#k

S8;

A N
ESSAY O N
TRUTHS of IMPORTANCE
, T O THE
Happinefs of Mankind.

WHEREIN

The Doftrine of OATHS, as relative to
Religious and Civil Government*
is impartially confidered.
The Whole fubmitted to Public Examination/
By the late Rev.- Mr. HERPORT,
A celebrated Divine of the Canton of Berne.
Translated from the GERMAN.

LONDON:
Printed for S. Baker and G. Leigh, in York-Street,
CoventGarden ; and E. and C. Dilly, in the Poultry.

MDCCLXV1II.

THE meaneft fubje&, who of his own accord,
without any hire, clears the ftreets of loofe
ftones, is, in his fphere, a patriot.
That member of fqfiety, who does not make his li
berty to confift In Iicentioufaefs* but ufes it fubfcrdi-
nately to the laws, and in the love of his neighbour, is
a patriot in a higher fphere.
> The ruler who makes the public welfare his conftant
object, and lays himfelf oat in promoting the fafety and
Rapptnefs of 'his fubje&S, is a glorious patriot, Worthy
of all refpeft and love ; a gift of Heaven 1
Thus every one, -whatever his fiation btf, ftiay
acquire the name of patriot, than which none is more
honourable.

I 2* 1

¦ ¦¦;..*.

The A U T H O R's
PREFAC E.

~A /t ANY eminent jatefmen, fenjtble of
JLVJL the [abufes of oaths, allow, that, un
der the moft reafonable form, the
duties implied in them are of fuch extent, as
to render the performance of them extremely
difficult. Indeed they arefo numerous, thatx to
Keep a clear confcience, is next to impoffible ;
and fo enormous are the prefent abufes, thai
every one muft neceffarily be convinced of them.
Whoever obtains an office civil or military, muft
fwear tofo many particulars of various kinds,
and confirm his oath with fuch imprecations on
himfelf, a% if it was on this oath, and not the"
coercion of the laws, that the good behaviour
of the fubjeB s depended , and this is a miftake
common to all governments. Some conftderati
men in power, indeed, haw hot been wanting
pi nervous and offering reprefentafions tg
a 2 removh

C " I v 
'remove the flone of offence, but jwifhoui. effect;
and we have fill fome who; would be thought
men of virtue, but they are aflame d of being'
fuch. 'The appellations of precifianr hu-
mourijl, innovator, fo difcourage them, that
their zeal for reformation of abufes ,' 'cools..;
and what totally quenches it is, that without
taking-.- the oath they muft not think of any
[preferment. ¦ 'Thus they conform, and fwear
along with the unthinking vulgar. Bad[ as
this. is, it is nothing fir ange ; the nature.. of
man being fuch, that the cares and attachments
oj. the prefent life abfolutely fwallow up all
concern for futurity, 'temporal joys are
frej erred to the eternal ; confcience, if not
utterly fttfed, is lulled ajleep witp deceptive
fuggeftions, and eternity being out of fight is
put, of mind-, fo that amid/? the moft evideiit
conviclion oj. the great necejftty of reforma
tion, things continue on the old footing ; and
ike morey as the' appointed watchmen of fc-
rufakm are f lent concerning this impiety;
fwear to the fame things, and know the int-
precatipfis with which oaths are accompanied^,
yet never open their mouths to the rulers for
freeing the ' coujitry from this dreadful preva
lence of perjury. ^Intimidated by a wretched
cuflom, qnf the -^ dread of civil power, they
forbear arraigning the fuppofed fdcrednefs of
thefe

t ¦ » 1
thefe^ imprecations : though their office fetms
to require that they fhould ftr icily exaidne
tbeianefulnefs of fuch oaths by the holy Jefus's
declaration, and teach, Ghrtftendom a betted
-way of thinking. The dilates -of the Holy
Spirit, tranfmitted to us by Ezekiel and the
'apoftles, jhould be their rule, and not an oath
fhftituted in the times of dafknefs, and by
libertines, and which owes all its facrednefs'fo
long cuftom. It is on account of this that the
author has been induced to venture ' on an
endeavour to fet this horrid abiife in a clear .
tight, and thus explode a cuftom which from
its very beginning has been found big with the
•worft of evils. Several very fenftble perfons
have encouraged him in undertaking what his
coiling, and even the oath which he alfo has
taken, make his duty. ' Love to man has at
. length overcome the. fear of man. He offers
to the judgment of all Chriftendomtheform of a
rational oath, thoroughly adapted to thefe cur ity
of the flate, and at the fame time intirely
reconcileable with the freedom 6j confcience.
He earneftly wijhes that -a trial were made sf
his good intentions, in order to the deliverance
of Chrifti ans from juch a galling yoke. As
to thofe iwno wedded to cuftom, as ihefafeft
way, dijdain any examination, let them feed
on acorns inftead of bread ; another cuftom
a 3 of

pf4 very JoHg ftanding, and fill in ufe among
ifafavages. JBy way of ftrengthemhg their
armour, I beg leave to refer them to the con*
elufion of this treatife, p. 1 1 2, where they
may try their abilities, . and whether it be fa
very eajyt even, with the affiftance o/Vreafok
of ftate, fo to fupprefs the light of reafbn
and revelation, by the authority of cuftom^
kutthat fometimes a ray fhall break through
fo as tg alarm their confcience, and the more^
as this cuftom muft be owned to carry in. it
fomething dreadful to. human nature, and
incompatible with the innate dejire of happi*
nefs -; then, on more mature deliberation, they
may themfelves judge whether thefe oaths do
not totally overthrow all relation of a man
to God, bis neighbour, and himfelf, whethee
they be not an urikecejfary praclice in got
verntnent, and a flagrant violation of the per*
feSi law of love $

Sent^nca

AN
ESSAY

ON

TRUTHS of IMPORTANCE

TO THE

HAPPINESS of MANKIND.

SECTION I.
THE univerfe affords nothing fo
deferving our consideration and
wonder as our very felves. No
thing is fo noble as man : of all fublunary
beings, he is the mafter-piece. His origin,
his birth, his education, his growth, his
life and death, all are myfterious. The
philofopher coniiders him according to his
nature, and the, actions arifing frqm it,
which are to be directed by reafon. The
B divine

[ * ]
divine views him relatively to the end of
his creation. The ftatefman as a member
of fociety. Thefe, feveral confiderations of
man being connected and maturely weigh
ed, we fhall be enabled to form a judg
ment of his whole conduct, his defires, and
averfions, with the refpective grounds and
caufes of them, and fuch a judgment as
will come pretty near the truth. In order
to this we are, with the philofopher, firft
to enquire into his nature ; and here we
immediately perceive man to be a being
compounded of foul and body ; two effen-
ces whofe natures are infinitely different,
and whofe internal frame and original fub-
iftance are totally unknown to .us j and all
the ideas we can form of them are deducible
only from their properties and actions,
which, however, may be fufficient for
our purpofe, SECTION II.
Thebody. THE firft which offers itfelf to our view
is the body, which the chemifts make to
confift of earth, oil, and water j or, ac
cording to their phrafeology, of fait, ful-
phur, and mercury. From their extracting
them by fire, they conclude them to be
the

I % ]
the conftituent parts of the body, although
they cannot furely be ignorant, that fire
gives very different forms to all parts of
matter. They farther affirm, ,that, from
the mixture of thefe constituent parts, all
our members are framed, the folids or hard,
as the bones j the foft, as the fleSh, fkin,
and nerves ; the fluids, as the juices. As
the members muft be adapted to their
functions, this mixture is fo ordered that
the folid parts abound in earth, have little
oil, and the leaft water of any. Now, on
a view of the Structure of the body j its ad
mirable beauty, and majeftic form, intitle
it to the preference above all other crea
tures. If we further confider the difpofi-
tion, fymmetry, and construction of all its
members, their mutual relation, the amaz
ing circulation of the blood and juices, the
intimate connection between the folid and
fluid parts, the finenefs of the organs of our
fenfes, thofe minute veffels, even too fmall
for fight, and yet the chief instruments in
the prefervation of life, and all this fo con
stituted, that thefe feveral organs and instru
ments, foon or "late, wear themfelves out ;
that all the parts, amidft the moft exact
harmony, are in a perpetual conflict with
each other ; that by this very conflict our
B 2 being

C 4 1
being is fuf^orted ; and that motion > #hte!ii
is the Hfeof tfee Bbdfc Mike wife tfoe ca*r%
of its death : I fay, after filch conrBe¥as-
tions, we muft allow, from the multiplicity
of thofe contradiction^ that man depends
On a fuperior Being, whoSe oinnipoteWee
is, as it were, momentarily creating him
anew, and Supporting his existence. Farther
alfo, that the vaft globe, the elements of
which are likewife always at variance, would
fink into its primitive non-entity, unlefs up
held by his almighty hand. Had we the
eye of a dexterous anatomist, we Should
with tranfport perceive, that there is no
part of us apparently fo mean, as not to fill
us with adoration and wonder at the divine
wifdom and omnipotence. To give only a
Single inftance, and that within every one's
knowledge: -among fo many millions of
faces all Similar, yet not two perfectly alike,
afk the moft Skilful painter if his art be not at
a Stand, wheri he is to reprefent only two or
three hundred different faces ? Now, what
are two hundred to the many millions
s»e«t by the Almighty, and all with fuch
a fenfible difference, that the univerfe
does not afford two. faces perfectly alike ?
Whoever is defirous of a deeper infight
into thefe wonders, may corifult the great
Haller

I 5 1
HallejY whft will convince him that our
nature abounds with many more myfteries,
which v> human fagacity can comprehend
and account for.
SECTION III.
IN this body we perceive fomething ofThefonl,
,.„. J . .. r , and its fa-
quit? a duierent nature and quality irom the cuhies.
bpdy itfeli": a power of feeling, thinking,
reflecting, qomparirig, chufing, and repre
senting to Ufclf things paft, prefent, and
to come. This power, relatively to its fe
veral operations, is termed comprehension,
understanding, reafon, mind, will, free
dom j all which collectively are expreffed
in the Single word Soul. The antient
philofophers long laboured to difcover its
nature, but in vain j and their opinions
were the more abfurd, as they were for
explaining what they did not in the leaft
understand. According to Thales, it is
an effence in perpetual motion ; Plato will
have it to be a harmony j Pythagoras a
felf-moving number j Hippocrates deSines
it a vital fpirit diffused through the body :
others arBrm it to be a particle taken from
the Deity, or of the univerfal mundane
Spirit : others fire, air, water, or earth
B 3 fome-

£ 6 j
fomething refined j and there are not want
ing fome who hold it to be a mere chi
mera, a non-entity. There is nothing fo
infipid that the philofophers will not diSh
up, and their fedtaries greedily feed on
and digeft. Whatever is taught, be it
ever fo abfurd, will meet with difciples;
but all thefe cavillings have only verified
St. Paul's faying, thinking themfelves wife,
they became fools, Rom. i. What then is
this fomething poffeffed of fuch faculties ?
As to the corporeal world, we are Stran
gers to the elements of its feveral parts ; and
in the fpiritual world, we are Still more igno
rant : all therefore we can do is to obferve
and examine its operations. We think, and
are confcious that fuch powers exift in us.
We underftand: when our thoughts prefent
themfelves to the understanding, we admit
them as they are; as the eye fixed on an
object receives the image without meddling
with it in any Shape. We feel: that is, ac
cording to the motion which objects excite
in the body, we are, whether we will
or no, affected with pain or pleafure, and
pleafirig or difpleafing thoughts fpring up
in our minds. We chufe : that is, we affent
or refufe, we will or will not. All objects
of the mind or intellect are either true,
i falfe,

I 7 1
falfe, or dubious : all objects of the will
are either good, evil, or indifferent. With
refpect to the mind, we cannot but allow
what is true, it being impoffible to with
hold our affent to things which evidently
carry their proof with them. Who can de
ny that two and two make four? With
regard to the will, we likewife cannot but
embrace the good, without any arbitrary
freedom to chufe or to reject it. Our pur-
fuit of happinefs is, as I may fay, fo linked,
fo ingrafted into our nature, that what is
falfe we cannot but diffent from, and evil
we muft no lefs neceffarily Shun and djeteft.
There is no loving error as error, nor evil
as evil. To gain our affent, and attract
our defire, falfity muft put on the appear
ance of truth, and evil drefs itfelf up in the
attire of good. Thus it is only in matters
doubtful and indifferent, without any co
gent inducement, that freedom takes place.
In doubtful cafes we may fufpend our opi
nion, affent or diffent, comply or refufe.
If good be apparently equivalent, we can pre
fer one to the other, or chufe this or that.
Now this is the amount of all that we are
clearly confciou& of concerning the faculties
of the foul. B 4. SECT.

t 8 1

SECTION IV.
Wherein THE union of thefe two fo very' diffe-
confiftT.011 rent eSTences constitute Man ; and herein
coiififts this union, that the hqdy operates*.
on the foul, and the foul on the body, fa
intimately, that every one can certainly
know, that both his body and foul are
properly his own. I will that my eye
clofe itfelf; accordingly my eye, and not
another's, immediately clofes itfelf. My
eye on feeing a horfe, excites the image
of that animal in my foal, and not in the
foul of another. I faw the king yef
terday ; I mySelf remember, and not ano
ther ; and this remembrance making me
delirous of feeing him again, my foul or
ders my feet to move ; and accordingly my
feet, and not thofe of another, go where
the king is to. be feen. This is a matter
above all cavilling; it is verified by conti
nual experience. By this union the powers
of the foul are exalted ; the memory and
imagination quickened 5 the understanding
filled with innumerable ideas, thouSands of
images being perpetually reprefented to the
intellect by the organs of our fenSes j elfe
this Store-houfe, now fo full of inestimable riches,

t 9 ]
•riches, would be. quite empty and defolate.
The conveyance of this infinite multitude of
images fome philofophers explain in this
manner. On any outward object vibrating,
or moving the organs of our fenfes, this
motion is propagated to the brain, the fup-
pofed refidence of the foul ; and the brain,
being likewife put in motion, diffufes thro'
the nerves thofe inconceivable minute ani
mal fpirits, of which no microfcope can
perceive the leaft trace in this apartment of
the foul. Thus it is that images are excit
ed in the mind, and prefented to the under
standing, and they incline and fix the will
according to the approbation of the under
standing, to which the will neceffarily con^.
forms^ and in conference acts to the uf-
moft of its power.
Such is the fyftem of natural influence:
but others, who Stile themfelves Theofopbi,
not conceiving how the moft fubtile bodies,
the very rays of light, yet infinitely difc.
ferent from a Spiritual nature, canact on the
foul, have introduced a fpirit of nature, a re
lative fpirit, which they term a fenfitive foul*
This is fuppofed to tranfmit the images,
to convey the will's orders to the fenfes ;
otherwife the will that the eye Should be
Shut could not be performed. On the na
tural

