THE SWEARERS. OR, INNOCENCE Oppressed and Sacrificed, In Consequence of INDULGENCE To Perjurious Prostitutes.  
LONDON, Printed in the Year, 1681.   

THE SWEARERS. OR, INNOCENCE Oppressed and Sacrificed, etc.  
IT shall be as little my Business, as it seems Necessary, or Practicable, to draw a Panegyric upon the Perfections of those Matchless Worthies, Religious Spies of Jericho; who, in Confidence that a Good Intention Hallows and Justifyes a Dubious Action, to the Eminent Jeopardy of their All in Present and Future, have Generously descended to Become, Say, and Do All Things to All Men, (according to the very Letter) that by All Means they might Gain Something: And Thus, under the Double Capacity of Secret Friends, and (Once) Open Enemies and Traitors to the Established Protestant Religion, and the Laws of the Kingdom, equally to their proper Glory, and the Benefit of their Country, have wrought about a Great and Mighty Deliverance, a New Reformation, or rather Salvation, in This our British Israel; rendered a Single Puff of Breath the Absolute Disposer of the Lives and Fortunes of all the Wicked in the Land; with the Strong-Feeble Chosen Ones in the Psalmist, Bound Princes in Chains, and Nobles in Links of Iron; and Advanced themselves to the most Just and Statutable Pitch of Terror, & Compliance, that can be imagined. As to This Topick, let it then suffice to say; That though the Late House of Commons at Oxford, in Token of the Esteem they had for the Person and Services of the Reverend Chief of the Evidence Royal, and to enable him to Purchase, (of Col. D. or any Other) Lay up, and Take his Ease with the Rich Man in the Parable, were only hindered ('tis (said by their Sudden (and in This Respect Unhappy) Dissolution, from Voting him, persuant to Frank Promise and Engagement, Forty Thousand Pounds: Yet will not I beat it out of my Thought, that any thing less than a Still-higher Elevation, in This World, or the Abundances of Another, can be sufficient to Balance the Bulk of such Unpresidented Deserts, as are Conspicuous in the Web and Woof of That Illustrious Fraternity; whose Former Littleness, and Human Frailties, ought not to be Objected to their Disadvantage, for Fear of involving the (after a Sort) Parallel Circumstances even of the Blessed Apostles themselves in the Drift of the Reflection.  
BUT now, on the Other side, upon casting back our Eye to Past Ages, and particularly to the Reign of the Roman Emperor Tiberius; we shall scarce meet with any thing else then the Agonyes, Cries, Shrieks, Tortures, Scattered Limbs, and Mangled Bodies of Fathers, Brothers, Masters, Nearest Relations; Princes, Nobles, Gentlemen etc. Who, through the Treacherous and Perjurious Practices of a Mercenary and Miscreant Brood of Delatores, Informers or Swearers (Glanced at in the Title-Page) [that utterly Ruined Trust and Confidence among Men, Poisoned the Fountains of Earthly Comfort, Violated the Bonds and Dictates of Society, and Good Nature, Placed the People in a worse condition than the very Beasts that Perish, Ran them into a State of War by advancing in every body a common Diffidence of his Neighbour, turned the City of Rome into one General Shambles; and were encouraged and supported in all This Villainy by that Jealous, Politic and Bloody Tyrant,] breathed out their Last, under the hand of the Executioner, and in the utmost Extremities of Cruelty and Torment.  
Nay, upon a View of Later Do, and nearer Home too, we may find even the very Swagg-bellyed Dutch exercising unspeakable Villainies, Massacres, and Barbarityes, against the Poor English in Amboyna, (in the Indies) and, by the Affidavits of a Pack of Leathern-conscienced Prostitutes, labouring to wash their Hands of the Innocent Blood, when they had done.  
WHEREFORE, Effectually to Brand these Hellish Enormities, of Old, and to Compliment our Present Condition, which, (tho' indeed Property at least, has no reason to commend the Knights Errand in the Temple-Walks, yet) through Mercy, Faints not (I hope) under any such Insupportable Oppressions, nor is fairly liable to the Infamy of the like Odious Imputations; I have ventured, (because Virtue never shines Brighter, then while Opposed to its Contrary, Vice,) with much good Will, and and Meaning, to submit to the Modest and Prudent use of my Countrymen, Honest Aesop's Eighty-First Fable, Of the Dog and the Sheep; the Matter entirely his Own, only, for better Content, long since, by Mr. John Ogilby, Englished, and Meetered, in the Stanza's Following.  


