HERE IS THE SWEARERS, AND They who swear falsely, and likewise they who compel men to swear, all tried by the Law of the Spirit of life WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS.  
Which LAW is holy, just, pure, and good; and all of them found guilty of sin and transgression against the true and living God; and also Sentence pronounced against them all, that so transgress the Law of God, who with the wicked, and all they who forget God, must be turned into Hell, except they repent speedily; for with God there is no respect of persons in Judgement.  By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood; Therefore shall the Land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the Beasts of the field, and with the fowls of the Heaven; yea, the Fishes of the Sea also shall be taken away, Hosea 4.23. 
Written the 21. day of the third Month, 1661. by me HENRY CLARK.  
LONDON, Printed for the Author, in the year 1661.   

Here is the Swearers, and they who Swear falsely, and likewise they who Compel men to Swear, all tried by the Law of the Spirit of Life, which is in Christ Jesus; which Law is holy, just, pure and good, etc.  
IN the time of Ignorance and Darkness God winked at, and passed by many things whereby mankind did transgress the pure and righteous Law of God, which is holy, just, and good; but now Light is come into the world, even that Light which has been hid from the wise and prudent of ages and generations past: the which Light God who (is rich in mercy and love through the abundance thereof) commanded Light to shine out of Darkness, hath shined into the hearts of Babes and Sucklings, and they who 〈◊〉 in the region and the shadow of Death saw this great Light, which hath given unto them the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, who is the Light, the true Light by which all things that are reproved are made manifest. Therefore now God commands all men every where to repent, and to turn from Darkness unto the Light, and from the power of Satan unto God who is Light, and in him is no Darkness at all. Now the Light shineth, all men every where will be left without excuse: Therefore turn ye, turn ye every one from the evil of your ways, and come to the knowledge of the Truth, as God would have you, that your souls may be saved: For to fear God, and keep his Commandments, is the whole duty of man: and the fear of the Lord is to departed from iniquity. Therefore let every one that nameth the Name of JESUS depart from iniquity: For because of Swearing and Forswearing, and Swearing falsely; Lying, Killing, Stealing, and committing of Adultery, the Land mourneth: and as for the Rulers their violence is evil, and their force is not right towards the People: But the true and living God he hears the Cry of the Oppressed, and sees and beholds their Oppressors; yea he doth hear the Cry of his Elect, that cries unto him day and night, and he will avenge them of their Oppressors speedily. And know ye this ye Kings and Rulers of the Earth, that with God there is no respect of persons in judgement; and to judgement ye must all come, to give an account to the King of Kings, the great Judge of all the Earth, of all your works and deeds that have been done in and by your bodies: And seeing it is thus written, that surely men of low degree are vanity, 
Psal. 62.9.  and men of high degree are a lie; to be laid in the balance they are altogether lighter than vanity. Then how will ye be able to stand before the true and living God, who is a consuming fire, or what answer can ye make him unto this one question when he comes to plead with you: What do ye cause and compel the people to Swear and transgress my Law, and do ye not punish such as fear my Name, and refuse to Swear, in obedience to my Command, saith the Lord God, etc. who hath required this thing at your hands: to what will you flee for excuse.  

1. The Law of the land it cannot excuse you: Why? Because that Acts of Parliaments, are acts of men's wills, and not the Oracles of God: and Parliaments as well as Councils may be led by wrong principles, [being not guided by the Spirit of God] and so err, and make Laws of vanity; or Acts of Errors, and Statutes that are unjust and not good, because they contradict the Law of God, Therefore they cannot justify your actions.  
2. Neither will the Antiquity of your Law for swearing, excuse nor justify you any more, than the Temple at Jerusalem which was standing many Generations before jeremiahs' days, could justify the Jews in their Murder, Adultery, and false swearing, etc. neither will it free you from the guiltiness of sin in the sight of God, any more than Abraham could free the Jews from the bondage of sin: for although they pleaded, saying, They had Abraham for their Father, yet Christ told them, Whosoever committeth sin, is servant to sin, and so not free but in bondage, as ye are to your wills and lusts, for which ye plead a Law. But it is a Maxim in your own Law, That what soever in its Original is altogether illegal and unjust, can never by tract or length of time, or by any Act or Acts subsequent, be they what they will, in any kind or construction of Law, be made just or legal, etc. And the Judges of this land know this Maxim to be true: Therefore the more inexcusable are the Rulers and Judges of this Kingdom of England, because they set at nought, and reject the Counsel and Spirit of the true and living God, which should be their Rule and guide to make all their Laws by: and if Laws, Acts, and Statutes, be not made according to that Rule, they can never be legal, just, nor good.  