[ io ]
tural fpirit depends the motion of the nerves',
the circulation of the blood, the growth
and the increafe of all the juices.. This
is the archeus; this directs all the motion*
of the body, according to the injunction of
the will, which yet knows nothing of all
this. For this fyftem Van Helmont, Pa-
racelfus, Boehm, Poirat, and all the che
mifts, in general, have declared, without
giving any fatisfactory proof of it.
Other philofophers explode natural influ
ence, as not at, all capable of exciting ima*
ges in the foul, and advance that to fill up
the infinite gulph between the foul and the
moft fubtle corpufcles,' nothing lefs is re
quired than the divine Omnipotence ; and
that God, through the medium of fuch and
fuch motion in the body, excites fuch and
fuch thoughts in the mind. For inftance,
the light of the fun hurts my eyes ; if I ap
proach too near the fire it burns me : on
this occafion, God excites, or even forms in
my mind, the ideas or fenfations of pain.
On the other hand, the thought, that to
die for one's country is glorious, prompt?
the body to the moft heroic achievements.
According to this fyftem, which Malle-
branche has Stretched to its utmoft extent,
God muft be.; the proximate caufe, of alj
thoughts

t Ii" ]
thoughts in the foul, and of all motions
in the body. As the above mentioned
theofophifts have imagined, a fpirit of na
ture, an archeus *, an intermediate being
between body and fpirit, as the medium Of
thefe operations ; fo this philofopher has
called in the infinite omniprefentGod for the
like purpofe.
On this fyftem the fagacious Leibnitz
has founded another, which having, by the
celebrated Wolfe, been fet in a clear light,
has gained univerfal admiration. He fup-
pofes God to have created the body and
foul as two distinct machines, the body
having in it the principle and caufe of all
motions, and the foul that of all thoughts ;
* The principle of life and vigour in any living crear
ture. The ancient chemifts ufed, by this term, to exprefs
fome certain principle of life and motion, as the caufe of
all the effefts obfervable in nature ; and it has been appli
ed by them to very different things. Some ufed to figni-
fy the fire lodged in the centre of the earth, and afcribed
to it the generation of metals and minerals, and fuppofed
it alfo to be the principle of life in vegetables : others un
derftood by it a certain univerfal fpirit, which, as they
imagined, is diffufed throughout the whole creation, and
is the adtive caufe of all the phenomena of nature. Others
give it the name of anima mundi, i. e. the foul of the world;
and fome call it the Vulcan, or heat of the earth. They
fuppofe there is a fhare of this archeus in all bodies,
which, when it is corrupted, produces difeafes, which
they term Archeal Difeafes. that

I i* I
that thefe two machine cannot work o^
one another, but eac-h performs its refpeg-
tive fun®ipn£ ; as two distinct clocks have,
each their federal, wheels and balances, yejt
are made with fuch Skill, thaf both, in the
fame pojnjt of time, Shew the fame hour.
Thu,s all mptipn!apf the body, all vibrations,
from external objects, punctually aniweic
to the operations, of the mind* and thefe
correspond with the motions of the body.
I fee a gi|ded, Statue j the idea of this,
gilded. Statue does not arife frcm my fee^
ing the image, but becaufe^ at the fame
point pf time, that my eyes faw the Sla-
tjue, my foul produced this idea. I would
Shut my eyes, and they are inftantly cloSed,
by a natural motion, without the body's
knowing any thing of the foul's will. I
am too near the fire, and the foul engenders
a thought pf; pajn; and this it would have*
though no fire had been near my body.
The body removes from the fire, without
any knowledge of ideas of pain in the mind,,
and? the body; abstractedly cannot fuffer.
Xbis is the fyftem of Harmonia praftabili-
fcz. In one point they all agree : the cer
tainty of an union.
Ajl thefe Sy.ftems fwarm with unfur-
mpyntable difficulties. Could philofophic pride

t 15 ]
pride allow of it, it would be more ra
tional to cover the unfearchaWe mode of
this union with a non liquet j as the Ro*
man Senators, in perplexed caufes, in-
itead of paffing Judgment^ only faid non
liquet. The mutual operation of the foul
or* the body, and of the body on the fotti,
is as clearly known to us as two and two
make four.— But the hoW ! which all the
difcuSfions have hitherto only involved in
thick darknefs, feems referved for eter
nity, where we Shall behold the divine
Wifdom and Omnipotence in their meri
dian luftre, arid admire and praife them
through endlefs ages. But in this imper
fect State the mereft dunce knows as much
of it as the moft fubtile fcholarj with
this final! difference, that the latter more
eafily decerns the boundaries of fciehces j
whereas the former knows nothing Of
boundaries, nor fo much as that he khc-Ws
nothing. A Locke, a Leibnitz, a Wolfe,
a Bonnet, may impart fuch a light to the
lovers of wifdom, by which they Shall the
better perceive the extreme darknefs and
debility of reafon, and this is always a Step
nearer to truth.

SECT.

t H 1

SECTION V.
The paC FROM this union of foul and body are
them-11 derived all our paSEons. Hatred, love, joy,
feIlT grief» fear, hope, all affections, by what
ever name distinguished, are a mixture of
the powers of our body and foul : thefe are
the fprings of all our conduct; in thefe
all our actions, whether praife-worthy or
fcandalous, have their beginning. Thefe
paflion s are, in their nature, good and be
neficial, neceffary to the difcharge of our
callings : they are as the gale by which we
make way in the voyage of life. But, as in
the world, air, fire, and water, are of the
higheft ufe, fo from them arife the greateft
damages. The wind promotes navigation ;
but what havock does a Storm make among
the Shipping ? All paSfions, as they tend to
the pleafure and happinefs of life ; fo are
they productive of trouble and wretched-
' nefs, if not under the fway of reafon, or
restrained by laws. To Shew how they
. fpring from the intermixed powers of foul
and body, to unfold their great number,
their feveral degrees, their various kinds,
with their many difguifes and contrarieties,
would carry me too far ; and befides, we
may

r 15 1
may find thefe points amply explained in
treatifes of morality : but I cannot forbear
obferving, that, by different mixtures of
the juices, by age, cuftom, food, air, water,
labour, reft, education, and government,
our paflions are weakened, or gather
Strength. Some get the Superiority over
others; and hence the different manners
of nations, fo that what with one is a crime,
is only a matter of indifference to another ;
and the man whom we adore as a demi
god, is by others detefted as a murderer,
and a peft to fociety. The noble fpirited
man others Shall account a reptile; and
the liberal a giddy profligate. A Stupid
infidel Shall be ftiled a free-thinker, who
has nobly cleared his mind of fuperfti-
tion, and the mean prejudices of educa
tion. A grafping placeman Shall pafs for
a man of parts, who understands his bufi-
nefs. Thus the paflions obfcuring our un
derstanding, we do not fee things in a true
light; and hence falfe opinions and wropg
fentiments, making virtues vices, and vices
virtues. To fuch a pitch do our paflions
blind us, that we pafs judgment on our
neighbour, not according to his real good
or bad qualities, but as we love or hate
him : his piety we will have to be hypocri-

t »6 ]
fy; his liberality. laviShnefs; his probity
weaknefs; his prudence knaviSh artifice;
and his uniform temperance meer Stingi-
nefs : in Short, according to what terms he
is on with us, we make him an angel df
light or a devil ; his good qualities are mi£
reprefented, and his bad palliated.
SECTION VI.
Are in a it is farther obferved, that all parts of
coE? the body are perpetually at variance, fo long
as itlafts; and the outrageous paflions con
tinually revolting againft reafon, fcarce al
low us any Short interval of tranquillity.
Had we only reafon and no priSHons, or paf
lions without any reafon, we might enjoy
" the quiet of the brute creation > but having
both, and the paflions getting head, tor
ment, agitate, and diftract us to fuch a de-
¦greei that frequently what we impatiently
deSired in the morning, in the evening we
are totally indifferent about. What to-day
was thb object of our Warmeft wishes, to
morrow We refufe. What we have long
"ftrid ftrenuoufly laboured after, when once
«S(j%e3, we foon naufeate. This fickle-
^€ft Iflay be eafily accounted for in the vio
lent ce'tftefls among the paflions, the ¦ftrcforg*
„* . er

[ 17 ]
er overcoming the weaker. The love of
fame can expel avarice^ and avarice volup-
tuoufnefs : this again can fupprefs hatred,
and hatred get the better of fear ; this
very often overawes injustice ; and even the
moderate paflions not feldom reftrain the
more impetuous and extravagant. All thefe
paffions Stimulate defire, and impofe on the
understanding j fo that we will what we ought
not, and do unfeafonably what we once
could not be brought to do, and when we
ought to have done it : hence it is, that we
fo often catch at mifery inftead of happi-
nefs, and at delufive appearances inftead of
realities.
SECTION VII.
TO thefe coUifions of the paffions are Whence
likewife owingthe different modes of think- '^e d^f"
ing. As among fo many thoufand fac^ kinds of
not fo much as two are found perfectly £ oug ts'
alike, though-all have the fame features,
forehead, chin, eyes, cheeks, mouth, and
nofe; fo amidft the many millions of fouls,
all, if I may be allowed the expreffion,
are formed of the fame elements, all have the
like fcope, all fubject to the like paflions,
breathing the like defires after happinefs,
C yet

lion.

f 18 J
yet all fo different in their thoughts, that
it may be held as a certain truth, there are
not two fouls throughout the univerfb Whofe
thoughts are abfolutely alike : this, in fome
meafure, accounts why mankind take fuch
very different roads in their purfuits after
happinefs. SECTION VIII.
Gen«ai AFTER this fairit Sketch of mankind*
we cannot but be filled with admiration at the
divine wifdom and power, which amidft all
the contrarieties of mafy can fo overrule
and guide him* thatj notwithstanding all
rellictancy and opposition, he Shall certain
ly keep within the brfiit aSgned to him.
What a mafter- piece! A being compound
ed of fomany qualities infinitely different, of
light and darkn'efs, wifdom and folly, of
liberty arid Slavery ,- of dignity and abafe-
ment, of Reafon and paflioris ; a being, the
powers of whofe foul and body wage unre
mitting war againft each other, and among
themfelves. The ingenious Pafcal, that
fcourge of the Jefuits, has, in his Pmfees,
given us a very lively picture of the contra-
didtions in man. Quelle chihifae eft ce done
que fhomfoe! "Quelle nouvedute> qWl cahos,
2 quel

[ *9 1
quelfujet de contradiction! Juge de toutes
cbofes, imbecile ver de terre; depqfitaire du
vrai, amas d'incertitude; gloire et rebut de
Vunivers. S'il fe Vante, je I'abaijfe ; s'il
s'abbaijfe, je le vante ; ei je le contredis tou-
jours, jufqu'a* ce qu'il apprenne qu'il eft un
monftre incomprehenfble. I had ftiled mail
a mafter-piece ; and both appellations, how
ever contradictory^ are not without their
reafons. Pafcal coniiders man as a corrupt
ed creature : I relatively to his beautiful
Structure, and the admirable combination of
the powers of his foul and body ; points of
view extremely different. He who is any
thing converfant i with optics, knows that
the fame picture differently viewed re-
prefents a man or a landscape. A picture
exhibits very different images, as it is near
or far from the eye* according to the Side in
^hich it is viewed, and the Strength or
faintnefs of the light. Now this obferva
tion may lead, us to form a truer judgment
of the conduct and actions of men. AU
affairs have feveral Sides : many are the du
ties to which man is bound towards God,
himfelf, and his neighbour; and indeed he
bears a relation to all creatures. What he
does may in one refpedt be prudent, judi
cable, and good; and in other refpects de*
C .2 trimental

[ 2° ]
trimental and culpable. This will plainly
appear in considering the nature of oaths,
which may be facred obligations, or deteft-
able Shackles. SECTION IX.
Happinefs WE Shall now take a more interesting
of all men. view of man, andconfider him in his innate
paflion for happinefs, and his confequent
actions. Here with amazement we fee
him fluttering from object to object, from
creature to creature, and toiling in an eager
fearch after the real good, without finding
it. Amidft the faint light of his under
standing, which is farther obfcured by many
paflions, he is continually grafping the Sha
dow for the fubftance ; fo that at length he
muft, to his confufion, acknowledge with
Solomon, and he fpoke from the beft of ex
perience, that all is meer vanity of vanities.
The man of letters, after all his clofe Study,
and emaciating lucubrations, is convinced
that his erudition is very imperfect, and a
vexation of fpirit. Another aims at mak
ing a figure in the State, and lording it over
Others, till experience brings him to a fenfe
that he has all along been a Slave to his am
bition. With another riches are the darling
i object,

[ 21 ]
object; and, after the greateft fuccefs in his
purfuit, he finds that no wealth will fatisfy
defire. Another is all for pleafure, which
in a Short time palls on his tafte, and termi
nates in difguft. The Stoics imagined they
had hit the mark in placing their happinefs
in apathy, not considering that this was re
ducing man to a lifelefs clod. All equally
aimed at happinefs ; and fo far were they
agreed, as this impulfe ever was, and will
be the predominant principle in man; Let
us take a retrofpect of the means ufed by
the firft fages of the world for compafling
this univerfal end.
SECTION X.
ON the increafe, and the confequential The firft
difperfion of mankind, they foon came to Wards°"
obferve, that their well-being required they haPPinefs.
Should live in focieties, and unite their
Strength, that they might the better op-
pofe wild beafts and wicked men. It
was alfo obvious to them, that, by this
union of Strength, and mutual afliftance,
the neceffaries and conveniencies of life
might be more readily procured; more
than if every individual Shifted for himfelf.
They alfo perceived, that this focial life
C 3 would

{ «* I
Would enlarge the underftanding^ Tefift?
reafon, amend the will, and, by means, of
Wife laws, reftrain the inordinacy of defir/es
and paflions. TheSje benefit of the foc$J
life we ourfeives daily experience. In or
der to a man's eating his neceflary fo»d with
decency and fafety, fome thoufands of
hands, I fay fome thoufands, mult have
been employed. This will foon be, allow
ed, on considering through how many
hands a fpoon, a knife, and all the othef
ugenSils, with meat and drink, pafs through
before they are fit for ufe ; likewife how1
many are employed in the materials and
tools for building and furnishing a houfe ;
what instruction is alfo required before a
monkey is formed into a rational man ; for
without fuch education, allowing man all
that Stock of "innate ideas, ahout which fq
many abftrufe reveries have been published*
he would hardly have rajfed himfelf above.
that creature. I dare queftion, whether
man, left alone to his natural genius, would;
equal a wellrtaught elephant.; and this isa
,queftion countenanced by Some human crea
tures of both fexes ; no farther traces of
reafon appearing 'in them than what are
common to the brute creation, the finding
put the means of fubfiftence, and of proT
pagation^

E ?3 3
paga^ien : fo Jjsgfj&f^, are. mutual afMance
and inftr Ujf3:ionf SECTION XL
THE felihdenying RQufleaux whofe noble Anfwer
mind has fubdued the viojeqce of paffioh, is jeaion. "
of opinion, that we Should do better with
out fuch afliftance. Had it been poflible,
he . was for bringing us to live on acorns,
and dwell in caves, and herd with the
beafts. He will find it a hard tafk to perr
fua.de that voluptuary Voltaire to any fuch
thing, or to gain difciples in this part of
the world, where every thing Seems going
to ruin by an excefliye luxury, and famine
prevails amidft exuberance and revelry. It
is however certain, that, agreeably to his
opinion, an extenfive knowledge and ac
quaintance with things whet defire ; many
occupations inflame ^yarice, and the focial
life gives rife to fome violent paffions, to
which nature, contented with little, is a
Stranger ; and unquestionably, to moderate
defire and cool paflion, there could not be a
better way than betaking ourfeives to their
|)rjmitive Simplicity pf living. This philpr
fppher's good fenfe will nqt allow us to
/uppofe that he lays down his opinion as a
C 4 rule