ROUGH, with a Trundle-Tayl, a Prick-eared Cur,  
That had Nine Warrens of starved Fleas in's Fur,  
On whom was Manginess entailed, and Itch,  
From his Sire Isgrim, and a Cat-eyed Bitch;  
With These Endowments Rich,  
And some Bold Vices Now we Virmes call,  
He brought to th' Judgment-Hall  
His Accusation 'gainst a Guiltless-Sheep,  
That he the Staff of Life from him did keep,  
A Loaf he Lent him of the purest Wheat:  
At the High Tribunal-Seat  
At once he Charged, and at once Claimed the Debt.   

THE Sheep denies that e'er he had to do  
With This strange Dog, whom no Good Shepherd knew;  
Since he no Bond could Prove, desires Release.  
Then, bawls the Cur, Behold my Witnesses,  
Let Them the Truth Confess.  
The Vulture, Fox, and Squint-eyed Kite appear,  
Who God nor Conscience fear,  
To whom he promised Equal Shares before,  
For which (as They Instructed were) they Swore  
They saw when He delivered him the Bread,  
Refusing Bond, and Kindly said,  
Without such Things, Brethren should Brethren Aid.   

THE Beasts had Savage Laws; Who could not Pay,  
Convicted, at the Cred'tor's Mercy Lay:  
Such was the Poor Sheep's Case; None could exhort  
The Dog to save the Honour of the Court,  
Since Cruelty was his Sport;  
But at the Sheep with open Mouth he flew,  
And, in th' whole Benche's View,  
Sucks his Warm Blood, and Eats his Panting Heart,  
And to each Witness Quarters out Their Part.  
When One did say, Thus Innocence (we see)  
Was never yet from Danger Free;  
As th' Evidence, so must the Sentence be.   

MORAL.  
WHILE Oaths & Evidence shall sway the Cause,  
Men of small Conscience little Fear the Laws.  
What Trade are You? A Witness, Sir. Draw near;  
There's Coin, go Swear what I would have you Swear.    
THE END.   

An ADVERTISEMENT.  
THere have been Newly Published by James Vade, at the Cock and Sugar-Loaf, near St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet, several small Treatises, Relating to the Times, that are generally pronounced worthy the Perusal of all True Englishmen, Good Protestants, and Loyal Subjects; and bear the Titles following.  
The Field of Blood: Or, Rebellion Blazoned in all its Colours, in a Lively Representation (grounded upon Fact) of inability in a Prince, Exorbitant Ambition in the Nobility, and Licentious Insolence in the Commons.  
The Keepers of the English Libertyes drawn to the Life, in the Qualifications of Persons by Them declared capable to Serve in Parliament.  
An Answer to a Popish Libel, Entitled, A Vindication of the English Catholics, discovering the Chief Falsities and Contradictions in the Narrative of Titus Oats.  
A Paradox against Liberty. An Heroic Poem. By the Lords in the Tower.  
A Seasonable Memento both to King, and People, upon This Critical Juncture of Affairs.  
The Nation's Interest, with Relation to the Pretensions of his R. H. the Duke of York. Discussed and Asserted.  
A Paradox against Life. An Heroic Poem. By the Lords in the Tower.  
The Impostor Exposed, in a Dissection of a Villainous Libel, entitled, A Letter to a Person of Honour, concerning the Black Box.  
The Mystery and Method of His Majesty's Happy Restauration, laid Open to Public View; by John Price, D. D.  
He has also now in the Press, (and just ready) an Excellent Ode, (by a Barrister at Law) under the Title of  
A Vote for Moderate Counsels; as the Readiest way to Heal our Breaches, and bring Happiness to King and People.