set our selves to it , I cannot but think we should soon put an end to a great part of that Prophane Swearing that has of late so scandalously prevailed among us . 42. AND to engage us so to do , give me leave to say but this one thing ; that for any of us to neglect our Duty in this Particular ; is , in effect , to consent to every such Act , as we refuse to bring to light . It is to abet the taking of God's Name in vain : And then let us fear lest we share in the Punishment , as we do partake in the Guilt of it . 43. BUT ( 6thly . ) and to conclude these Reflections : As it is certain that nothing has more contributed to the Practice both of False-Swearing , and of Common-Swearing , among us , than the Want of that due Reverence Men ought to have of an Oath ; so I know no way more likely to reclaim Men from the Practice of both , than to Endeavour , as far as may be , to Restore the Use of an Oath to its just Veneration ; and to bring Men , if it be possible , to a more Sacred Esteem of it . And in order thereunto , as it is certainly the Duty of Private Persons , never to Swear at all , but when some more than ordinary Occasion shall require their doing of it ; so were it much to be wish'd , that the Necessities of Government would permit , that an Oath should never be imposed upon , nor required of any , but upon some greater Exigence ; to be sure , more seldom than now it is . And that when it is required , such Care should be taken in Administring of it , as to Raise in Mens Minds a serious Consideration of what they are about : At least that it should be so done , as not to prompt them to a Dis-esteem of it ; through an over-hasty , and irreverent Dispensing of this great Obligation . 44. AND thus have I shewn , by what Means , if by any , not only Perjury , but Common and Profane-Swearing , may be most like to be Corrected and Suppress'd . And for Engagements to move every one of us to use our best Endeavour in the Accomplishment of so good and profitable a Design ; I shall only add thus much , to what I have already offer'd , in the Prosecution of this Subject ; That if we have any Regard to God's Honour ; If any Concern for our own Souls ; If any Zeal for the Publick Good ; All these call upon us to do , what in us lies , to reform both our selves , and others , as to this Matter . 45. THAT by Common and Customary , but especially by False-Swearing ; God's Majesty is abused , and his Wrath and Vengeance very eminently provoked ; the necessary relation which every Oath has to him , sufficiently speaks . 46. THAT therefore by such Practices , Mens Souls must be greatly endanger'd ; both the * Denuntiations of God against such Offenders , and the Quality of the Sins themselves , effectually assure us . But especially by the Sin of Perjury ; which , it may be , is of all others a Sin the most hard to be forgiven , because it is the most hard for any one , according to the Principles of Christianity , sufficiently to repent of it . 47. INDEED were a bare Conversion towards God , enough to wash away the Guilt of it ; a Man might , by God's Grace , be brought to such a deep sense of his Sin , and to so hearty a Contrition for it , as to deliver himself from the Danger of it . But if by our Perjury we should chance not only to have abused the Majesty of God , but to have ruined our Neighbour too : Should we have Robb'd him of his Estate , his Reputation , or even of his very Life its self ; and in none of all which we can make him any tolerable Compensation : How can we ever hope that God will be reconciled to us ; whilst we lie under such an utter Incapacity of ever making an amends to our Neighbour ? 