[ £4 ]
rule Strictly to be obferved; elfe to what
purpofe has bountiful nature beftowed oa
us fomany of its gifts within the bowels, and
on the furface of the earth ; gifts which we
could not enjoy without manual afliftance ?
How fhould we employ the powers of our
foul and body, which require a continual
action, as -promotive of our welfare, and
that of others? He certainly means no more,
than to bring a tree that has taken a crook
ed turn into a Straight and regular growth ;
I mean, he would correct the many abufes
of focial life, by laying before us a model
of greater Simplicity. PoSfibly the vices
and violences among polite nations, and the
plain innocent manner of living among the
favages, may have led him to give his wit
and eloquence full range, in exploding the
one and recommending the other.
SECTION XII.
Second IT was likewife foon found, that laws
Jl?P- were absolutely neceflary for curbing the
impetuofity of paflions ; fince men, if left
to their wills, would be no better than fo
many wild beafts to each other. A rule was
therefore to be invented, by which every
one Should guide his public and private be1
haviourj

t 25 ]
haviour j and this they foon found in their
own natural condition, and in the relation
which, as members of fociety, all bore to
one, and one to all. This is, and can be
nothing elfe than real felf-intereft. The
only law of nature is to promote one's real
welfare, and make one's felf as happy as
poflible in foul and body, without doing
any injury to our neighbour. This is the
great and powerful motive of all our ac
tions. This, in all times, from the begin
ning of the world, in all men, in all places,
andin all defigns, has been the principal ob
ject, and will ever continue fuch, whilft men
are men. This is the longing of all rational
creatures : this the hunger and thirft after
happinefs, even in thofe whom defpair
prompts to put an end to their exiftence,
as thereby clofing the fcene of their fuffer-
ings. Whence does the weaker fex in In
dia derive fuch daring courage, as to leap
into the flaming pile, where the deceafed
hufband is burning, but a defire of happi
nefs ? If the fovereign and magistrates care
fully confult the welfare of the fubject, and
profperity- of the State; if the teacher dis
charges his office with due diligence ; if the
artificer distinguishes himfelf by fk.il! and
induftry; if the peafant chearfully renews his

t 26 }
his daily labour ; if the»foJdier undauntedly
faces, al^ the dangers of war ; the incitement,
ui them all is felf-intereft: they all think
that they are thus promoting their happi
nefs, and Shall obtain that fupreme good
after which they are continually breathing.
This pafliqnate defire after the true and on-?
ly fatisfying good Seems a remainder of the,
fruitipn of fome prior State of glory, Since we
are never at reft till we have again found the
• true good. The divine wifdom may im?
bitter our tafte to all earthly bleflings, or deT
ny us a fatisfying enjoyment of them, with
jhis view, that we may feek and find it in
that which is all-fufficient.
SECTION XIII.
Tiird BUT that the Wtifeft laws may be an ef-
pep' fectualrule, there muft farther be fome
thing inveSted with fuch power and digniT
ty as to enforce the obfervance of this rule.
It was feen that the impetuofity of paffions
fwftrated the laws pf nature; dpmeftips
and children often were refradtory and dif-
obedient to the father pf the family, and the
true felf-intereft degenerated into a pernici-
ous and execrable felfiShnefs, man making
hirn^lf his chief object, without any regard to

I 27 3
Jtothfl tpjafelic welfare. He was for being af-
#fte4in all cafes by others^ without making
pay return, contrary to the rule of true felf-
intereft, the doing to othe,rs as we wsuU be
done by. For the obfervance of this law, and
to give it its- proper weight, they found con-
.venient or rather indiSjpenfibly neceffary, to
^oiftitute government, inverting the fovereign
rwith nower to rectify felf-intereft from its
degeneracy ; to render it of public benefit;
to caufe young people to be educated in vir
tue and ufeftyl accomplishments ; to im
prove their understanding ; to make their
pafEons fubmk to the laws ; tpexalt all their,
powers : thus every way promoting the pub
lic welfare For the maintenance of fuch
power and authority he was to ufe all effec
tual means, with neceflary fines and penal
ties of aU kindsp even death itfelf. Thus
did a people transfer" the wills of all to the
will of the fovereign ; but the fovereign has
likewife fubmitted his will to that of the
people, that no one may be bound implicitly
to obey the will of another; but all,, both
fovereign and fabject, be under the national
will. You have nothing to. fay to me, nor \
to you ,; I Shall not affume a fuperiority over
you, nor you over me; but the whole collec
tive body- 0/ us may cpjaama^id every indivi-
"' f ' dual,

[ 28 ]
dual, and every individual is bound to fup-
port this command, and pay obedience to
it. Accordingly government is to be revered
and honoured as a divine institution, as
maintaining that law of nature which is the
balls of all temporal welfare : that no man
Shall obstruct or moleft another in his ho-
neft endeavours after happinefs; and the
people's confent to inveft the fovereign
with a power adequate to fo good an end,
is to be confidered as an intimation of
the divine will, ever wife and gracious.
Had a people been fo inconfidreate as to
make a tender of an unlimited power to a
ruler, no man in his right fenfes would
have accepted of it, as to reign over fools
and madmen is no great honour. The
court fycophants, with Hobbes and Machi-
avel, who insinuate other maxims of go
vernment, are guilty of high treafon againft
the facred rights of mankind : they fatally
deceive even princes themfelves, and, at
the fame time, betray their ignorance of
truths grounded in the very nature of man,
and not to be eradicated by force or artifice.
I am mightily pleafed with the generous an
fwer of an English gentleman to king
James II. who was extolling an arbitrary
government; 1 cannot believe, faidjie, that

[ *9 ]
the Creator of all things made mankind with
a faddle on their backs, and bridles in their
mouths, and a dozen or two of fellows to ride
them at their pleafure. In all free Slates it
is a received maxim, that the fovereignty
refts in the law, the majefty in the main-
tainer of the laws, and in the fupport and
execution of them refts the fafety of the
whole State ; and whilft this maxim is in
violably adhered to, every thing goes well.
SECTION XIV.
NOTHING is fo proper, fo wife, and Laft ftep.
beneficial, but when it comes into men's °„* at"ne
unlucky hands, it is foon, as it were, defiled Greeks
and corrupted. One would have thought ™ans, °"
government a cure for all evils, without
looking any farther, as certainly the moft ex
cellent and even a divine expedient for re
straining the paffions and violent impulfes of
nature within due limits ; but the rulers to
whom fuch authority had been committed
foon came to abufe it: the guardian-angels,
fo beloved and honoured, were by an in-
fatiable ambition turned into demons. To
check this evil the oath was contrived, though
the world had fubfifted above two thoufand
years without any fuch thing : this tie was
? to

t 36 j
to fupprefs all attempts to arbitrary power;
accordingly rulers fwore they would nd
make an ill ufe of their authority; tha£ they
would maintain the people in their natural
freedom* and govern according to-laWj
poffibly this may have given rife to the pre
fent cuftom of kings folemnly fwearing at
their coronation to obferve the fundamental
laWs. In Greece the Archontes, the Thef-
mothetes, the very Areopagus itfelf, the
Supreme court of that country, Swore to the
like effedt ; and at Athens, the youth, ori
attaining their twentieth year, were not
allowed to be prefent at the affemblies of
the people till they had taken the followt«$
oath : " Never to fhew any fear in time.tsf
" action, nor Shamefully run away to Save
** their lives; to Shed the laft drop of their
*' blood for their country and its religion,
** and this either jointly with other citizens,
¦*' oralottfei when requisite; not to hurt their
ct country, but in all things to feek its prof-
ct perity ; to be fubject to the magifttacy;
** to difeover fcnd oppofe finglyj or jointly
;" with others, al4 who Shall invalidate, /sir
"endnote to-invalidate the laws, iad
u conftantly to adhere to the religion re*
u"ceiVe4 fVomtfeieir fathers." To all this
Mars' and Juj&ftter were fotemtily invoked
%: to

C 3i 1
to. be witnefles. This remarkable oath"
foon beta me a model to ah republics*
The Romans, fo renOWnfed for wifdom,
likewife endeavoured, in imitation of the
Greeks, to fecure themfelves by an Oath %
but both Greeks and Romans found that all
filch ligaments are much too weak to kee|>
head and members together.
SECTION XV.
- YET the Greeks, with all their richnefs Much
t)f intention, acutenefs of intellects, land ^r^a- "
Skill in polities, did hot think fit to Strain an ^"Las
oath fo fir as we Christians have j and, mfe
as it were, hi contempt of Chrift's command,
Matth. v. for many oaths ufed in Christian
ltates comprehend fuch a multitude of du
ties a's can fcarce be retained, much lefs
punctually difeharged. The fubjects like-
Wife of many oaths cannot, in their Very
nature, be rationally fworn to ; not to men
tion, that inflicting a penalty on oaths tends
to root out all fenfe of religion, it being
certainly from religion alone that oaths
¦Should derive their whole fanctioh.
We call on God as a witnefs, God, to Nature of
whom all hearts are open, and from whom ^
the moft Secret thoughts are not hid ; we
invoke

[ 32 J
invoke God as an avenger, whofe revenge
is always righteous, and which none can
efcape: when we infult the Divine ma-
jefty by a falfe oath, we draw on our
feives his everlafting curfe; we exclude
ourfeives from the falvation obtained for us
by his redeeming Son; we poor reptiles
formally, and before many witneffes, call
down his vindictive juftice; we totally re
nounce his mercy now and in the hour of
death; we deprive ourfeives of every good
both in time and eternity ; we render our
feives fubject to his wrath, which is a
conSuming and unquenchable fire burning
down to the loweft hell ; for all this is in
cluded in thefe words, fo help me God.
Indeed where the defign is really to bring
truth to light, and to enforce the obfervr
ance of our feveral duties, then, if any
thing can remove diftruft and procure a
confidence in our declaration, it muft be
an oath. SECTION XVI.
LET us now inquire whether this me
thod, which only reafons of ftate had in
vented and fo rigidly enforced, be thus
neceflary and beneficial. We all acknow ledge

[ 33 3
1-dge it to be fomething very terrible, to' .
fubject one's felf to God's eternal vengeance
as we do, not only in the affirmative oaths
pf innumerable kinds concerning paft things,
and which are well known to us, but much
more in prcnihTory oaths concerning un
certain future things ; which, by reafon of
our natural levity, or the violence of our
corruptions, it is next to impoflible to ob
ferve. On this account it will be well
worth while to confult hiftory, whether
thefe fuppofed flays of ail governments are
not fomething faulty. Approved histo
rians, experience, againft which nothing
but downright infanity can hold out, rea
fon, revelation, the fcope of focial life,
will inform us how far an oath may be
neceflary, and how, though of Pagan origin,
it gradually got footing, and came to be
eftablimed among Christians.
SECTION XVIL
I am fully perfuaded, that many wife Remark.
and virtuous fovereigns do really account
oaths to be of fuch great utility, that
they cannot be too much multiplied ; but
how far fuch opinion is well grounded
.will be the bufinefs of this treatife to evince.
D I muft

[ 34 3
I muft only previously obferve, that, as I
have Shewn above Section VIII. all things
have feveral Sides, and no little fagacity is
required to view a thing on' all its Sides.
With regard to an oath a Chriftian is to be
Confidered in feveral relations. Here all
the divine perfections, all temporal and
eternal welfare, are debafed into a com
petition with contemptible fhadows, the
poor goods of this world, a flimfy. honour,
a little money or riches, which make thenfr
felves wings, a momentary glory, a no
minal dignity, and for thefe am I to ftake
my foul. In ariftocracies the end of an oath
is to check the power of the great. If a
glafs be cracked, all the rinfing in the world
will never make it whole. . The very admi-
niftrationof an oath to a man in power
proves its inutility ; for if he is not to be
come at by law, then is it manifeft that
he has abufed his power, and violated the
oath of government; and if his inferiors
dare not call him to account for male-ad-
miniftration, how will they arraign him
for perjury ? Befides, do they not from a
fear of man likewife perjure themfelves ?
But fuppofe the oath anfwers its end, and
men in authority refpect it as an in
violable obligation. A folemn oath has a

great

[ 35 1
great many fides ; and of its different re
lations more than enough has been faid.
For fuch an oath to be valid, it muft be
confidered with regard to God, and the
lawfulnefs of fuch fwearing be demon
strated from revelation. Farther, it is well
known many rafh oaths had their rife from
the hatred and rancour of petty rulers, glad
to take advantage of their fuperiors when
under any difficulties, efpecially in critical
times. It is a general miftake in repub
lics, that in the impetuoufnefs of paflion
affairs are viewed only on one fide, over
looking or forgetting all the other circum
stances and considerations. Something of
this has been Slightly mentioned Section
VIII. it is however acopious fource of many
errors, abufes, and abfurdities ; but which,
by prefcription, are come to be articles of
faith. SECTION XVIII.
PYTHAGORAS dignifies an oath with °"ginof
,. . t~, oaths.
a divine origin. According to him God,
on determining to bring forth the creation
out of nothing, at the fame time bound
himfelf to preferve and govern it according
to the rules of his wifdom. This pro-
P 2 found

t 36 1
found idea he perhaps picked up out of the
writings of Mofes, which were not un-
known to him ; and from this eternal oath
of God he fuppofes are derived the num-
berlefs oaths, which afterwards came to
be introduced among men-. The forme'r
was the fecurity or pledge of the divine"
eternal will, and the latter are the fecuritiei
or pledges of man's truth and fidelity ;
or So many copies of the firft primordial
oath.
SECTION XIX.
CIVIL hiftory informs us of a later
origin. In the infancy of the world, which
the poets have ftiled the golden age, pro
perty was not fo precifely marked out ; nor
had ambition ftruck its roots fo deep and
wide as to choak all truth and probity,
Nature was Still fatisfied with little. In
thofe innocent times, as Juvenal fays, the
Greeks themfelves would not fwear to any
thing ;
Le Normand mime ignoroit alors le perjure, n -i
Yea was yea, and no no, without any
thing of an oath or farther affirmation. But
guilt and violence taking place in the world,
and all fhame and probity being fuperfeded b7

{ 37 3
by fraud and artifice, no better method^
for putting a ftop to fuch evils and fecuring
the public welfare occurred, than to im-
pofe an oath as an inviolable feal of truth
and fidelity ; efpecially, experience having
manifefted, that the confideration of one's
own welfare, of real felf-intereft, and
happine/s, was not a fufficient barrier
againft the violence of paffions. Concern
ing this Thomafius fays, Jurifpr. Div. lib. 2.
c. 9. '•" An oath was introduced as a cor-
" rective to depraved nature, no other
" method remaining, not only effectually
" to fupprefs all artifices and deceit, by
<c which others might circumvent us with
" fair fpeeches and promifes, but like-
" wife to remove all doubts and miftrufts
" which they might entertain of our
ct words." Thus, where probity, truth,
and confidence ended, judicial fwearing
began. This historical truth Hefiod thus
fets forth in his poetical manner, " Difcord
<l a daughter of Night, firft brought forth
" Toil, Strife, Lying, Equivocation, and
" Deceit, and the ifl'ue of thefe was Swear-
" ing." Thefe are the fources from whence
is derived fwearing ; and farther, the eter
nal truth declares that any thing above yea
and nay is evil. D 3 SECT.