3. Neither can the example of other Nations herein excuse, or justify you: Why? because that the Customs, Statutes, and Ordinances of the Nations, are vanity, and the works of Error, and not of God: for the ways of the wicked are abomination to the Lord, Therefore ye should not follow a multitude to do evil, nor learn the ways of the Heathen, who are Idolaters, but refrain your feet from their paths, and follow the true and living God fully: and as for those who go under the denomination of Christian Princes and Kings, or Emperors, I do not hear of any one of them that feareth God, and worketh righteousness: and I do believe there is not scarce one of them that does, and my reason is, Because they use such acts of violence, and cruelty towards those that fear God and keep his Commandments: for if they themselves feared God, they would departed from iniquity, and leave off their acts of violence, cruelty and oppression to such as fear God and keep his Commandments, or if they loved God, than they would keep his Commandments, and be a terror to all evil doers, and love them that are begotten to the Truth of God, the which they do not: But as john said, I know the blasphemy of them that say they are jews & are not, but are the Synagogue of Satan: So I say, I know the blasphemy of them that lie, and say they are Christians, but are not; but are members of the great whore of Babylon; for I know what the tree is by its fruits; Therefore O King and Rulers of England, leave the paths of the wicked, and go not in the way of evili men: avoid it: pass by it: turn from it, and pass away; for they sleep not except they have done mischief: and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall: for they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence; Therefore their ways and customs are evil and vain, and not to be followed. Therefore take warning, and while ye have time, prize it, except ye intent to go on in wickedness, and so to partake of all the plagues that is a coming upon all the Kings, Rulers, and Judges of the earth, who are drunk with the blood of the Saints, and holy Martyrs of Jesus Christ.   
Come now all you who command and compel men to swear By forms of Oaths; and likewise all you who swear by forms of Oaths, or otherways; for the end of my writing is for the convincing of you all, that swearing, and compelling to swear, is a sin against the true and living God: and that you may all see that by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, you are all evil doers, and transgressors of a pure, holy, and a just law; For God so loved the world, That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life: he was in the beginning before Abraham, and a greater than Abraham was, is he: of whom Moses, a servant of God wrote, saying, The Lord God said, I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak whatsoever I command him, and whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him: and said Peter, Every soul which will not hear that Prophet, shall he destroyed from among the people. And Jesus Christ being come, he taught his Disciples, saying, But I say unto you swear not at all; for God who at sundry times, and in divers manners spoke in times passed unto the Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, [who is the end of the Law and the Prophets, to every one that believeth in him: and he spoke and said, Swear not at all.] He whom God hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and is sat down on the right hand of his Majesty on high, being made much better than the Angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they; for all the Angels must worship him, and to the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess (by the Spirit of God) that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father: and Matthew further said, That at that time when jesus took Peter, james, and john his Brother, up into a high Mountain apart, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice was heard out of the cloud, and this voice which came from heaven, we heard, said Peter, when we were with him in the Mount; which voice said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. He is the end of the Law and the Prophets to every one that believeth in him. And Jesus Christ taught his Disciples, saying, But I say unto you swear not at all, etc. And which of you all is it, that will forsake to go with a King's Son, that is far more excellent than the servant of that King, to follow that servant, the which if you should, would not the King be much displeased with you: Consider of it: Moses was a servant of God, and faithful in the house of God, and did all things according to the pattern showed of God in the Mount: but when Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who had the more excellent name was come from his Father, than all that received him and believed on his Name, forsook Moses and the Law, and followed him, and obeyed him who was the end of the Law and the Prophets, to every one that believeth in him, Christ Jesus the Son of God, who said unto them, Swear not at all, etc.  
1 Now I say there is a Law that came by Moses, which was given unto him in Mount Sinai, for the children of Israel only (and not to any other people or Nation) to observe and keep [but grace and Truth, which was, and is preached to all Nations, came by Jesus Christ] For God had chosen them, viz the children of Israel above all other people that were upon the face of the earth, to be a peculiar people unto himself; and unto them were committed the Oracles or Counsels of God: For he shown his word unto jacob, and his Statutes, and his judgements unto Israel: and said David, He hath not dealt so with any Nation, for his judgements they have not known: and it is written in Moses Law, Hear, O Israel, thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name, and not by the false gods that other nations swear by: and an Oath of confirmation, was to them an end of all strife: and that was thus, if any man deliver unto his neighbour an Ass, or an Ox, or a Sheep, or any beast to keep, and it die, or be hurt, or driven away no man seeing it, then shall an Oath of the Lord (and not Oaths of men's making up into a form) be between them both, that he who received the cattle to keep, hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods, to hurt, kill or drive them away, and the owner of the goods was to accept of the Oath of God, that the receiver had sworn, and the receiver of the goods to keep, was not to make them good: and this oath of God taken before a judge, was to them an end of all strife: but other Nations were not required to sweat by that Oath of God, for as Paul said, That God in times past suffered all Nations to walk in their own ways etc.  