48. AND then , lastly ; For the Interest which the Publick has in the Suppression of such Swearing ; I have already shewn that Truth and Fidelity , are the great Bases on which all Society is founded ; and without which there could be no Peace , no Security , no Right or Property in the World. And therefore , whatsoever is in any wise apt to undermine these ; ( as Perjury directly does , and as Common-Swearing naturally tends to do ; ) ought to be avoided , and discouraged by all who either love their Own Welfare , or have any regard to the Publick Good. I shall conclude this whole Discourse with that Exhortation of St. James , which I have so often referr'd to in it ; James , v. 12 . Above all things , my Brethren , Swear not : Neither by Heaven , neither by the Earth ; neither by Any Other Oath : But let your Yea , be Yea , and your Nay , Nay ; lest ye fall into Condemnation . FINIS . Notes, typically marginal, from the original text Notes for div A66244-e90 * Viz. in 21 Jac. I. * See 5 E. ●iz . c. 9. * 21 Jac. 1. c. 20. And so in this last Act of K. William to the same purpose . * In the Theodosian Code we find an Ecclesiastical Law of Valentinian , directed to Pope Damasus , and Read in the Churches of Rome , Anno 370. God. Th. Lib. xvi . leg . 20. But Sulpicius Severus carries us yet higher ; and mentions the Reading of the Emperour's Letter there , Anno 355. And Gothofred , in his Comments upon that Law , adds several other Instances of the like Nature . Such were the Law of Theodosius the Younger against Nestorius ; and especially , the Letter of Constantine the Great , in favour of Athanasius ; which he order'd to be publish'd in the Churches of Alexandria . And that this Custom held still on , the other Instances of that learned Man plainly shew . To which add the Tome of Union set forth by Constantinus Porphyrogenitus ; and publish'd every Year in the Churches , in the Month of July : Vid. Matth. Blastar , Lit. T. cap. 14. And it appears from the Novels , that the Imperial Laws were not only publish'd in the Churches , but were laid up in their Archives ; and fix'd upon Tables in the Porches and Avenues of them ; and directed to the Bishops for that end : Novell . viii . c. 14. * Mat. v. 37 , &c. Chap. I. Chap. II. * Cicer. de Offic. Lib. iii. † Vid. Commentarium Gothofredi , in Lib. ii . Cod. Theodos. Tit. ix . Leg. 8. * Vid. Leg. Citat . Arcad. & Honor. contra Perjuros . Tho' Perjury in Judiciary Causes , was before punish'd with a Civil Penalty . Vid. Gothofred . ibid. ‖ Diodor. Sicul. Lib. 1. pag. 69. * See 11 H. 7.24 & 25.23 H. 8.3.13 Eliz. 25. ‖ See 6 Assize 7.30 Ass. 24.40 Ass. 20.41 Ass. 18. Glanvil , lib. ii . cap. 19. Bracton , lib. iv . tract . 5. cap. 5. Fortescue , cap. 26. And the Summ of all is this ; That he who violated his Oath in a Judicial Process , should lose the Benefit of the Law ; his Wife and Children should be turn'd out of Doors ; his Fields should be ploughed up ; his Gardens and Orchards be spoil'd ; his Goods and Chattels should be forfeited to the Kings ; and himself be condemn'd to Perpetual Imprisonment . This was the Law in the Case of a Petty Jury , attained for a false Verdict : See Coke 1 Instit. lib. iii. cap. 8. §. 514. And it seems to have been taken from the Laws of King Alfred , upon the like occasion : Vid. leg . Alfred , §. 1. But for other Perjury it has been question'd whether there was any provision made by the Common Law before the 3d of Hen. vii . See Dyer 7 & 8 Eliz. fol. 242. b. And 1 Crook , p. 520 , 521. Tho' yet the Mirrour seems to speak in general of Perjury , and the punishment of it : Ch. iv . §. 19. And the Law of King Alfred , before mentioned , extends even to Promissory Oaths . Vid. l. c. cap. de Jure-jurando . Chap. III. * Vid. Greg. Presb. in Vit. Greg. Naz. Et Greg. Naz. carm . de Vit. suâ . To. ii . p. 18. A. * Basil , in Psal. xiv· Chrys. Hom. xvii . in Matth. Theodoret , Epit . Div. Decret . c. xvi . Epiphan . Haer. lix . Athanas . Serm. De Passion . & Crucef . Dom ▪ Tom. I. p. 995. * That this was the sense of Greg. Naz. ( one of the most eminent Opposers of Swearing in those days ) is evident from that Excellent Discourse of his , which still remains to us , against those who Swear much . Where first he advises , if it may be , as most safe , not to Swear at all : But if that cannot be obtain'd ; then in the next place to Swear only in such Cases as deserve to be confirm'd by an Oath ; As to free a Man's self from danger ; to vindicate his Reputation , and the like . See this Subject at large pursued by him , To. ii . Iambic : xx . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , p. 224. * Vid. Ciceron . Orat. pro l. Com. Balb. init . * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , says Photius , Nomoc. Tit. ix . cap. 1. pag. 953. See also Cod. Theodos. Lib. 1. Tit. iii. Const. 25. And the same is affirmed by Matt. Blastares ; viz. That the Civil-laws themselves excused Clergy-men from Swearing . Syntagm . Alphab . Lit. E. cap. 22. And Theodorus Balsamon is of the same Opinion ; at least from the time that the Basilicon was composed : In Phot. Nomocan , Tit. ix . cap. 27. In the Laws of Lombardy , and in the Capitularies of Louis the Emperour , the same Exemption was continued . Vid. Not Fabrotii ad Balsam : Collect. è Lib. 1 Cod. Tit. iii. c. 25. And even in our own Country , the Council of Berghamstead , Can. 17. confirm'd this to the Bishops : And in the Excerpta of Egbert Arch-bishop of York , not long after , we find the same Priviledge extended to All Priests : Vid. in Concil . Spelmann . To. 1. * See an Instance of this in Constantine the Great : Cod. Theodos . Lib. ix . Tit. 1. leg . 4. Add. Comment . Gothofred . ib. p. 8. b. ‖ Cod. l. ii . Tit. 59. Novell . viii . c. 7 , 14. & ib. xlviii . c. 1. Add. Phot. Nomocan . Tit. xiii . c. 18. * Apol. ad Const. To. 1. p. 674. D. Who yet elsewhere speaks as if All Swearing were Unlawful . Loc. supr . Citat . * De verb. Apostol . Serm. xxviii . cap. 9. * See Balsam . Comment . in Can. xxix . S. Basilii : Nay he took those into Orders who had rashly Sworn not to accept of them ; Ib. Can. x. And continued others in their Ministry , Ib. Et apud Io. Antioch . Collect. Can. Tit. 45. ‖ See Can. S. Basil , ib. lxiv , lxxxii . — Add. Can. Apost . 25 , &c. * Non jurare tantum Temerè , sed adhuc etiam pejerare : De laps . p. 123. Edit . Oxon. * Vid. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. Lib. vi . cap. 43. p. 199. D. Dionysius , Bishop of Alexandria , at the same time , both allow'd of and practised Swearing . Ib. cap. 40. p. 191. C. And if we would go yet higher ; St. Basil will furnish us with the Example of St. Clement , the Companion of St. Paul : Lib. de Sp. S. cap. 29. To say nothing of that Representation which Lucian makes of the common practice of the Christians , as to this matter , in his Philopat . pag. 1121. * Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. vi . cap. 43. pag. 198. B. ‖ Vid. G●r . Vossii Hist. Pelag. lib. v. p. 2. pag. 524. Vid. Grot. Annot. in Mat. v. 34. Where there are several Instances of each of these . * De Bello Judaico ▪ lib. ii . c. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ‖ Ib. p. 786. Edit . Gl. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . * Chap. III. Sect. 25 , &c. * Homer . Il. A. v. 234. Conf. Virg. Aen. xii . v. 206. Aristoph . Neo. Act. l. Scen. 3. & Scholiast . ib. Virg. Aen vi . v. 351 , 458. Aen. vii . 234. Ammian . Marcel . Lib. xxiv . cap. 5. Procop. de Bell. Persic . Lib. l. c. 4. ‖ Vid. Suid. in Socrat. p 780. Servius in Virg. Aen. Lib. ix . v. 300. * See below , Chap. III. §. 30. * See below , Chap. III. §. 30. ‡ That to Swear after the manner of the Gentiles is Evil , cannot be doubted . Hence it was that the Ancient Canons of the Church expresly Forbade it : See Concil . Trull . can . 94. Conf. Can. Basil. 81. And the Civil Law made such Oaths Void . Basil. lib. xxii . Tit. 5. But the Canon Law is more General : and forbids Swearing by Any Creature : 22. Q. 1. cap. 7 , 8 , 9 , 10. Yet still they Allow'd to Swear Otherwise than by God only . v. g. P●r Salutem Imp. Basil. ib. By the Eucharist . Euseb. Hist. Eccl. l. vi . cap. 43. Not to mention any more Particulars . Vid. August . Serm de Verb. Apost . xxviii . Greg. Naz. Carm. lamb . xx . Tom. ii . Pag. 226. Chap. iv . Chap. v. Notes for div A66244-e12790 [ Ye have heard , that it hath been said by Them of Old Times . ] † So the Syriac Version renders it , and St. Chryst. heretofore understood it : Hom. xvi . in Mat. Compare Theophyl . on the place . And so indeed the Opposition between this and the following Verse , requires us to expound it : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . ‖ So Grotius in his Annotations on this place ; and in his Explication of the Decalogue , Command . 