i 3* i

SECTION XX.
Why fo IT Was accounted a proper method, for
!2yva" putting a flop to all perfidy and falfhood;
for it feemed quite inconceivable that any
one Should ever be fo abandoned and rafh,
as folemnly to call for the verigeance of
the Almighty on a known falfity. From
this fuppofition an oath was confidered as
the Strongeft tie of human fociety, the fa
cred pledge of truth and fidelity, the very
bafis of all government, the fureft means
for keeping men to their duty ; and it was
cried up as the ultima fides omnium gentium :
it was a panacea deferving the higheft com
mendations, and to be an univerfal cuftom.
Experience, however, has Shewn, that as
medicines, by being too frequently ufed
not only lofe their virtues, but frequently
degenerate into poifons, fo has the mul
tiplicity of 'oaths been productive of per
jury, and thus fo facred a tie has proved a
fatal fnare. SECTION XXI.
Yet re- OF this not a few nations had a proper
JfdSedna-y fenfe, and therefore did not admit of oaths.
tions. The

t 39 1 ;
The antient Phrygiansj and others* even in
our days, thought that to make the gods a
party in every Worldly tranfaction, was con
trary to the reverence due to them ; and
that it- was the higheft prefumption in mor
tals to invoke the deities to be. the inftru-
ments of man's revenge. Even aniong
the Romans to require an oath from any
creditable man, much more aperfon of dis
tinction, was looked on as a high affront ;
and the antient French kings never took
an oath. And to this day fome remains
of this are feen in a privilege of the no
bility in Bohemia, Bavaria, and Auftria,
their hand and feal being, in certain cafes,
equal to an oath, as a fufficient affurance
of the truth which they affirm, and of
their punctual performance of what they
promife. Mulzin reprefent. et. p. 2. I.
SECTION XXII.
BUT as truth and confidence were Corrobo-
obligcd to call, in the afliftance of an oath, ™"oa c
fo in order to make it the more obligatory,
it was found neceflary to accompany it with
much State and ceremony ; men being
naturally more affected by outward imagery
D 4 than

f 40 3
than by bare reafon and propriety. The live
ly reprefentations of fancy are known flrange-
ly to agitate the foul, and fet all its powers in
a ferment. On this principle many awful ce
remonies were added to the taking of an oath^.
as of itfelf too weak for the end propofed.
SECTION XXIIT.
Jndance. AMONG the Greeks, oaths were ad-
Gieek;. mimftered only in the te'mpies, and accom
panied with a facrifice, the party likewife
laying his hand upon the altar. Homer
has left us a beautiful defcription of this fb-
lemnity : Menalaus and Paris, as the caufes
of the war, were to put an end to it by a
fingle combat :
On either fide a facred herald Hands,
The wind they fix, and on each monarch's hands
Pour the full urn ; then draws the Grecian lord
His cutlafs {heath'd befidehis pond'rous fword :
From the fign'd victims crops the curling hair,
The heralds part it, and the princes (hare ;
Then loudly there before th' attentive bands
He calls the gods, and fpreads his' lifted hands :
O firft and greateft power whom all obey,
Who high on Ida's holy mountain fvray.
Eternal Jove, and you bright orb that roll .
From Eaft to Weft, and view from pole to pole ?
Thou mother earth ! and all ye living floods' J
Infernal furies and Tartarean gods !
'• Wh-

[ 4^ 1
Who rule the dead, and horrid woes prepar*
For perjur'd kings, and all who falfly fwear !
Hear and be witnefs !
With that the chief the tender victims flew,
And in the duft their bleeding bodies threw ;
From the fame urn they drink the mingled wine,
And add libations to the powers divine;
While thus their prayers united mount the fky,
Hear mighty Jove ! and hear ye gods oh high !
And may their blood who firft the league confound,
Shed like this wine, diftain the thirfty ground ;
May all their conforts ferve promifcuous luft,
And all their race be fcatter'd as the duft !
Thus either hoft their imprecations join.
Farther, they who fwore fomefimes
plunged their right hand in the victim's
blood ; which is thus defcribed in one of
Efchilus's tragedies : " Seven ruthlefs
" chiefs over a black buckler, and their
" hand plunged in the blood of a flaughter-
" ed bull, with horrid imprecations fwear
" revenge ; and to their dire purpofes atteft
" fanguinary Bellona, Mars, and Terror."
SECTION XXIV.
THE Romans, in the republican times, Among
ufed to fwear at the altar of the goddefs the Ro'
... T maw,
Fides, the oath, as they imagined* of Ju
piter himfelf. O Fides alma ! Apta Pinis
* 2 a

[ 42 ]
H jUs jurandum Jbvis, a verfe of Effniu'sV
which Cicero cannot enough admire. Ju-^
piter lapis was alfo called on as a witnefs
and avenger in thefe words : May he cafi
me out of Rome as 1 cafi away this /lone.
Afterwards a victim was added to the ce
remony, with this form of the oath :
If I fwear falfty, may fupiter ftrike me as I
ftrike this viSiim ; may he ftrike me with as
much greater force as his power is above all
the power of man. The party fwearing
then threw a ftone with all his force againft
the head of the victim. The Greeks,
being of a more luxuriant fancy than the
Romans, invoked the gods, that their per--
jury might be attoned by nothing lefs than
by the blood of their whole kindred ; and,
as if no expreffions could be found of fuf
ficient energy, they came to fwear by the
bones of their anceftors, by the king'9
head, by their country, and many more
fuch abfurd imprecations ; meaning that
the Gods would punifh their perjury on
whatever was moft dear to them : they
however went no farther, not a word, con
cerning the punifhments of a future ftate,
which yet they firmly believed, and had
very tremendous ideas of. SECT.

[ 43 ]

SECTION XXV.
THE duties to be fworn to were hi- Subject
therto but few : for according to Dion. °^eir
Haiic. 1. 6. the heads of the Roman
Slate had only one oath tendered to them,
which was to maintain the facrata lex ;
and when Auguftus had feized on the So
vereignty, he would not hear of any oath
of obedience to him, though many of his
flatterers advifed him to it, as a mafter-
piece of policy for fecuring himfelf on
the throne ; but he Silenced them with
this excellent reply : " If my ordinances
" are good, they will be readily complied
*e with ; if not, all the oaths you can in-
" vent will not bring the people to fubmit
" to them." That wife prince well knew
that laws were made for man's fake, and
not man for laws ; and likewife that the
obfervance of many was often of no man
ner of concern to the State, and that where
beneficial and neceflary, he was able to
keep the people to their duty. He knew
that the beft means to fecure obedience are
punifhments and rewards. His crafty fuc-
ceffor Tiberius was in the fame way of
thinking ; and it was not till Nero and the
like

i 44 |
like pefts of mankind that thofe impious
oaths, 4r.3W.n up in imperatorum nomen
verba et aSta were known. From fuch
fources did the invention of oaths break
forth like a torrent pervading all nations,
and big with innumerable evils.'
t SECTION XXVL
Abufe of BUT the more wife among the Pagans^
even in thofe times, obferved that the more
oaths were multiplied, $nd the greater fo-
lemnity they were invefted with, the lefs
was the end of them anfwcred.
Laberius .calls the clearing oath an excelr
lent cooUng plaifter for allaying any blisters
raifed by burthenfonie debts,; the Shorteft
way of winding up one's bottoms with cre
ditors; It was only taking this imprecatory
oath, and a debtor was his own man again.
What a jeft was made of this facred ob
ligation ? Plautus tells us, jus jurandum
rei fervanda non perdendce conditum eft.
When oaths concerning the performance
pf duties grew to be dangerous, intri
cate, infidious, 4f not impracticable, arid
yet unavoidable, recourfe was had to fuch
explications as this : the firft law of ^na^
ture is to preferve ,and not ruin pne's Self,

f 4S 1
felf ; and if this could not be compaf-
fed but by fwearing, they made no dif
ficulty of fwearing. Thus from a raSh
deliberate felf-deceir, fwearing and perjury
were no more than felf-defence. Are mat
ters on a better footing among christians I
SECTION XXVlI.
We ate not however to imagine that What the
their moralists did not, and Very earneftly, thoStof
teach the facrednefs of an oath. Pytha- an oath,
goras in his Golden Verfes, which we
more juftly attribute to his difciple Lyfis,
recommends the higheft reverence for an
oath ; and from this doctrine Hierocles
makes the following deductions :
i. That oaths be feldom ufed; as other-
wife they would be lightly thought of, and
a wide door opened to perjury.
2. That they be not ufed in fmall mat
ters, this being a profanation of them,
and of the fame bad confequertce& as fre
quency. 3. Not to fwear to an uncertainty or
irrrpoffibilrty ; fuch an oath no menace,
ho torture, not Phalarisks bull Should ex-
ton from 11$* ..j _ u
4, Not

[ 46 ]
4. Not to fwear to any thing unjuft, as,
in Cicero's opinion, Agamemnon was guilty
of two fins, firft in fwearing to facrifice
his daughter, and in fulfilling an oath fo
unjuft and cruel.
5, To fwear with an honeft open heart :
indeed all fraud, equivocation, and wreft-
ing of words, are abhorred as fubterfuges
of perjury, and accounted more fcandalous
than downright perjury itfelf. Totius enim
jnjuftitia nulla capitalior quam eorum, qui
cum maxime fallunt, id agunt ut viri boni
ejfe videantur.
6. Not to have recourfe to an oath when
Othe/ means will anfwer our end.
SECTION XXVIII.
Its force THEY further taught that all promifes
evenwhenupon oath were, without any exception,
advifediy to be made good ; and that no plea to in
validate them be admitted.
If a perfon had been too precipitate
in fwearing, it was accounted but a juft
punishment of his forwardnefs that he
Should punctually fulfil his oath. , Of this
we have an inftance in Alexander the
Great, when in full march to deftroy the
city of Lampfacus, which had grofly af
fronted

I 47 3
fronted him. In this exigency, the townf*
men applied to Anaximenes, their fellovf
citizen, and formerly preceptor to the en
raged monarch, that he would go and
meet him, and deliver him a petition.
Alexander, at fight of the meffenger, rea
dily conceiving the end of his coming, cal
led out to him ; cc Mafter, I folemnly fwear,
tf that I will not do anything of what thou
f( Shalt requeft of me." At which Anaxi
menes immediately made anfwer: M O
" king, I require that thou wilt punifhi
" Lampfacus for its infolence, and make it
" a heap of ruins." This ready turn
faved the town from total destruction ; for
Alexander in regard to his oath, though
uttered extempore, and on fuppofltion of a
quite different requeft, dropped all thoughts
of hostilities.
Even when an oath was extorted by Likewife
violence, this did not annul its obliga- ^tee"dfx'
tion : they faid a brave man is not to be
compelled by any force ; and if this be
his cafe, it by no means warrants his
breaking an oath. M. Pomponius, as
cenfor, brought a charge againft Titus
Manlius for holding the dictatorship beyond
the time limited by law ; Manlius the fon,
afterwards fo famous under the firname of
Torquatus

[ 48 I
Torquatus, apprehending the bad confe-*
quehces of fuch a profecution to his father,
conveyed himfelf fecretly into the cenfor's.
houfe, and, with a dagger at his throat,
compelled him to fwear, that he would
drop all farther profecution. Pomponius
hereupon made a formal declaration, that
by reafon of his oath, though extorted, he
could not carry on the indictment ; and
this declaration was approved of by the
people. SECTION XXIX,
Was to be IT, was their opinion that what had
obferved jjeen fwom t0j was to be obferved even
the per- towards the perjured. The lex talionis
Jured* could not take place here, nor did perjury
excufe another ; it was accounted much
more noble to keep one's word even to thofe
who made no confcience of breaking theirs.
Accordingly Silius Italicus has immor
talized Regulus, for the religious obfervance
of his promife to the faithlefs Cartha
ginians :
Iu longum fetnper fama glifcente per avum
jnfidis fervaffe fidem memnrabere.

SECT.

[ 49 3

SECTION XXX.
THEY held that no danger, no torture, Even
diffolved the obligation of an oath. Re- g^ek*
gulus well knew what he had to expect tortures
from the inhuman Carthaginians ; and his peaed.
relations, his friends, the fenate, and thb
people, preffingly urged him to remain
at Rome : but he Went away as if com-
pofedly going to his villa ; and chofe to
Stand the worft of treatrnents rather than
break his Oath. But concerning this, Cicero
obferves that fuch heroifm was not greatly
admired at that time, being nothing extra
ordinary arnong the Romans of thofe virtuous
days ; and that it was not till afterwards, when
truth and probity were funk to a very low
ebb, that this action came to be fo highly
extolled. Nobis fame mirabile videtur -, illis
quidem temporibus a liter facer -e non potuit ; ita-
que ifta laus non eft ho minis, fed temporum.
Thus, among the antient Romans^ an
Oath, till it became relaxed by t09 great
frequency, was of fuch Strict obligation,
that no diltrefs* no fuffering, no torture,
no advantage, excufed the breach of it.

E SECT-

t so 3
SECTION XXXI.
THAT the Romans', by mere light of
reafon, had true ideas of the nature of an
oath, all our moralists and civilians muft un-
queftionably allow : and even our divines, if
they will explain our Saviour's prohibition
againft fwearing, confiftently with their
own fentiments, or indeed with the pro
priety of things, muft approve of thofe
rules : but if the Romans were fo judi
cious with regard to the properties of an
oath, they extremely overfhot the mark of
its obligation. Herein their doctrines feemed
to be modelled from Stoicifm, rather than
from the nature of an oath and of right,
This excefs may have partly arifen from
a falfe prejudice firft adopted from the
Greeks, and then Strengthened by form and
folemnity, as if an oath was a promife to
the divinity, and thus made the moft facred
part of religion. Overfhooting the mark
is, however, better than fhooting fhort of
it, that the neceflary reverence due to an
oath may be maintained. Cicero, in my
opinion, is a better director of confcience
than many Chriftian cafuifts, who, by
their- fophiftical fubtilty, have'fpun the
obligatory

[ $i 1
bbligatory force of an oath into fb fine a
thread as to make it like a fpider's web, in
which only weak flies can be held. Such
a multiplicity of oaths muft neceffarily pro
duce many corrupt eVafions ; and as every
one is for creeping out where he can find
a hole, the confequence is that the obliga-
gation of an oath will be made weaker
and weaker, by, all kinds of illufbry fo'4
phifms : dreadful confideration !
SECTION XXXII.
LET us now conie id ourfeives, and fee increafe
how oaths have broke in like a torrent, and of oathi
' #. among
overflowed all Christendom. For brevity Chrif-
fake, we Shall take notice only of the moft tians'
remarkable, and fuch as are tranfmitted to
to us by writers of undoubted credit. It
is not eafy to determine whether the tem
poral or fpiritUal arm have been more fevere
in the impofition of oaths.
Huneric king of the Vandals^ and Sifen-
and king of the Goths, Juftinian the Gre
cian emperor, and among the popes, Alex
ander III. Boniface VII. Gregory IX. have
as it were Striven who Should moft mul
tiply oaths. And all thefe were men,
whofe names are not .to be found in the ca-
E 2 tulogue

E 52 1
talogue of faints. Thus the civil and ee-
ciefiaftical arm fo vigoroufly Seconded each
other, that to this very day all States and
communities groan under the load of oaths
and perjuries. May not this be the great
roll of curfes mentioned by Zachariah as
flying over the nations, and according to
which every one who had perjured him
felf was acquitted ?
SECTION XXXIII.
Oaths at Swearing however did not make its way
firft op- very eafjiy . fpr t^e primitive martyrs and
fathers of the church held the doctrine of
, Chrift in its literal fenfe. That Maced.
Tribunus, who, in the fifth century, af
fifted at the council of Chalcedon, as re-
prefentative of the emperor Marcian, re
quiring the fathers to declare upon oath,
whether the proceedings in the affair of
Eutyches were truly registered, received
this anfwer : • Whether an oath has ever been
required of bijhops we know not ; but this
we know, that Chrift has enjoined us not
to fwear at all : yet the matter was of
importance, and well known to the fa
thers. However, fuch as this anfwer was,
Tribunus acquiefced in it. Baron. Annal.
ad Annum 449.