2. But when Christ Jesus the Son of the living God came in the flesh, he came to condemn sin in the flesh, 
Acts 14, 15, 16.  and to destroy the works of the Devil, which was the cause of strife, that so the effect, viz. Oaths, might cease; for he is the end of the Law and the Prophets to all that believe in his Name; and to as many as received him, and believed on his Name, he gave them power to become the sons of God, and as many as are the sons of God, are led by the Spirit of God into all truth, out of strife, sin and iniquity, which was the Occasion of an Oath of Confirmation, which was to put an end to all strife between man and man, according to the Law that came by Moses the servant of God, for the children of Israel only to observe and keep: But the Word which God put into the mouth of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, to speak and declare, was to be preached to all Nations every where, that men might turn from vanity, and leave off sin and iniquity that caused strife between man and man, to serve the: true & living God: For when Christ Jesus sent forth his Apostles, he commanded them to go and teach all Nations, saying, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel in every creature, and teach all Nations to observe all things whatsoever that I have commanded you: Now Christ Jesus taught them, his Apostles and Disciples, saying, But I say unto you, Swear not at all: here is the command of Christ, the words which God put in his mouth, according to Moses writing, I will put my words into his mouth, and he shall speak unto them in my Name all that I shall command him, who said unto them, Swear not at all, neither by Heaven, for it is God's throne: And said Christ to the Scribes and Pharisees, Woe unto you, ye blind Guides: He that swears by Heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and him that sitteth thereon; Heaven is God's throne, and God sitteth on his throne, and he that sweareth by the Heaven, sweareth by God that sitteth thereon; the which swearing Christ doth forbid, although according to the Law of Moses it was lawful for them to swear by his Name, [Jehovah is his Name] before Christ came, who is the end of the Law and the Prophets to all that believe in his Name, who is the Son of God, who said, Neither swear by the Earth, for it is his footstool: Is the Earth God's Footstool? then he that sweareth by the Earth, sweareth by God that setteth his foot thereon, according to what Christ said, He that sweareth by the Heaven, sweareth by the Throne of God, and by God who sitteth thereon; and said Christ, Neither swear by jerusalem, for it is the City of the great King: Who is he? the true and living God, the King of Kings: He that sweareth by the City of the great King, sweareth by the King himself: For saith Christ, Whoso shall swear by the Temple, sweareth by it, and him that dwelleth therein: And doth not God dwell in his temple? then he that sweareth by the temple where God dwelleth, sweareth by God that dwelleth therein, according to Christ's words, who spoke the truth, and as he meant. So then my Argument is still, that he that sweareth by the Bible, sweareth not by it alone, but likewise by all things that is written in every part of it at once. And again Christ said, Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black: Now I say, it is God that made every man's head, and the hairs thereof, white or black; therefore he that sweareth by his Head, sweareth by God who made his Head, and the Hairs thereof, 
1 Cor. 11.3  white or black: And furthermore it is written, that the Head of every man is Christ, and ought not man to be subject to his Head, Lawgiver and Judge, Christ Jesus the good Shepherd, Bishop, and Saviour of his soul? Now all ye that swear, and compel men to swear, judge ye by the Law and Testimony of the spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus, whether it be good and lawful for ye thus to do, yea or nay; read it, and try whether the Law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ Jesus, will justify you in swearing, or compelling men to swear, or condemn you eternally for your so doing: For this ye shall all know, that he that believeth not in the only begotten Son of God, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God, who is come a light to enlighten the Gentiles, 
joh. 3.18.  and the glory of the people Israel. Therefore  
3. Consider all you that forget God: for although the Jews swore by the name of the true and living God, according to Moses Law: and the Heathens, Pagans, Infidels, or Idolaters, who God in time past and now suffereth to walk in their own ways, did, and do swear by their dead Idols, or false gods, which was and is the workmanship of their own hands: yet this must not be a precedent, or an example for Christians to Swear at all, by any Oath, or form of Oath whatsoever: for God hath called all the true Christians who believe on the Name of his only begotten Son, from amongst the Jews, Heathens, Pagans, Infidels, etc. and hath separated them from them and their Laws and Customs to follow his Son Jesus Christ the Captain of their Salvation, and to worship God in Spirit and in Truth, and