3d. * Grot. ib. in Mat. v. 33. † Exod. xxii . 11 . Deutron . vi . 13 . — x. 20 . Numb . v. 19 , 21. * Josh. ii . 12 , 17 , &c. — ix . 19 , 20. 1 Sam. xx . 17 . 1 Kings i. 13 . Ezra x. 5 . ‖ Nehem. v. 12 , 19. — x. 29 . † Isai. xlv . 23 . * Psal. lxiii . 11 . Compare Zeph. i. 5 . Jer. v. 7 . * The words of the Chaldee Paraphrast both in Exodus and Deuteronomy are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the former of which , not only in the Chaldee , but Syriac and Arabic , denotes what is to no purpose , for no Gain , or Advantage : the latter , sometimes in vain , but more properly falsly . Nor can it be supposed , that the Paraphrast design'd by his latter Expression to explain his former ( for if so , what need had he to make use of it ? ) but being willing to reach the full meaning of the Original , and knowing the Hebrew word to be capable of both those senses , he thought good rather to mention both , than to prefer either . But others were not so cautious : The Jerusalem Targum , and that of Jonathan , both render it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , in Vain : The lxx 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : Aquila , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : And the Latin Versions are unanimous in the same sense , and that no● only since St. Hierom's time , but from the beginning ; as is plain from St. Cyprian , Testimon . lib. iii. num . ●2 . * This Opinion was very ancient : Theodoret mentions it , Quaest. in Exod. Qu. 41. But Opposes it , as not coming up sufficiently to the design of the Command , and to the proper signification of the Words of it . See Grot. in Loc. Dr. Hammond , Pract. Catech. Sect. of Swearing . Mat. v. 17 . [ Thou shalt not Forswear thy self ; but shalt Perform unto the LORD thine Oaths . ] * Apud Ciceron . de Offic. lib. iii. * So St. Augustine expresly determins : Serm. de Verb. Apost . 28. cap. 10. Et ipse qui exigit jurationem , multum interest , si nescit Illum falsum juraturum , an scit . Si enim nescit , & ideò dicit , Jura mihi ut fides ei fiat ; non audeo dicere non esse peccatum ; tamen Humana tentatio est . Si autem scit eum fecisse , novit fecisse , vidit fecisse , & cogit jurare , Homicida est . Ille enim suo Perjurio se perimit : sed iste Manum interficientis & expressit & pressit . [ But I say unto you , Swear not at All , &c. ] * Several Passages to this purpose , we find in some of the Fathers themselves : But the Pelagians held it as their Opinion : See Hilar. Epist. ad August . T. 2. Ep. 88. Pelag. Epist. ad Demetriad . apud Hieron . T. 2. Caelestius : apud Eund . T. 4. de Scientia Div. Leg. So did the Waldenses after them : not to mention those Fanaticks of our own times , who do likewise . * Deutr. vi . 13 . — x. 20 . Exod. xxiii . 13 . Josh. xxiii . 7 , 8. † Jer. v. 7 . Hos. iv . 15 . Amos viii . 14 . Zeph. i. 5 . See above , Chap. I. ‖ Above 70 Instances of this may be taken out of the Old Testament . † Exod. xxii . 11 . Numb . v. 19.21 . — xxx . 10 — Deut. xxix . 12 . 2 Chron. vi . 22 . — * August . de Verb. Apost . Serm. 28. Si Peccatum esset Juratio , nec in Veteri Lege diceretur , Non Perjurabis , reddes autem Domino Jus-jurandum tuum . Non enim peccatum praeciperetur nobis . Mat. v. 17 . * It is true St. Augustine tells us , that the Pelagians deny'd these to be Oaths : and Held nothing to be Swearing , unless it were put into that express Form ; BY GOD. But He tells us withal , that their only reason for denying this was to avoid the Example of St. Paul , and the force of our Argument taken from it : And justly charges them thereupon with an utter Ignorance of what it was to Swear . See To. 2. Epist. 