[ 53 ]
Huneric, king of the Vandals, would The°p-
* o ' pofition
not be put off fo Rightly ; for having fig- fuppref-
nified to the fathers at Carthage, that they fed"
Should take an oath to Secure the fucceflion
in the kingdom, in favour of his fon Hil-
deric, and they returning for anfwer, that
they were Cbriftians, and not brute beafts ;
the king, fo far from defifting, gave them
to underftand, that till they did fwear, they
fliould never fee their homes. At this, fe
veral pious fathers, through a well meaning
fimplicity, thought fit to difpenfe with the
divine command, and take the oath, that
the people of God might not charge them
with obftinacy in preferring their private opi
nions to the welfare of the church : on the
other hand, fome could not be brought to
fwear, alledging that the Lord himfelf had
faid, Swear not at all.
SECTION XXXIV.

tion.

Huneric, thus extorting an oath from theobferva-
fathers at Carthage, does very little honour
to fwearing, or to himfelf. Mariana, a
Spanish historian, fays of him, that on a
mere fufpicion he cut off his wife's nofe,
and fent her back thus mutilated to her fa
ther. Thus by the tyranny of a barbarous
E 3 Vandal,

[ 54 ]
Vandal, and the pufillanimity of a few pre*
lates. and this not till near the clofe of the
fifth century, was the firft oath eftablifhed :
but a fatal precedent has it proved to fucr
ceeding ages; for about a hundred years
afterwards a bifhop of Bourdeaux, being-
fufpe£ted of adultery with Fredegunda, wife
to king Chilperic, a council was convened
at Brenac, which refolved that the accufed
bifhop fhodd fwear to his innocence, though
this was directly contrary to the canons of
the church : Licet canonibus ejfent contraria,,
pro caufa tamen regis jmpleta funt. Greg.
Turqn. ad A. 583.
Thefe oaths were likewife in fome mear
fure extorted, partly by force, partly by
the king's authority, as Saving his honour |
and not without many Sinister practice^. '
SECTION XXXV.
fully ef- BUT it was the feventh century before
in thefe- we have any inftance of an oath drawn up
venthcen- by the fathers themfelves, confirmed by
their authority, and by them recommended
to be taken by the people. The occafion
of it was this : Sifenand, the fecond Gothic
king, who poffeffed all Spain, had under
colour of religion, as the beft maSk for in-

I 51 }
injustice, called a council at Toledo, which
was the fourth held in that city. This ce
lebrated affembly confifted of Sixty-four
biihops, French and Spanilh. The end
of its convention was not any amendment
of the church ; but to infure the throne to
Sifenand. This rebel had difpoffeffed Swin-
tilla, who, befides being his lawful fovereign,
was a very worthy prince, and flill had a
great party in the kingdom.
Sifenand having got the crown by rebel
lion, and the affiftance of ,Dagobert I. king
of France, had confequently little to expect
from any attachment of his fubjects; an ex
pedient was therefore to be found out for fe-
curing the people's allegiance, and this was an
oath, though a thing very extraordinary in
thofe times. But that this refractory people
might fuffer themfelves to be thus faddled,
the holy fathers were to be the grooms.
Dagobert, who had received from Sifenand
a large fum of money for building a con
vent, gave the bifhops, who were fent to
the council, their leffon fully, that what
ever the Gothic king fhould propofe or
require, they were readily and vigorously to
promote. The fubftance of the oath was
this, to be true to the king and country ; to
.contrive no plots and treafons ; to undertake
E 4 nothing

[ 56 ]
nothing againft the king's welfare: and thefe
duties were enforced by a treble repetition
of a moft dreadful imprecation. It is indeed
fo remarkable, that we Shall make no diffi
culty of inferting as it Stands in Concil. ex
Collet! . Labbei Edit. Reg.
Quicunque igitur a nobis vel totius Hifi
panics populis qualibei infpiratione vel ftudio
facramentum fidei fuce, pro patrice gentifquk
fua Gothorum ftatu, vel confervatione regies
falutis pollicitus eft, temeraverit, aut regent
nece attreclaverit, aut poteftate regni exuerit, -¦
aut prefumptione tyrannica regni jaftigium
ufurpaverit, Anathema fit, in conjpeBu Dei
patris'et angelorum, at que ah ecclefia Catbtdka^
quam prophanaverit perjurio, efficiatur ex-
traneus, et ab omni Chriftiahorwn ceetu
alienus, cum omnibus impietatis face foci is.
Quia oportet ut una pcena teneat obnoxks,
quos fimilis error invenerit, quod iterum fe-
cundo replicamus, dicentes. Quicunque ex
nobis — ufurpaverit* — ut fupra. Anathema
Jit in confpeclu Chrifti et apoftolorum ejus-r—et
damnatus in futufo Dei judicio habeatur
cum comparticibus fuis, quia dignum eft, ut
qui talibus fociantur, ipft etram damnation}
eorumparticipatione ohnoxii-teneantur. Hoc
etiam tertip acclamamus : quicunque ex nobis
-—Anathema fit in confpeclu fpirit us f anils et

C 57 1
et martyrum Chrifti — Necpue partem juf-
torum habeat, fed cum diabolis et angeli$
ejus aternis fuppliciis condemnetur, Una cum
fis qui eadem confpiraiione nituntur, ut par
poena perditionis conftfingat quos in perdi-
tionem pravafocietas copulat ; et id'eofi place}
omnibus, qui adeftis, hcec tertio iterata feH-
tenfia veftra, vocis earn confenfu fir mate. Ab
univerfo clero et populo diSlum eft : Qui con
tra banc veftram definitionem prafumferit ;
Anathema maranatha, hoc eft in adventfi
domini perditio fit, et cum fuda Ifcariote par
tem habeat, et ipfietfocii eorum, Amen ! %>ya-
propter ipfi nos facer dotes omnem eccleftam
Chrifti ac populum admonemus, ut tremenda
hxc ac toties iterata fenteritia nullurp, ex nobis
prafenti et eeterno condemnet judicio, fed fidem
promiffam erga gloriofum ' dominum iioftrum
Sifienandum cuftodientes, ac fincera illi de-
votionefamu/antes, non folum divina pietatis
clement i am in nobis provocemus, fed eiiam gra
tia m antefacli prinpipis mereamur percipere,
Amen !
Is it poffible to read this without detef-
tation, and even without Shuddering? From
this imprecatory monfter of Gothic inven
tion are we to compute the epocha when
wretched Christians were oppre'STed with
thofe horrid oaths? the curfes of which
extend

[ 58 ]
extend throughout eternity. Tb]s oath was
admired as a mafter- piece of political Skill
and precision ; fo that it became a pattern.
Not long after, in honour of this deteflable
oath, a particular canon was made in the
fifth council of Toledo, that it fhould be
audibly read in all future eouncils.
SECTION XXXVI.
iObferva- SOME alleviation of this oath' is that
.mningit. tne duties in it are well grounded, plain,
practicable, and not very numerous. They
amount to no more than what fubjects in
all governments owe to their fovereign,
and what the welfare of every country in-
difpenfibly requires. Here is no mention
of obedience to all juft and reafonable.com-
mands, this having been a product of
later times ; Sifenand, like Auguftus, knew
that whilft he wielded the fword and
fceptre, he could enforce a proper ohe*
dience. It is remarkable that at firft the confent
pf the people to this Oath was to be ob
tained; whereas on the growth of fuper-
Slition, afterwards, this confent was no
longer required : unquestionably, left by
Jfome declared opposition, it migh?M be
brought

{ 59 1
brought into danger. It is Strange, of
rather horrid, that thefe prelates Should
be more careful of the temporal welfare
of the king, than of the eternal welfare
of the whole people ; enforcing the oath
with fuch dreadful imprecations, and eon,.
.demning any, who, from a motive, of conr
fcience, Should attempt the leaft thing in
favour of their firft lawful Sovereign, to
have their portion with Judas Jfcaript, the
devil and his angels. All the curfes of
Mofes, againft the tranfgreffors of the fun
damental laws of Ifrael are flight, in com
parison of thefe imprecations. Where then
did thefe holy fathers learn fuch language ?
I am fure not at the feet of Chrift. Matt. v.
From whence do they derive this power ? Caufe and
In their commiflion as promulgated by
the Holy Ghoft, they are only ftiled
minifters pf the church and the goSbel,
without any lordly power or prerogative ;
and every Christian is thereby authorized to
examine their behaviour in that quality,
and likewife to bring their words to the
teft. But the prefumption of the holy
fathers, in arming oaths with terrible im
precations, arofe from people's being gra
dually become fo accuftomed to anathe
mas, that no canon in the fifth century was
with-

[ 6o ]
without fuch a denunciation, though utterly
unknown in the firft councils where the Holy
Ghoft prefided. In the Conftitutions attri
buted to the apoftles, we meet with the fol
lowing conclusion : " Hear O ye bifhops !
*' What has been enacted by us you are to
" conform to, fo Shall you be faved ; other-
ft wife you will be punished, and have
** many troubles and distentions." But
the ambitious clergy, though they had ex
ceeded the apoftolical meaning, were for
having their canons bear the force of laws ;
and as this could not be compaffed without
the countenances of printes, they made it
their bufinefs to exalt the royal prerogative
by fuch horrid forms of oaths. In return
to which complaifance, the princes pro
moted their ambitious defigns, which gave
occafion to Thomafius to fay, that all oaths
were wholly in favour of the clergy, ju-
r amenta fulcra potius facer dotii quam im
perii; and a mafterly addrefs didtheyalways
Shew in turning them to the greateft ad
vantage. Of this the fame fathers gave a
Signal inftance inferted in Ithe canons : that
the election and nomination of a king Should
be in the fathers and heads of the peo
ple ; and on the deceafe of king Hinfcheid,
they placed on 'the- throne one Chindlla, and not

f 61 ]
and not the fon of that prince. Hift. gene*
nerale du Languedoc, par les peres de la Con*
greg. de St. Maur.
SECTION XXXVII,
THEY were not long in finding means The clef-
to withdraw themfelves from under thefe forged
curfes, and lay them on the laity. Accord- from it.
ing to Hincmar, fo early as the ninth cen
tury, the clergy no longer took the oath of
fealty ; and, though as vaffals they were fub
ject to it, very feldom could they be brought
to fuch fubmiffion. This difpenfation the
clergy owed to Pope Honorius II. who for
bad the administration of an oath to an ec-
clefiaftic. The emperor Juftinian fays,
" Whereas I have acknowledged and ad-
" judged "that canons fhould have the force
" of laws, and it being found in fome,
" that the clergy were not to fwear in any
" cafe; it is meet and right, that the whole
u body of the clergy fhould be excufed and
<e freed from fwearing : therefore we, in
" compliance with divine and human
" laws, do by our fovereign prerogative,
" imperatoria authoritate, ordain and com-
" mand, that no oath Shall, on any ac-
" count, be taken by an eeelefiaftic". Baron
Annal.

t 62 ]
Annal. Ad. fee. XII. No fovereign can any"
longer require an oath from an ecclefiaftic if
not his vaffal. Can. 42. Cone. Later an. 1213/
S E C* t I O Nv XXXVIII.
Oath of THE above mentioned oath, taken at
eaty' doing homage for a fief, went no farther,
even in the ninth century, than to acknow
ledge one's lord, and be true to hirrr.
The form of the oath in Cod. MS. Col-
legii Claromontani Paris. Soc. Jefu, runs
thus : Sacramentale qualiter promitto ego, quod
, ab ifto die in antea fidelis fum domino KaroU
piifimo imperatori filid Pipini regis et Ber
thages regina,pura mente abfquefraude et mala
ingenid de me a parte ad fuam partem et adhond-
remregni fui,Jicut per Driclum {far droit)de~
bet ejfe homo Domino fuo. Sic me adjuvet Deits
et tftafanSlorum pa tr Prima* qua in hoc loco
funt. Qui a diebus vita mece per meant w-
luntatem, in . quantum mihi Deus intelletlum •
dederit, fie attendam et conjentiam.
Thus nothing farther was fworn tq
' Charles the Great, in the year 802, than
fealty, not obedience to all his commands
and prohibitions.
This fealty, to which the vaffals bound
themfelves by oath, confifted of two arti
cles.

t 63 ]
1 . To engage that the lord Should nei- In *|;at a
ther be hurt nor injured, in his life, limbs, fealty con-
honour, nor poffeffions ; likewife not to fifted*
difcover his fecrets.
2. To perform to his lord every due fer
vice, that is, to go to meet his lord, to
hold his Stirrup, to Stand uncovered in his
prefence, and to attend him to court, and
to the army, and ferve him againft all his
enemies, and to Stand by his lord with
heart and hand, and all other fervices which
a man owes to his lord. In the military
fervice was particularly included an obli
gation to attend his lord- in all his expedi
tions; This oath feveral of the Italic ftates took The oath
to the emperor Frederic I. Afterwards ?f, feal7
/> 1 • • j 1 1.1 ,nlar2ed-
Several petty princes required the like
oath from their courtiers and vaffals ; and
thefe again from their dependents, with
this addition, that the duties, at firft, due
only to the lord, were now extended, and
under the penalty of forfeiting the fief, to
their wives and children, especially the
daughters.

SECT.

t *4 j

SECTION XXXIX,
Hdt ac- VfiT even this Oath did not give fatis-
fuffident. &=fror* 3 nothing under an unreferved obe
dience to all commands Would do ; and the
firft form of fuch a tyrannical oath that I
know of, was drawn up by Gregory VII. to
be taken by the king of the Romans. It
is fo very remarkable, that I cannot forbear
copying the original as it Stands in his let
ters: Ab hac bora et deinceps fidelis ero beatt
Petro apoftolo, ejufque vicario beato Gregoriot
qui nunc in came vivit, et quodcunque.mihi
praceperit fub bis videlicet verbis per veram
obediential fideliter ficut oportet ChriftianuM
objervaba. De prdinatione vero ecclefiarum}
et de terris vel cenfu qua Conftantinus impe-
rator et Carolus fanMo Petro dederunt, et de
omnibus ecclefiis vel pradiis, qua apoflolica
fedi ab acquis viris vel mulieribus aliquo
tempore funt oblata vel conceffa et in rma
funt vel fuerint poteftate> ita conveniam
cum Papa, ut periculum.facrilegii et perdi-
„ tionem anima mea non incurram, et Deo
fanbloque Petro adjuvante Chriflo dignum
honorem, et utilitalem impendami et eo die
quandoillum primitus videro per manus meas
miles

ence.

 t «s 1
todies fanbli Petri et illius tfficiah Liti
Greg. VII. Coepifcopo. PataVienfi.
Thus the king of the Romans fwore ufireferv*
that he would be faithful and obedient to |l°bedSi
faint Peter and his vicegerent in all his com
mands ; and likewife fo to agree with the
pope concerning the election of bifhops,
donations, and prerogatives granted him by
Conftantine, Charles, and others ; and
which he ftill 'poffefTed or had poffefled, as
not to incur the guilt of facrilege, or the
Jofs of ' his foul: farther, he was , in all
things to promote faint Peter's honour and
advantage ;' and* laftly, fo foon as he fhould
fee the pope, he would, the very fame
day, dub himfelf faint Peter's knight, iri
token of his taking the fee of Rome under
his protection. He fays j per manus meas^
as it was berteath a perfon of fo exalted a
rank to receive the fword from another.
Accordingly he himfelf took the fword
from the altar, and girded it to his fide.
The Italian historians make mention of
an oath ftill more remarkable, faid to have
been taken by the Syndic of Ferrara to one
of the houfe of Efte, to obey all his com-
mandSj whether juft or unjuft. However
Shocking this may- appear, the above quod-
kunque is almoft tantamount to it, confider-
rV F ing

t 66 ]
ing that for regents to enjoin any thing of a.
very heinous nature, is by no means a com
mon cafe ; and in doubtful matters, fome
will fay, little does it become the fubject to
inquire about right or wrong ; he fhould
therefore make it an article of his creed :
quodprinceps omnia poffit jufta vel injufta pro,
arbitrio fua voluntatis, and pre-fuppofe that
whatever he orders muft be proper, right,
and good.