to walk before him in fear, & in holiness & righteousness all the days of their lives: Therefore it is not lawful for Christians to swear by their head & Captain of their Salvation, who teaches them not to Swear at all: And as it is not lawful for Christians to Swear, neither is it becoming, nor doth become any true Christian to Swear by any form of Oath that is of any man's making whatsoever: For he that sweareth by any Oath whatsoever that is of man's or men's inventing, contriving and drawing up into a form, it is all one as if he swore by an Idol, which proceeds from the invention of men's brains, the imagination of their hearts, and the workmanship of their own hands: For the one is as much out of, and contrary to the Truth as it is in Jesus Christ, as the other is: and therefore fore they are to be denied of all the true Christians: Why? Because that as the Idols or false gods are only the invention of men's brains, the imagination of their hearts, and also the workmanship of their hands. Therefore they are lies, vanity, and the work of Error: So likewise all forms of Oaths which are set forth to public view in these days for men to swear by, are only inventions of men's brains, the imaginations of their wicked and deceitful hearts, and the workmanship of their own hands, and not the Oath of God: therefore they are lies, vanity, and the works of error, and not the work of God; for the works of God are true; but it is written, Surely (said David) Men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie; therefore whatsoever it is that such men act or contrive by the invention of their own brains, 
Psal 62.9.  and the imaginations of their own hearts in imitation of the works of God, or the ways of his worship, is not true, but are mere lies, vanities, falsehood, and the work of errors; which acts, works, and forms of Oaths are not to be subjected to, but are to be rejected by all true Christians: Why?  
4. Because it is neither lawful nor comely for Christians to swear an Oath, nor by any form of Oath or thing whatsoever; for Christians, the Disciples of Christ were taught, and have learned of their Lord and Master Christ Jesus, not to swéar at all: and what they were taught, and what they received of Christ, that they declared and taught to others in obedience to Christ's command, who said unto them, Go and teach all Nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, who commanded them not to swear at all: and it is upon record to be seen, that james an Apostle, a Disciple of jesus Christ, and a true Christian likewise, wrote to the Brethren (Christians) of the twelve tribes, which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose upon the Church which was at jerusalem, saying My brethren, but above all things swear not at all, neither by Heaven, neither by the Earth, neither by any other Oath, lest ye fall into condemnation etc. Which words both james and the other Disciples had learned of Christ Jesus the good Shepherd and Bishop of their souls, who went up into a Mountain, and when he was sat, his Disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth, and taught them thus, with other Doctrine not to swear at all, which they obeyed and kept: And so likewise all others who believed on his Name through their preaching, did observe the same commands of Christ, and do them. For in the days of Nero and Domitian, both Heathen Emperors, and cruel tyrants, was very great and sore persecution of the Christians, and they had a form of an oath for men to swear by; and the Inquisitors of their Inquisition put the Christians whom they persecuted, to swear by their form of Oath, whether that they were Christians, or no: but the Christians resused to swear, confessing and saying that they were Christians, and could not deny Christ not his Doctrine: And then according to the Heathens Law, sentence of death was pronounced against the Christians by the Proconsul, and forthwith the sentence was put in execution by wicked, bloodthirsty men, who put the Christians to death, some after one manner, and some after another, according to the wills of those cruel tyrants the Emperors; and so I find that the like Oath was required of Polycarpus by the Proconsul at Smyrna, which was in these words following thus: Polycarpus, thou shalt swear by the Emperor's good fortune, and by the prosperity of Cesar, and declare the truth, whether in very deed thou art a Christian or no. But Polycarpus refused to swear, or to deny Christ and his Doctrine, and confessed himself to be a Christian: So he was led away to be burned, being about the age of fourscore and six years, or more. So likewise it is recorded, that the Christian Martyrs in King Richard the second's days, and in Henry the fourth's days, and in Queen Mary's days here in England, did bear a good testimony against Swearing, and likewise did refuse to swear, according to the command of Christ, who said, Swear not at all: Therefore I say, it is neither lawful nor comely for Christians to swear, for if they should, it may be said to them as Paul said to the jews in another case, Who art thou that teachest another should not swear, and dost thou thyself swear, & c?  