89. ad Hilar. And yet St. Basil was once Almost of the same mind : But it was the same Reason that seems to have led him to it . See his Exposit. in Psal. xiv . * So St. August . l. de Mendacio ad Consentium , To. iv . Juravit ipse Apostolus in Epistolis suis , & sic ostendit , quomodo accipiendum esset quod Dictum est ; Dico Vobis , Non jurate Omnino . — And a little after : Quia praecepti Violati reum Paulum , praesertim in Epistolis conscriptis atque Editis ad Spiritualem Vitam , Salutemque Populorum , nefa● est dicere ; Intelligendum est illud quod positum est , Omnino , ad hoc positum , ut Quantum in te est non Affectes , non Ames , non quasi pro Bono , cum aliqua Delectatione , Appetas Jus-jurandum . — * Vid. Coelest . Epist. de Scienti● Divinae legis : Apud Hieron . T. IV. p. 63. — † So Origen in Mat. Tract . 35. p. 114. L. Chrys. in Heb. Hom. 11. August . in Jo. Tract . 41 Hieron . in Ezek. c.xvi . In Vet. Testamento Dei Juramentum est , Vivo Ego , Dicit Dominus : In Novo autem , Amen , Amen , dico Vobis . Greg. Nyssen . de Scop. Christian. To. iii. p. 311. * See Dr. Hammond , on Mat. xxvi . Lett. i. Grot. in Mat. xxvi . 63 . — Gen. ix . 6 ▪ * Vid. Philon. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : p. 769 , 780. — See Dr. Lightfoot's Exercit . on St. Matth. in Loc. p. 148 , 149 , fol. Insomuch that Aben ▪ Ezra accounted this to have been one of those sins , for which God delay'd the coming of the Messiah . Vid. in Decalog . † So St. August . de Serm. Dom. in mont . l. 1. c. 17. Lightfoot , Loc. cit . p. 149. And on Mat. 23.16 . Muscul in Loc. Voss. Hist. Pelag . p. 522. Nay in the Talmud its self , Tit. Shebuoth , there is this express Assertion . Qui Jurat per Coelum & Terram , Liber est ; sed qui jurat per Dei Nomina , tenetur . Hornb . contr . Jud. cap. de Juram : — And indeed what strange ways they have at this very day of avoiding the Obligation of an Oath , is notorious : See to this purpose Fagius on Exod. xxiii . Buxtorf , Lex . Rabb . in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : Pug. fid . pag. 730. from their own Authors . In short , it was upon both these Accounts that Martial fell so severely upon them in that Epigram , l. ix 95. And which sufficiently shews , both how ready they were to Swear , by those lesser Forms here mention'd ; and how little they thought themselves obliged by them . * See Mat. v. 35 , 36. — xxiii . 16 . &c. See the foregoing Notes . * See Heinsius : In Loc. Calvin . Harm . Evang. in Loc. † i. e. Voluntary Oaths : For in all such as were Imposed by Authority , they were not permitted to swear otherwise than by the Name of God. * So Hierome , in Loc. Epiphan . Haer. xix . thus speaks of this passage : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . But above any , St. Cyril admirably explains and confirms this , Lib. vi . de Ador. in Sp. & Ver. p. 212. And affirms it to have been a great part of our Saviour's design in this very passage . For having shewn , that we should avoid all Swearing , as much as may be ; he adds , that if we must needs Swear , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . And then he goes on to shew how contrary to this the Practice of the Jews was ; and how our Saviour labour'd to Correct this Error , p. 213 ▪ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . And having farther shewn the Grounds of this Restraint , he thus concludes , p. 214. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . † See this Argument managed by St Athanasius , with great Elegance , Lib. de Passion . Cruce Dom. To. I. p. 995. Isocrat . ad Demonicum . * See Grot. in Loc. & Explic. Decal . Exod. xx . 7. * So our Saviour determines it , Mat. xxiii . 16 , &c. * Augustin , T. 2. Epist. 