SECTION XL.
Swearing THE import of an oath was now at its
isnedf " height; and to give it the greater impref-
fion, and make it the more effectual in
binding the people to what they had fworn,
many corroborative appendages were added
to it. The people were made to believe
that it was the moft facred part of religion, •
nothing lefs than a facrament : this odioHS
charm had been gilded with fo help me God;
to which was now added, and bis faints.
by many Sacred places were chofen for taking,- an
Fdftrfife oat^' as temples» altars, and tombs of-emi-
miracles. nent faints ; the party fwearing . likewife
laid his hand on relicks celebrated for mi
racles and extraordinary virtues. The
tomb

t h 3
tomb of St. Salvius was particularly farhbtis
for miraculous punishments of perjury.
In the time of Charles the Great* one who
was taking an oath at' that tomb is faid to
have bufft afunder, and blood iffued out
of his eyes, noftrils, mouth, and earsj
thus was he the firft vampyr we read of.
That God, at the prayer of deceafed faints,
punifhes the perjured by fudden miracles,
was not only a vulgar error; but the clergy
themfelves Strongly believed, or feigned to
believe it. The fathers at the council of
Melun declared perjury to be of fuch a
horrid nature, that though by the relicks of
the holy martyrs dangerous jfickneSies' had
been Curfedj ahd demoniacs relieved ; yet
to the perjured they were of no effecti God
in his tightebiis judgment giving them over
to be tormented by devils. Hard. ConciL
torn. iv. p. 1481J.
In this fuperftition king Robert irria- sitiy artf.
gined, he had found out an elufion to pre- *"*•
Serve his fiibjects, from the dreadful evils
With which perjury, on touching relickSiWas
punilhed. He caufed to be made a very
Sumptuous chriftal fhrine, richly garhiihed
Vvith gold ; but no relicks put innt. ''The
nbbility of his kingdom, who knew no
thing pf this contrivance, ufed to fwear on.
F a this

this Shrine, whilft one lefs coftly with' a
grype's egg in it fervedfpr the commonalr
ty. The, intention in both 'was, that the
perjured might not be Struck dead by* a
fudden judgment. Not to mention other
tremendous'appendages, "as flambeaus, Sculls,
fwords, crucifixes, lifting up of hands, open
ing the "doors and* windows, and whatever a
t fuperftitious imagination could SuggeSt.
Elgaldus apud duChefne, io'm.iv. p. 66.
SECTION XLI.
And by j ALL thefe accumulations of terrors not
gawreTi proving fufficient to ftem the prevalence of
perjury, it was farther injoined, that a fuf-
pedted perfon taking an oath to clear him
felf, fhould procure two or more perfqhs of
credit, who, at the fame time with himfelf,
were to touch the altar, or the facred Shrine
with relicks in it ; and the party himfelf
laying his hands over all the others,., fwore
to his innocence in thefe words, fp help me
God, and thefe relicks which ye touch with
your hands. Thefe compurgators the Salic,
Bavarian, English, and Germanic laws Stile
confacramentales. And by an ordinance, of
Innocent III. they were to- fwear *' they
I* believe the defendant to be innocent, " and

I 69. }
" and to have fworn nothing but the
" truth." This indifcreet oath obtained
not only in the rrtoft ruele a|es, but
was ufed alfo in the Sixteenth, century,
having crept in even among the princes of
the empire ; and is ftill in practice, though
with this limitation, that the judge may
chufe whether he will, admit if. In fuch
j unifications, if he contents, the compur-
ga tores fwear, thai the party taking the oath
has fworn the truth. R. Imp. 15 12.
This the ancients c$\\e$Manu jurare Inaezfe
from the party's kying' one * hand on nUjnber.
the Shrine or relicks. 'fertid manu is when
two others fwore along with the party;
but to a bifhop charged with he'refy, twelve
compurgatores were required. Theganus
informs us, that pope Pafcal took an Oath
before the ambaffadors of Lewis the Piousi
thirty- four bifhops, and five "other eccle-
fiaftics joining with him ; and thus was
acquitted of a charge of murder brought
againft him by the people of R^m'e. Ac
cording to Gregory of Tours, trie' bifhop
of Ely fwore centeftma manu, that he was
neither directly rior indirectly concerned
in arresting the archbifhop of York. In
after times there are not wanting instances
of three hundred compurgatores. F 3 SEC-

f 7° I
SECTION XLJI.
purgatip AS by fo much fwearing the miraculous
vulgaris. vjrtue 0f the. facred bones could not but eva*
porate, another manner of clearing one's
Self by oath came into vogue. This was
the purgatiq vulgaris, by which the fuf-
pe<3:ed perfon was to prove his innocence
by a Single combat, and various ordeah
by fire and water, But before he entered
on thefe . proofs, he was to go through
many Strange ceremonies ; and thefe rnixed
with attestations, imprecations, and even
profanations of the moft facred parts of
religion, too many and too Shocking to
be fpecified here. If an apcufed perfon
held a red hot iron in his hand, or his
arm in boiling water, without any hurt ;
or overcame his adverfary in combat,
though juggle and artifice had helped hirn
through thofe . trials ; or if he had fworn
falfly at a martyr's tomb, yet was he de
clared innocent, as having been acquitted.
Ipy God's righteous judgment. This is, the
Qades-urdel, concerning which it, is or->
ffered in Capitul. c. 20. anno 809. that all
do, without any doubt, hojd it to be th£
real -judgment of God.

[ 7* 1
The .falfe notion, as if God would make
known the truth, and deliver innocence
by fuch extraordinary ways, gave rife to
thefe abfurd trials. Befides, in many
cafes, the requisite number of compur
gatores was not eafily to be procured.
Bafnage fays in his Church Hiftory, God
was believed in thefe trials to exercife a judg
ment like that which he will exercife at
the laft day, rendering to every one ac
cording to his works.
SECTION XLIII.
ALL this, however, did not fully an- More aw-
fwer the end ; the cafe proved the fame ful cere"
' ,r monies.
with the Christians as with the Romans ;
the more oaths the more perjury. In or
der to check this evil, recourfe was had to
more awful folemnities, with this good
view indeed of admonishing and deterring
the party fwearing from the horrid
guilt of perjury. Among thefe additio
nal forms were the avifationes ; but thefe Avifati-
were not frequently ufed to perfons of ones-
character ; and in Germany to this very
day the avifationes are difpenfed with on a
requeft in this form : " The judge will
'* be pleafed to omit reading the admoni-
F 4 " tion

C 72 1
?{ tion about fwearing. Thank God, I arq,,
,•*' no Stranger to the, awful nature" of an
fe oath ; and will of myfelf take care not
u to wrong my confcience." But if the
admonition be read, or the judge or prieft,
deliver it by word of mouth, this is called
to fwear as one is taught. That the avi--
fationes may make the deeper impreffion,
in fome places candles are lighted, a cruci
fix and fcull brought forth, the table is
covered with black cloth, and on it a
naked fword,, and an iron gauntlet. Ac
cording to Volkman, p, 1. c. 79. the
fwearer is by the candles put in mind, that
Chrift is the light of the world and of life ;
and that the light pf , his grace will be eter
nally withdrawn from the perjured. The
crucifix fignified all the dolorous circum
stances of Chrift's paflion, the fruits of
which he abfolutely renounces, and draws.
pn himfelf eternal damnation with the
robber crucified, on Chrift's left hand".
The fcull, as the emblem of mortality, is
to giye him warning that he muft foon?
and foone'r than he thinks, quit all that he
has in view of getting by his fwearing.
The iron gauntlet and fword indicate that
the civil power will protect him in his %dr
foerence to truth ; but, other wife, will fe-
Y^ely.

il 73 v I1 ^
vefely puhifh him, as not bearing* the
fword in vain ; nay, thatif hefwearsTaifly,
God fhall make ready his fword againft
him. In other places, the party fwearing
lays his hand on a book of the gofpels,
thereby fignifying, that as he fwear's truly
or falfly he hopes to be partaker of all 'Gbd'sf
promifes, or, on trie contrary, expects all'
manner of curfes,, and His name de'ver to
be written in the book of life. Thd other
Hand he holds tip,' with thWe: fingdr's erect,
and two clofe'd. ifhis was introduced by
the emperor Charles V. and accompanied
with this odd interpretation ; the thumb
denotes God the Father ; the index finger,
God the fon ; the middle finger, God the
Holy Ghofl ; the ring-finger, his precious
foul ; and the little finger the body,* as lit
tle and contemptible in comparifon of the
foul ; but by the whole hand was repte-
fented God the almighty Creator of heaven
and earth. Ahd the imprecation annexed
to the oath was this ; " that he or fhe
'* might be excluded from all communion
" with God the Father ; in the hour of
" death be deprived of all help and mercy
ft from the Son, and of all the comforts
" of the Holy Ghofl ; artd that on the
*' day of judgment he or She might not fee
" the

[ 74 3*
*f the face of God, but be damned with
^ devils to all eternity."
SECTION XLIV.
Why. j-j- was hoped that ceremonies cloathed
with fuch terrors would, in fome mea
fure, check the dreadful frequency of per
jury ; but no, even thefe fhackles were too
weak to bind the wicked to their duty : fo
that it is no improper qneftion to aSk, why
thefe imprecatory oaths being thus ineffec-
tualj were ftill kept up ?
i. Among the principal caufes are
• reckoned the falfe notions concerning this
point of doctrine.
2. The felfifh views of rulers and ec-
clefiaftics, which were fupported by the
inferior priefthood ; likewife deceit and
Simplicity.
Their Their falfe notions concerning an oath,
fuppofed confifted chiefly in this, that they held it to
sefs! " he fomething facred ; and that every thing
relating to a folemn oath, might have an ap
pearance of facrednefs, it was ufual at the
taking of fuch an oath, to bring forth relicks,s
to require the affiftance of ecclefiaftics, to
fpread open the book of the gofpels, and
to pronounce the imprecation in the peti
tionary

[ 75 3
tlonary Stile, fo help me God j for this we
are obliged to the emperor. Juftinian Nov.
VII. Befides this facrednefs an oath was
held to be enjoined in the moral law,
Deut. vi. Tboujlpalt worfhip the Lord, and
ferve him, and fwear by his name. - Ac
cordingly, if any one was deterred by the
dreadful form of an oath, and offered to
plead our Saviour's words, Swear not at all,
especially if he thought the matter too
flight to Slake his foul for it, the anfwer
was ready : an oath is a moft facred thing,
a duty of God's own institution.
Now this error is the more dangerous,
as having an appearance of truth ; and, by
long cuftom, had Struck its root So deep,
that to difpute it, would be bringing one's
felf into danger of being execrated as a State-
heretic. But that Shall not intimidate us
frOm trying whether this confufed idea
cannot be unravelled.

SECTION XLV.
HOLINESS in God, Signifies the love of Meaning
his perfections, from which he cannot ofthe
deviate ; in man it is whatever awakens holy.
^ind jncreafes a love of thofe perfections: in

[ 7& ]
inTth>*s*fenfe, theword^of God, hi,s.laws, his,
fabbath* devotional offices, are termed, holVj
a^ fetting, fprth God's attributes* exciting a
love i of- them, .and preferving us frpm,fip<
and evil. Confequently an oath, as arifing
from evil, namely, mutual, miftruft, and^n
its vejy nature and form exciting rather, fear,
than* love of, God, cannot ftrictly be term?
edholy. Indeed, the invocation of the Piety
as an omnifcientwknefs is very allowable,be-
caufe with confcientious perfons it manifefts
aconfidencein God>.and integrity of heart.
And this fhould, be the term of our afficmagj
tions and engagements, without going any
ferther lengths, and having recourfe to
dreadful imprecations ; and Still, lefs Should
it be couched in the form of a prayer, the
better to blind the people : as hence it is
that many to this day are fo ppffeffed with
the facrednefs and tranfcendency of an
oath. But if it be fo very facred, ' how
comes it that oaths were not ufed, nor per
mitted among Christians for above the fpace
of five hundred years ? How comes it that,
except in Spain, the clergy, who yet are
|)articularly obligated to every thing fibred
and devotional, were Soon difpenfed from
all oaths whatever, till the thirteenth cen-
tury ?' How comes it that in the ninth cen tury

[ 77 1
tuty they excufed themfelves* >fr<»m aakiog
the bath' "of fealty, and 'ohtainedf fmm
HonoHuslI. an abfolute exemption I How
comes the tanon^law to forbid taking* an
dath tin Sundays, c. i , deferiis ;> yef this* is
the day particularly confeerated to <God ?