But all those who had, and have but the Name of Christians only, but lived not, nor do live in the life and power that the true Christians lived, and do live in; or all they who had, and have got into a form of godliness, and denied, and do deny the power thereof, which all they that were, and are truly godly lived, and do live in: I say, that even such there were, and are, who sought, and seek to the Powers of the Earth, viz. to the Kings and Rulers thereof for protection in their mere form of godliness only, the which the true Christians neither did, nor do such things; for they knowing that the true and living God whom they serve is all-sufficient by his power to keep and preserve them out of the hands of all their Enemies, if he will, and none can touch them; but if not, than they submit to his will in whatsoever he requires of them, although it be to the loss of all things, or the laying down of their bodies: But they who have got into, and live in a form of godliness only, they cannot trust God, without they have the help and assistance of the Kings and Rulers of the Earth to protect them by a Law of their making: And therefore the Kings and Rulers of the earth (for the more better security of those seeming Formalists assistance to themselves in a conformity to their wills and laws) they contrive and frame an Image, or an Oath or Oaths, for those seeming Formalists to swear fealty to them by, just like the Heathens that swore by their false gods that were made with hands, fealty to their Emperors and Kings, even so do they, and all they that will not swear by those Oaths of their making, shall have no protection by them.  
But Elizabeth, formerly Queen of England, was (according to that knowledge she had in those days) more merciful than her predecessors were, for that there is a Law that was made in the ●th. year of her reign, that it should not be lawful for any person or persons to slay or kill any person or persons, in any manner attainted, or hereafter to be attainted of, in, or upon any praemunire, etc. read the Law, cap. 1. And so they make good the words of Christ who said, The world loves its own. And thus the wicked Heathens, Pagans, Infidels, outward Formalists, Hypocritical professors of Christianity; for like as their Leadders are, so are the people; for they all combine together against the Lord and his anointed, the true Christians; for said David, The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth; the Heathen rage, 
Psa. 37.12  and the people imagine a vain thing; the Kings of the Earth set themselves, and Rulers take counsel together, saying, Come, let us break their Bonds asunder, let us cast away their Cords from us: nay, they swear that they will punish and destroy them all, viz. the true Christians, as Heretics, Schismatics, fanatics, and Non-conformists to our Laws, etc. and all the rude multitude of profane Drunkards and Swearers, at every occasion or word, murderers, sighters, quarrellers, whores, whoremongers, adulterers, fornicators, thiefs, robbers, idolators, image-makers, hypocrites, and outward formalists, will all run and go, and lay their hands upon a Bible, and swear by it, and the forms of oaths that they have made, and kiss the Bible when they have done, that they will stand by, aid and assist the Kings, Rulers, Judges, justices, Mayors, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, Constable, and others, in the doing of any act of violence, cruelty, oppression, yea even to death itself, against the true Christians who sear the true and living God, and dare not run with them into the same excess of riot, revel, banquet, chambering, wantonness, drunkenness, lasciviousness, and swearing, as the Kings, Ruler's Ptiests and people do run into; therefore they hate the true Christians, 
1 joh. 3.13 1 Pet. 4.4.  and speak all manner of evil of them, and seek to destroy them from off the face of the earth, that God may not have a temple to dwell in, nor the Son of God a place to lay his head in upon the earth, with such as believe in his Name, who saith, Swear not at all, etc. So that here is no injunction laid upon, nor liberty allowed to the true Christians to swear by any form of Oath, Allegiance to the Kings or Rulers of the Earth, or otherways, in whatsoever nature, manner, or thing be it to be sworn unto, etc.  
Therefore if he who shall break one of the least of God's commandments, and shall teach men so to do, said Christ jesus, shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; then what shall all they be called or counted worthy of, that not only break and transgress God's commandments themselves, but likewise compel others so to do? I say; certainly they are worthy to have the like punishment, plagues and torment, that Pharaoh and the Egyptians had, and in the end to be drowned in the sea; or there reward like as had that wicked Iehoram, who wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord himself, and caused the Inhabitants of jerusalem to go a whoring like to the whoredoms of the house of Ahab, and compel judah thereunto, for the which wickedness, God smote the King jehoram himself with a sore and an incurable disease in his bowels, 
Read 2 Chron. 21. chap.  so that his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness: and moreover God stirred up the spirit of the Philistines, and the Arabians, and they came up into judah, and broke into it, and carried away all the substance that was in the King's house, and his Sons also: and read and see what came upon judah in the days of joash, King of judah, [after the death of jehoiada] and of joash himself for harkening unto the Princes of judah that made obeisance unto him, who then left the house of the Lord God, and served Groves and Idols, and at the King's commandment stoned to death Zechariah, the Son of jehoiada between the Temple and the Altar, for the which the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the Lord delivered a very great host into their hands, and they destroyed all the Princes of the people, and sent all the spoil of them to the King of Damascus, 
Read 2 Chron. 24. chap. jer. 52. ch. 2 Chron. 36. chap.  etc. and read what became upon Zedekiah, and all the people of judah and jerusalem: and upon Herod the King, who stretched out his hand against the true Christians, that is the Church of Christ. Read Acts the 12. Chapter.  