89. ad Hilar. Illi ( sc. Pelagiani ) quantum aliquos eorum audivi , quid sit Juramentum prors●s Ignorant . Putant enim se non Jurare quando in Ore habent scit Deus , &c. Quia non dicitur PER DEUM . Et de Verb. Apost . Serm. xxviii . cap. vi . To. x. * That this was properly an Oath , St. Augustine stifly contends , Serm. de verb. Apost . xxviii . c. 5. And refers to the propriety of the Original Greek for proof of it . But the Syriac Version is more express ; and puts in , by way of explication , the very word , I Swear . And yet others doubt of it , and think it to have only the Form of an Oath , without being really so . See Basil , in Psal. xiv . To. I. p. 133. E. [ But let your Communication be Yea , yea ; Nay , nay . ] Grot. Com. in Loc. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Sermo vester . † So Dr. Hammond Pract. Catech . §. Of Swearing : And in his Paraphrase on the place . * So Nich. Fuller , Miscell . Sacr. l. 1. c. 2. * And which tho' the learned N. Fuller seems reasonably enough to deny to be a formal Oath ; yet he plainly proves it to be a Vehement Asseveration : especially when doubled , as we often find it , in our Saviour's Discourses to have been . See his Miscell . Sacr. Lib. I. cap 2. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and Amen , are in Scripture indifferently put for each other . So what in Mat. xxiii . 36 . is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : in Luke xi . 51 . is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . In Rev. xxii . 20 . They are joyn'd together to the same purpose : And so they are again , 2 Cor. i. 20 . And in the lxx . what the Hebrew calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , In Truth , or Verily , they render 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : Insomuch that Theophylact , on Mat. v. 18 . Verily I say unto you , explains it by , Yea : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . And Vatabl. here renders it , Certè , Certè . † See Mat. xi . 9 . Luke xii . 5 . Rev. i. 7 . xvi . 7 . * A plain Instance of which we have in 2 Kings x. 15 . where when Jehu ask'd Jehonadab whether his heart were truly with him ; he answer'd , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , It is , and It is . And to this both the Chaldee and Syriac Versions hold ; expressing the Repetition ; Tho' we , with the Greek and Latin , neglect it . And the design of this take from two persons , very well versed in those Languages ; Duplicatur est , says Munster , ad Majorem Rei Affirmationem . Geminatione verbi vehementius Affirmat , says Vatablus ; q. d. Proculdubio diligo te ex Animo . * See Clem. Alex. Strom. lib. vij . Where shewing that his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or Perfect Christian , ought not to Swear , he thus shews ( from the present Text ) how he should Behave himself : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Pag. 729. B. * See Saunders , de Juram . Oblig . Prael . v. §. 4. * 1 Sam. i. 26 . — xvii . 55 . † Vid. Saunders : de Jur. Oblig . Prael . v. §. 7. Of which Opinion also was St. Basil , in Psal. 14. ‖ See below . | Vid. Tertul. Apolog . cap. 32. 'T is true he there says expresly , Juramus — per salutem ; but then he afterwards speaks more precisely ▪ Pro magno Juramento id Habemus . And Athanasius , mentioning the Oath of Syrianus to Constantius the Emperor , says not that he Swore , but Confirm'd his Promise to the Alexandrians , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , Apol. ad Constant. To. l. p. 689. But St. Basil is express to this purpose , in Psal. xiv . To. I. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. p. 133. * So St. Basil , loc . cit . who therefore excuses St. Paul , as not contradicting our Saviour Christ. * Plutarch , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . Vol. I. p. 491. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . [ For whatsoever is more than these cometh of Evil . ] ‖ So Castalio : Episcopius , &c. Jam. iii. 2 . * See Chap. II. §. 18. Add. Isidor . Pelusiot . Epist . 155. Lib. I. * See this Consideration urged by Phot. Epist. I. p. 34. And St. Basil thus uses the same Argument : 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . In Psal. xiv . To. I. p. 133. D. * See the Stat. V. Eliz . ch . 9. * See the Stat. of 21 Jac. I. ch . 20. * Mal. iii. 5 . Zech. v. 3 , 4.