SECTION XL VI.
THOU jhalt fwear- bf his name. -ToThefup-
wreft this into a" moral command, -is no Pofed
' command
lefs ingenious, than from Saint Paul's words, further
A bifhop fhall be- thehufband of one wife, ; to ^pkin*
obtriide a wife on the holy father at Rome,
as a help- mate. In Mofes's writings, -the
word tboti 'jhalf, means ' only a permiffion,
and' not a command. Thou ft/aft* give thy
wife a bill of divorce, is" by nd means a
moral command, but a divine indulgence,
on account of their obftinacy and bardnefs
of heart: fo likewife as to an oath, if-
fwearing * there muft be, let it' be in'*the
riame of God, and not' of falfe gods-,' or
idols, as' the ignorant Canaa'mte's ufed.
Thefe cbnfilfed notions gave1 'rife- to
feveral other prejudices.
i. That in an bath "a flow - was iftadVto 0ther e*
God; and hence' the "cttttimonl'phrafe,'Jto ro«-
witnefs

t 78 t
witnefs to his vow and oath. This error*
the ingenious Puffendorf has unanfwerably
refuted from the fcope of an oath : it
is not to God, but to him who has required
the oath that fomething is promifed. There
fore all illegal extorted promifes being in
themfelves void, it is not an oath that can
make them binding ; and there is no
maintaining Grotius's opinion, that by rea
fon of the reverence due to God, what is
fworn, in what manner foever extorted,
muft be made good. At this rate, ah oath
becomes a bond of iniquity. With a vow
the cafe is different ; there indeed fome
thing is promifed to God, yet will he never
extort any thing from his creature.
2. That fo early as in Paradife, an oath
was ufed relating to the tree of life ; that
baptifm and the Lord's fupper imply an
oath; and where does not an oath or adju*;
ration occur ? The abfurdity of fuch affer->
tions, befides betraying a wretched igno
rance of the covenant of grace in Paradife,
and of the two facraments of the Chriftian
church, is fufficiently manifeft to thofe who
fee more clearly into the nature of an. oath.
It were to be wifhed that teachers in their
instructions, would forbear any high-flown
phraSeology, aiming more at the reputation of

[ 79 3
ofeloquence,thanat a folid investigation df
things; then would fuch prejudices con
cerning the facrednefs and tranfcendency of
oaths Soon vanish before the rifing beams of
truth. 3. The examples of the faints in the
Old and New Teftament, which cannot
be controverted, are likewife continually
produced to .prove the facrednefs of our mo
dern oaths. But how far truth gives a
Sanction to this, and whether it can fuffi-
ciently exculpate our prefent forms of oaths,
we Shall now impartially examine.
SECTION XLVII.
SWEARING in holy fcripture does not Confata.
mean thofe imprecatory oaths now fre- them,
quent among us; but thofe Strong ex-
preffions which men On a neceffity
have ever made ufe of in token of their
veracity, and to gain belief; thus Jofeph
.fwore, By the life of Pharoah, which
meant no more than as I value the life
of Pharoah. So St. Paul fwore by his
glorying in' Chrift, which may be pretty
much the fame with our upon my honour, as
lam an boneft man, and the like. St. Paul
has ftill fome Stronger attestations, God is
my

t .86 1
*jny witnefs, Philippkns i. CjW and the Fa
ther of our Lord Jefus'Cbftft knows it± Gal.
- i. Ifay the truth in Chrift, and lye not, Rom.
ix. _ I call Ggd for r a record upon my foul, z
Cor. i.
Atteft?'Ci Now all thefe, atteSlations do not in any-
tionofSt. •¦•¦ - -,w-.-j-v ¦ , . . ,.. J.
Paul. ,wif?.,come ,up tppur paths. St. Paul never
once , meant by fuch attestations to' de
liver pver his Soul, the property of Chrift, to
eternal damnation : whether he delayed or
haStened his coming to the Corinthians, was
a matter of no very great moment; and
therefore he attefts God, that out of his
tender affection to them, he will not yet;
come, as it would be in heavinefs, and
making them forry.
The vehement Beza , will have it that'
St. Paul here actually flakes his foul,' that
is his earthly life. The word foul, indeed^
often has that Signification, both in the Old
and New Teftament; Jehu fays, If any of
thofe, who are delivered into your hands efcape,
your foul fhall anfwer for his foul. Likewife
in Juftinian, de publ.'jud. a capital pu-
nifhment is termed anima dmiffio ; but
even admitting Beza's interpretation, infi
nite is the difference between temporal life
and eternal falv^tion. tlere is no invoking
pf God's eternal vengeance; the Menno-
3 "nifts

I 8i ]
nifts and Quakers would not make the leaft
fcruple to fwear in the form of the Saints 3
ctheyhold fuch oaths not only allowable,
but proper and good, efpecially as declara
tive of a belief in God's omnifcience, and of
an upright heart void of all artifice and fraud.
But it is impoffible for them to conceive
how they,' who are not able to make a hair
white or black, Shall take upon them to
flake their fouls : and thofe confcientious
people cannot conform to our imprecatory'
oath. Moft of the moralifts of our days
agree with Molheim, that Shining luminary
of Germany, that ornament of theology,
when he fays, " affeveration is not an oath,
"imprecation is not an oath; but thefe
'* two kinds are blended in our oaths^ be-
" ing expreffed in fcripture Under the
" word fwearing. The old theologifts
" would prove the propriety of an oath
" from fifty paSTages of fcripture ; which
*' together amount* to nothing, ; This
" point of doctrine was, indeed, extremely
" intricate and perplexing, till Grotius
" and Puffendorf, from the principles of the
" law of nature, fet it in a better light.
" The Baptifts and Quakers would make
" no difficulty of fwearing as Paul fwore,
^ if that would be accepted % but Chrift's
G *e words

[ 82 ]
:t words Stick in their Stomachs, fo that they
" cahnot digeft our curfings. It was for-
" merly thought that their opinion ought
" not to be tolerated, Whereas at prefent they
" are acknowledged to be as gbod fobjecls
" as others j and Since their opinion doe6
" no harm, why Should they be molefted ?
" The fovereign's end is no lefs anfwered
" by their affirmation than by all our inr-
" precations : fo that pei|»ry with us is
" a fin of a quite particular kind, and we
" cannot be fure that God Will ever par-
" don it. The moft profligate Sinner ftill
'*' has the Divine mercy for a refuge ; but
the perjured man excludes himfelf from
it, and calls on God never more to Shew
him favour : yet are we not to infer
that this fin is unpardonable, the Di
vine mercy being infinite. This, howi
ever, Should powerfully deter us from
our imprecatory oaths ; and to thofe
who are fo zealous for converting the
«' Baptifts, let me recommend, inftead of
"multiplying paffages of Scripture quit6
" ; foreign to the purpofe, to prove from
Scripture, that it is lawful for a Chrifi
tian to renounce the grace of God."

SECT-

<c

cc

c«

C(
«

t h 1
SECTION XLVIII, <*
THE celebrated Buddeus fays in his BucJ.
Tfaokgia Moralis, '* the calling God tod?us's.ex"
• c i n- i planation.
'* watnefs does not constitute an oath.
'* David in the 1 1 9th Pfalm, fays, / have
" fworn, and amfledfaftly bound to keep thy
*« ftatutes. This is no more than affirma-
" tion and aSIeveration, which, without the
'* greateft abfurdity, cannot be Strained to
" an imprecatory oath. Do not the fol-
" lowing words plainly Shew that he calls
" on the omnifcient God as a witnefs,
" and not as am .avenger, as a fearcher of
" hearts, to whom his Sincere refolution to
ct walk in the ways of the Lord was weU
" known. Lordj let the freewill offerings of
" py mouth be .acceptable to thee, teach me
*' thy ftatutes, and incline my heart to thy
" teftimonies." Now is there any thing
here like fwearing ? and Should it be afked
whether David in any fubfequent tranf-
greffion of God's commands was not per
jured ; I anfwer in the negative. It would,
indeed, have .been fwearing falfely, if at
the time of his fwearing it had not been
the Sincere purpofe of his heart punctually
to obferve the Azures of the Lord. But if
G 2 the

C 84 ]
the queftion be, whether for fuch a falfe
oath David might not expert God's ven-
geange ? Yes, certainly. Then is it not
all the fame thing? No, by no means; let
us take this difference with us, that David
by fuch a falfe oath did indeed give a. fore
wound to his confcience, but the woun3
we give is uncurable ; that he had tempo
ral and eternal punifhments to dread, but
we frequently call them down on us ; that
he left the Divine juftiee to take its courfe,
but we defy it ; that, after all, he by repen
tance might avert punifhment, but we con-
Sign ourfeives to eternal damnation. We
exclude ourfeives from all mercy ; we re
nounce all grace, and flake our fouls for
time and eternity. Now, ye Sticklers for
oaths, draw forth all your examples of
faipts, and produce fo much as one who
can properly be f^id to have taken an im
precatory oath.
SECTION XLIX.

Selfiih
views of

BUT the RomiSh clergy were concern-
thecierT ed% to propagate thofe intricate notions, as
gy- enlarging their juridical power, to thegreat
diminution of bufinefs in courts of juftiee.
Boniface VIII. c. 3. h. t. having ordained that

[ 85 ]
that all civil caufes attefted by oath Should
be heard before the fpiritual court, it was
buzzed into the ears of the lower clafs of
people as a fure caution, to confirm all their
proceedings by oaths, which muft have
been a farther detriment to the civil courts;
and the notaries were carefully instructed
not to omit in any instruments, which they
drew up, a nota bene, that the above con
tract had been confirmed upon oath,
Mornac. /. 8. c. de epifc. aud. Now all cafes
of confcience being under the cognizance
of the clergy, an oath likewife, as a fa
cred thing, being taken on all occasions, and
the clergy, whofe words were account
ed oracles, advifing it as the moft effectual
Security, it is eafily imagined what a fway
thofe men muft have hereby acquired over
people's consciences. The civil power
might well apprehend, that at this rate they
Should find themfelves without any judicial
authority. Spain, to prevent this, prohibited
fuch a nota bene to be inferted in contracts,
under penalty of being void ; and the no
tary to lofe his employ, and forfeit half his
fubftance, Felician. de Oliva de foro eccle-
fiaft. The clergy could not fit eafy un
der art ordinance thus at once drying up a
Spring, through which money was continu-
G 3 ally

[ 86 ]
ally flowing to. them; and they were not
long in finding means to pick a hole in this
mortifying edict. The people were taught
that an oath was fomething fo facred, as not
to be abolished by any temporal rulers.
Whole volumes were written about the
jibfolutenefs and prerogatives of an oath,
Which was faid to be of fuch force as to
give a Sanction and validity to practices
however illicit and contrary to all laws?
Seraph, de Seraph, de privil. juram. Ap
peals from civil courts were received in the
ecclefiaftical ; injunctions were iffued, that
all bufinefs or caufes tranfacted upon oath,
fhould be cognizable only by the fpiritual
Court, under penalty <sf excommunication,
By thefe arts did the ecclefiaftical power
rife on the ruins of the civil ; and fo effec
tually was the mouth of princes Stopped,
that they durft not fo much as affc,
Dotnine papa quidjacist To this are owing
the multitude of ordinances concerning the
validity, omiflion, and fuppreffion of oaths,
with which the canon law Swarms.
SECTION L.
BY thefe Snifter practices has impre
cation been brought to ks prefent enormous
|>ftch, as a moft proper instrument for main
taining

[ 87 ]
taining the public tranquillity ; and to this
day does it keep its ground, the' the ends of
it are far from being anfwered ; and eyery
thinking perfon trembles at the abufes of it,
which yet are unavoidable. Cuftom has
lulled us into fuch a profound Sleep, that we
cannot bear to be awakened ; we Storm at
thofe whp would roufe us out of our le
thargy. May one afk whether this fo
celebrated expedient be any more than
a prejudice or notion, a mere cuftom
introduced indeed, but the propriety and
efficacy of which, can hardly be proved ei
ther by Scripture or reafbn? Were we not
fo relax and torpid in the fearch of truth,
it would Shew itfelf to us ; for though
Shrouded under a thoufand prejudices, ftill
fbme beams are continually breaking
forth, and they who feek her diligently
ihall find her. The English have a faying,
W? could go farther, would we but ufe our
feet. The neceffities of life ipdeed difli-
pate us, and indifpofe us for the investigating.
fuch truths, as require intenfe applica
tion, and frequently meet with nothing
but trouble for their rec.Qrnpenfe. How
ever, my duty as a man obliges me to con
tribute my fmall mite to the welfare of fo-
jciety, or, at leaft, what I think is for its
Q 4 welfare ;

[ 88 J
welfare ; though I am not ignorant that
to corrupt men truth is as infupportable," as
the radiancy of the fun to weak eyes*
SECTIO N LI.
How truth " IN doubtful cafes, inftead of liftening
is to be to tjje fuggeftio^ of paflion, we are to
confult the Scripture^ reafon, and experi4
ence. Thefe will inform us whether the
imprecatory oath, fo deeply rooted by
cuftom, be fuch a very proper means for
infuring fidelity,, bringing truth to light,
and promoting the public welfare.
S E C T ION LII.

ence.

Experi- WE have already feen from hiftory to
what monfters this fo celebrated expedient
owes its invention ; how the ufe of it has
been propagated by infatiable ambition
and avarice ; and how the corrupt views of
Spiritual and temporal rulers have impOfed
on the fimple commonalty by all manner
of artifices and fophiftry. Experience has
likewife fhewrt, that amidft all the increafe
of imprecatory oaths, even from the earli
eft ages, they have not been able to re
strain the paffions : and it is obferved, that all

t «9 1
all the Grecian republics, where oaths were
moft in ufe, had but a very Short duration.
Experience has Shewn that China, the moft
ancient monarchy in the univerfe, has main
tained its constitution without any oaths :
that the Japanefe, a numerous and power
ful people, Stand inno need of any fuch expe
dient for the fecurity of their government^
or the Support of public tranquillity; and that
the Ottoman-Porte can keep many nations
in quiet Subjection, without binding them by
oaths : that Philadelphia, a flourishing city
in America, which allows of no oath in
any cafe, pays the king of England all due
obedience, no lefs than his moft loyal fub
ject s ; and fupports itfelf by quite other
means than fwearing. Experience teaches
us that in all republics, where it is ufual for
reprefentatives to fwear in the people's name,
many thoufands of the people do not fo
much as know what the oath is, and' ftill
lefs, that they are bound by it. Suppofe
fome effential duty of a fubject, in which
this obligation Should hold good ; yet after
a perfon has acknowledged the prince
whofe protection he enjoys, as his rightful
fovereign, however often he may have
fworn, he will ceafe to adhere to this
effential duty, or his oath, when he finds.1 that]

I 9* 1
that he can better his conditipn under ano
ther fovereign. At the leaft appearance of
a more advantageous Station, there is an end
pf all ties ; and the fubjeft who quits the
country will Shew equal difregard tp the
fame oath taken jtp a fecpnd, third, or
fourth/ Sovereign, wherever his deft'iny ca.r-
ries him, Shifting his fworn allegiance with
his abode. Of th# the migration of fb
many hundred Swjfs tp Carolina, and other
countries, is fuch a glaring evidence, that
it would be fuperfluous to enter on formal
jrppfs. There is no law, tie, or obligation
^nhich can extinguish the innate propenfity
to promote one's own happinelfc, as indeed
it is the firft,- the, capital, law of nature,
5 E CJ I O N MIL
what rea- SOUND reafon calls aloud to aU repub-
f"1 . lies,, Have ye then So utterly forgotten both
teaches. ^ , - j • "• i j r ii
the bans and principal end of all govern
ment ? Knpw ye not that man cannot en
ter into compact, nor Submit himfelf to
another, unlefs it be for his advantage and
happinefs ? Sound reafon teaches us, that
men inyeft pr/nces with fuch dignity, confi
deration, apd authority, purely that under
them they may enjpv protection and Safety ;
and

I 9i 1
and the better this defirable end is anfwered*
the more willing will they be to fupport
him on the throne, and rifque life and for
tune in defence of the government. But if
the prince fails in giving his fubjeets fuch prcr
lection and fafety, and abufes his prerogative,
then is diffolved the natural tie. by which
the fubjeets were united to the fovereign;
the ftrongeft oaths become weak as. rotten
thread. But for the ruler to protect his
fubjeets, and difcharge. the other duties of
ibverelgnty, he muft neceffarily have a
power to make ufe of all thofe means
which contribute to the welfare of the
State ; as to enact laws, and annex ade
quate punishments to them, that they may
be, duly obeyed. On this' compact Stands
the right of Sovereigns to command ; and
hence is derived the duty of fubjeets to
obey. This is the original compact which the
firft focieties entered into, as an effectual
check againft the ebullitions of our defires
and paffions, and for inclining them to
wards the public good. To afk where,
and in what archives this compact is to be
met with is a filly cavil. It is written in
every one's mind ; there lies the original 5
there our brave forefathers found it; and
on

I 9* 1
on the nobleft ground's did the United
Netherlands reftofe it. This compact all
nations groaning under exceffive oppreflion
will find. All imprecatory oaths will be
eaten up by ruft ; all prejudices will vanifh ;
but never will the artifices, devices, and
violences of rulers be able to ftill this cry
or to fupprefs this natural impulfe after hap-
- pinefs. This is the foundation-ftone of the
liberty derived from our ancestors. Rea
fon farther teaches us, that the principal
end of all government extends no farther
than outward tranquillity ; and that nothing
farther is incumbentv on a ruler than the
fecurity <?f his fubjeets in their property,
life, and -character : this is the entire ob
ject of polity ; this constitutes the real wel
fare of a people. Now the means of ob
taining, this outward quiet and profperity,
muft be chofen and made ufe of, in the
manner moft conducive to the end. If I
expect and require my fovereign's protec
tion of my character, property, and life,
in virtue of a compact ; he has undoubt
edly an- equal right to expect and require
my obedience to all his Orders : and if I
fail in my obedience, he has a right to
punilh me, according to the laws, in my
character, bpdy, life, and fubftance, in pro
portion