And further I say, that such Kings, Rulers, and judges, or others who transgress the Laws of God themselves, and compel others so to do, are even worthy of, and fit for the fire that burns, and is never quenched; and likewise for the worm that continually gnaws, and never dies, and for the pit and the snare; for Tophet is ordained of old, yea for the Kings it is prepared: he hath made it deep and large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, and the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone, doth kindle it, Isaiah 30 33. And so worthy to be called fit companions for the Devil and his Angels, and not Christians: and thus ye may see what a fearful thing it is for to fall into the hands of the true and living God, who is a consuming fire to all the wicked, who with all they that forget God, must be turned into hell.  
O consider this, and learn to be wise ye Kings, Princes, judges, and Rulers of the earth, and be instructed to serve the Lord with fear, and let your rejoicing be with trembling before the living God: come & bow down at the feet of jesus, and kiss the Son lest he be angry with you, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: Therefore while you have time, prize it; for why will ye die? why will ye perish from off the face of the earth, and be no more seen nor heard of. O ye Kings, judges, and Rulers of the earth, to day, to day, if ye expect mercy from the Lord, cease from evil, and learn to do well, and believe on the Name of jesus Christ, that your souls may be saved, or else ye perish eternally; for with God there is no respect of persons in judgement, etc.  
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart, but tell him plainly of his faults: Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, that thou bear not sin for him: He that hath an ear, let him hear, and he that will be filthy, let him be filthy still.  
About the time of Pope Pelagius the second, [and before the year 590. for in that year the Pope Pelagius died according to former writers] there was a decree made, called the Canon of Matiscon, for honouring of Priests; in Latin it runs thus, Consilium Matisconense secundum, and thus it was decreed, Cap. 15. by the said Council.  

1. That if a layman shall meet in the way some better man of the Clergy, the layman shall in the lowest manner of courtesy stoop reverently, and bow down to him.  
2. If the layman be on horse back, and the Priest also, than the layman to put off his hood off his head, and do his duty of salutation.  
3. But if the Priest be on foot, and the layman on horse back, incontinently he shall light from his horse, and perform his due honour to the said Clerk.  
4. Whatsoever he be that shall transgress these Canons, which be decreed by the inspiration of the holy Ghost, let him be suspended out of the Church, which he will not honour in her Ministers, even so long as shall please the Bishop of that See, etc. and for proof of this, read in a Book called, The defence of Priests marriages, Imprinted at London by Richard jug, Printer then to the Queen Mary of England, and dedicated to Philip & Mary, who were the chief Rulers of the land.   
But I find in the Book of Martyrs, pages 496. and 500 and it was in Queen Mary's days, Anno 1555, that Doctor Nicholas Ridley refused to move or put off his Cap before the Court in honour of the Pope, or to the Cardinal the Pope's Legate: For said Brooks, than Bishop of Gloucester, Put off your cap Mr. Ridley, and put you on this Surplice.  
Ridley said, Not I truly.  
Said Brooks, But you must.  
But Ridley said, I will not.  
And seeing it is thus written, that Christ jesus the Son of God said to the jews, 
john 5.44  How can ye believe which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh from God only: so I say accordingly as james said, That the faith of jesus Christ standeth not in the respect of persons: Therefore let all people judge according to the Law and the Testimony, that is bound up among the Disciples, Whether that Decree, Canon, or Constitution made in the Council of Matiscon for the honouring of Priests, Clerks, etc. was made by the inspiration of the Spirit of God, as they said it was, yea, or nay? Or whether it came not from that proud spirit of Lucifer, that was once in the King of Assyria, and which afterward got into the proud Pope, and the proud Prelate, and sat in Counsel among them, inspiring of them to make a Decree or Canon for the honouring of them and their adherents with Cap and Knee? Seeing that they had not the honour which comes from God only: judge ye, etc.  
THE END.