[ 93 ]
portion to the gpeatnefs of my crime. Thi$
is the right way to fecure obedience, with
out any imprecations, and damning one's
felf to all eternity, on any failure of obedi
ence; and this even in fuch duties as do
not effentially affect the flate. The punish
ments inflicted by the law are fufficient j
and by the means of thefe, an able prince
will maintain his own dignity, and the pub
lic welfare: with the bulk of mankind, who
are giddy ignorant flaves, prefent punifh-
ments make a greater impreffion than
thofe of an eternity to come, which they
unhappily flatter themfelves with the hopes
of efcaping. SECTION LIV.
REASON teaches us the inutility and Never to
danger of fwearing ; for as iron chains are fv^" ,
known to wear away in length of time, end can
and to become unfit for ufe, fo has ex- wlfe'ob-"
perience Shewn that an oath, that adaman- tained.
tine band, is by much ufe become full of
holes, fo as to be eafily broken. Therefore
I do not know whether the frequent admi
nistration of oaths does more good than
harm : but I will venture to fay that in
our free ftates it is quite needlefs ; and pof-
fibly

t 94 1
fibly may take its rife from this mistake, thai
an oath Strengthens a Sovereign's right over:
his .fhtjjsrSts. Befoldus de Civit. Imp. c.yt
has long Since demonstrated, that by all
this fweariaag. a prince acquires no other kind
of right than what he had before : for fijh-
jefets- do not become fubjeets by this (wear
ing; but the fwearkig is a homage they
pay in their quality of fubjeets. Another
common prejudice is, that by this fwear*
ing, the fubjeets fidelity is better fecured;
whereas I am certain that the excellent con
duct of our gracious rulers binds the hearts of
the fubjeets better than any oaths ; and they
may at all times depend on their unfhaken
fidelity, were there no fuch thing as an
oath : for where, in the name of goodnefs,
can they in the whofe univerfe promife
themfelves fuch happy days as under their
paternal adnainiftration ? But what Shall we
Say to the annual oaths taken by our be
loved and honoured ruler*? Who requires
fuch a, thing at their hands ? But cuftom
fo reconciles us to the moft hateful object^,
that we can composedly view the moft ter
rifying monfters : and may it not be afked
whether fuch an obligation has loft all its
itresngirjh within the narrow compafs of a
year ? If the fear of jmniShnaent, a hand-
l fome

t 95 1
4ome jwpdfttment, love of virtue* liojae of
preferment, honour, integrity, are not ablfc
to keep a man to his duty, what fignifies
having recourfe to oaths ? Were he to fefc
fworn every day, it would not make him
a whit more confcientious.
SECTION LV.J
REASON teaches us that we Should Jhe dutr
• worn to
know what we fwear. That our gracious foouid be
regents have the public welfare at heart in kl,own»
all their meafures if undeniable, and as
Certainly are we hound to obey j and that
not only for confcience- fake, but &r our
own private benefit : yet no lefs 'certain is
it that we lenow not to w%tat, -and how
many duties we fwear. The laws and or
dinances grow obfolete through the multi
tude bf them : befides many,- which as
it were die in the very birth. In the va-
riaMenefs of all fublunary things it cannot
<Well be otherwife. Of moft ordinances
the commonalty know not a Syllable ; feme
itjdeed are inculcated into them by being
pablickly read every year; but ftill more
effectually by the ptthiShmehts mffieted
on the offenders ; fo that they fwear with*.
Out any fertiple, or fo much as any thought or

[ 96 ]
or reflection. It is not only the commonal
ty, but our ableft ftatefmen, I believe,
will own, that with all their extenfive
knowledge, they are not acquainted with
every particular edict. Thus we fwear
to duties which, fuch is their multipli
city, never were, nor can be, known to
all ; efpecially as obedience is . likewife
promifed to all future ordinances.

SECTION LVL
Muft be FARTHER,- found reafon teaches us
poffibie. that nothing impoffible is to be obtruded
on us by oath. A wife ruler will al
ways confider the weaknefs of men, and
deal with them accordingly : whenever any
laws are impofed on us, which bear too
hard on our Self-love, it is not to be ex
pected they will meet with obedience.
The great by their power, and the com
monalty by artifice, will find means to
evade all fuch injurious edicts. This
no legislature is ignorant of. If we con
sider the depraved bent of nature, prefer
ring a petty lucre, honour, or pleafure, to
ahy duties whatever : if we confider alfo our
natural negligence ; the circumstances of
the

t 9f 1
the g"eticfaii»y of people beirig ftich; that then4
continual and neceflary eare of earning a
fubfiflence abforbs all other attention: if we
farther confider the many commands, pro-*-,
hibhions, and injunctions, which are to be
the rule of otir whole conduct ; We muft
be convinced how very difficult it is fo to
frame an oath that the duties fworn to Shall
be poftlble, and the public welfare fttp-
ported ; especially* it is incumbent on
rulers to interpofe their authority, that
God's name be not prophaned in any rafh,
trifling) or abfurd oaths* to be taken either
by themfelves or their fubjeets;
SECTION LVIL
BESIDES being pqffibtei the matter i$Mu(t be
Uke wife to be worth an oath. Many, I of import-
may fay moftj ordinances are not of fuch
Weighs that an oath fhould be required
to the performance of them, and the lefs,
as fufficiently Strengthened by the punish
ments annexed to difobed.ience ; for it is
- the execution of fuch pup^hments, and
not oaths* which will procure compiiafcse:
and if feme thoijghtjefs or obfti«a«g
people are wanting in due ofee.di.ens* %
yet is not their exktie & bjg wi&b nftifsfcifg
H as

ance.

t 98 1
as to fhake the foundations of government.
Were the greater part of the political or
dinances flagrantly violated, the flate would
not be ruined ; but the poor fouls, bound
by imprecations to the obfervance of fuch
ordinances, are expofed to eternal deftruc-
tion. For, alas ! in all republics fo many
duties are fworn to by the lump, that
maturely to examine them fingly, whether
each is worth an oath, the ingenuous mind
muft be covered with eonfufion. O ye
refpectable rulers 1 ye beloved fathers of
our country, confider, I conjure ye, how
by fuch cuftomary oaths, you plunge your-
felves and your fubjeets into everlafting de- .
ftruction ! Away with that notion with
which fo many are infatuated, that it is
not obedience which is fworn to, but only
fubmiffion to punifhmeht, in cafe of offend
ing. With fuch quirks and fubterfuges do
they labour to drown the clamours of con
fcience, and fupprefs all fenfe of the guilt
and turpitude of perjury. To expofe this
pernicious error, and fhew its weaknefs,
Mofes; at this rate, muft not have under
ftood the very oath which he prefcribed :
If a> man fwear an oath to bind his foul with
a bond, he Jhall not break his word; hejhall
do according to what proceedeth out "of bis
<¦ mouth,

f 99 i
Wouth, Numb. Xxxi. If fuch explanadi
fans be made ufe of to annulthe obliga-s
tion of laws* it will be founds to the ex
treme detriment of the public fecurity;
that no tie can be made of adequate
Strength; confequently all oaths are un-
heceffary and infignificantj Then a man
may form a defign to betray his country,
only rifquing to be torn in pieces by horfes :
but if he efcapes difcovery, and confe
quently the punishment to which he was to
fubmit, he is not perjured* though he
had fworn to punctual conformity to the
laws. The civilians are unanimous that it
is a moft ftupid and deplorable felf- delu
sion to imagine that paying, the fine* or un*
dergoing the appointed punilhment of a
trefpafs, difcharges the flains of perjury, and
expiates for its punishment. The incom
parable Puffendorf, L. iv. c\ 2. has thefe
words : " The opinion that the under-
lf going the punifhment appointed for the
" breach of a law, which one was bound
'" by oath to obferve,, discharges from the
" guilt of perjury, is by no means to be
*' admitted ; or that at the taking an oath
" he had explicitly made fuch referVation
*c with the confent of the party, who in-
'*' lifted 6n his fwearing." A thief, after
H 2 being

ons

[ I0O j
being whiptj' is ft$ a thief j and he who,
has violated- the duties he had fworn to, %
ftill perjured, whatever punishments have
been inflicted on him.'
SECTION LVIII.
Confe- ALL fuch explanations really deferve
SJlof «° ®ther name than that of %hifnw,
pianati- fuggefted by a fenfe of perjury ; but ne-
ceffarily vanishing at the dawn of found
reafon, being incapable of affaegiHg any
well informed conference. He who has
any acquaintance with republican govern
ments, who knows the multitude of their
laws and ordinances, who underftandS the
nature of oaths, and examines the confor
mity between fuch oaths, and the daily
practices of rulers and fubjeets, cannot but
Shudder at the palpable truth of this Say
ing, that town and country are over-run with
perjury. But is this palladium, this oath
fo highly commended, only a hobgob
lin ? Is it not a moft Serious affair ?
Is it of no confequence to the perjur
ed ? Has it no relation to heavenly btef-
fings and curfes ? Then will the very
Pagans rife up in judgment againft us j
they, by the mere light of nature, clearly faw

t ibi 1
faw this truth, that God would never fuffer
^an oath to be violated with impunity,
SECTION LIX.
THE light of divine revelation agrees what the
with reafon, and gives us more evident in- Scriptore.
formation. In the New Teftament, both
the prerogative of rulers, and the obedi
ence of fubjeets, are fixed upOn grounds
that admit not the leaft doubt. Chrift and
his apoftles were very careful to recom
mend and enforce the power, dignity, and
prerogative of princes ; oh account of
the excellency of their office, they are
ftiled gods, fo that Chriftian fubjeets are to
obey fevere and unjiift fovCreigns, and
fuffer much ill treatment, rather than offer
any refiftance. By their profeflion of
Chriftianity they are raifed far above all
temporal interefts. Nothing earthly is
worth any long folicitude -Or purfuit : and
fo well idculcated Were thofe doctrines, that
we do not meet with one fingle inftance of
their going about to alienate the minds of
their fellow Citizens againft even perverfe
and cruel rulers, or of their having a hand
in any tumults ;" well knowing that fuch
oppolitidfl muft always terminate either in
H 3 the

I 102 ]
the detriment of prince or people. And
never is this due obedience urged on ac?
count of being fworn to ; but the reafon,
was, that fuch difobedience was an op-
pofition to the ordinance of God, and
would draw on a heavy condemnation.
The means prefcribed, and put in the
hands of rulers, was a fword, and not an
oath ; that is, the power of punifhing,
and thus of compelling the refractory and
feditious to fuch obedience as the public
tranquillity required. The natural right,
the original compact, the bafis of all governr -
ments, has not inverted, rulers with fo
much power and dignity as the Scriptures^
in which there is not a fingle paflage that
Jooks towards making ufe of imprecations,
to enforce obedience ; much lefs that en-
joinsthem, as" a fit method for fupporting
the flare and the public tranquillity. Shall
then Chriftian rulers, not content with the
power and authority beftowed on them,
compel thpir fellow- creatures to engage,
under the penalty of eternal damnation, tp
difcharge the duty of fubjeets ? This is the
more] unaccountable, as ip every republic,
^ach ruler or magiftrate, confidered perfo-
nally, is only a fubject and 'a member of
the political body. Confequently, by an im
precatory

[ 103 1
precatory obligation, he, on tranfgrefiing
a law, plunges his foul into eternal deftruc-
tion. What warrant have rulers for. this ?
What a cry of vengeance will on that tre
mendous day be raifed againft thefe foul-
deflroyers ?
SECTION LX.
the
IN fupport cf doctrine of fwearing, the Firft ob-
example of Jofhua is produced, who, by{^°jaa"
Mofes's command, made the whole people jofhua.
-of Ifrael fwear; and this oath was likewife
Strengthened by imprecations : confequently
all princes, as God's reprefentatives, may re
quire from their fubjeets obedience to all
their commands and prohibitions ; and'
this on the penalty of eternal punifhment.
A very wretched inference ; for what can be
more evident than that,
i. This fwearing was a folemn renewal
of a covenant with God, and not taking
an oath to Jofhua : he himfelf fwore like
the people, though raifed by divine appoint- -
ment; and as fuch, felected from the whole
people, he might furely, with no lefs
right than modern rulers, have received an
oath of homage ; yet he only reminds the
Reubenit.es, the Gadites, and half the*
H 4 tribe

I W4 }
tribe* of ManafTeh. Why did he not cons*
mand them by their oath of allegiance?
Why, beeaufe neither he nor they knew
of any fueb thing. Had homage been
cuftomary among God's people, the Reu-
benites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of
ManafTeh would hardly have annexed a
provifo to their obedience,, pnfy the Lord
thy God be with thee.
*2. No ruler upon earth , is to affume a
right equal to that of the Creator over his
creatures ; at leaft, till he can Shew the like
reafons and authorities for binding then>
to obedience, in their miraculous deliver-
ance and fupport.
3. Farther » what Mofes here, by th?
divine command, gives in charge to Jofhua,
rulers fhould be very Cautious of imitating.
They muft previously have the moft »n-
queflibnable affuranc.e of God's haying grantr
ed them fuch a power. The divine miffion
p£ Mofes was manifefted by many miracles,
fo as to leave po doubt that his order pro
ceeded from divine infpiration,
4, No obligation was here required with
regard to the commands of man ; but only
pod's facred ordinances : the imprecations
fo which the peqple of Ifrael proclaimed
their affent, related only tp duties effentially neceflary

I *°5 1
neceffery to me preferyafion. of the Jewifh
(late, or eafy to be complied with by thofe
who were not funk into a moft abandoned
profligacy, 5. Laftly, it is pot clear whether thofe
imprecations extended to the future State,
as Mofes in his particular enumeration of
them mentions only temporal evils, pefti-
lencef famine, dearth, difpafe, wars even to
their being totally cut off, but not a Wordpf
eternal damnation. Many Jews hold that,
finally, aU the children of Abraham Shall
be received into his bofbm.
SEC?JON LXI.
WITH as little feafon is Jephthah ^™?on
quoted : as a baftard, he had been driven anfwered,
out of hte father's houfe, deprived of his Jephthah<
inheritance, and forced to go and feek a
living in the land of Tdb, where, getting
together a troop of defperadoies, he made
himfelf famous by incurfipns ; fo that the
Gileadites being Sorely prefled by the Ath-
moritts, Sent fome of their elders to him,
With the offer of being their commander.To
this Jephthah contented^ on condition
that on his repplfmg the Ammorites, he
Should be their head ; the elders made
anfwer?

[ io6 ]
anfwer, " The Lord be witnefs between
" us, if we do not fo according . to thy
<* words."
Anfwered The Gileadites bound themfelves that,
on obtaining the victory, they would
confer the fupreme power on Jephthab,
who, indeed, had as it were been pointed
, out by the finger of God. As head, he
could make laws, appoint punishments,
and chaftife the difobedient; but could
he, though head, force obedience to his
commands by an oath, to the ruin of fouls ?
This flands in need of proof, the fubjeets
being bound to obedience by the power con
ferred on him, and not by the oath. Farther,
the obligation of the oath of fidelity at firft,
and for feveral ages, went no farther, than to
acknowledge the fovereign as fuch ; that
is, as one who hasa power of command
ing and of punifhing me if I difobey, as
may be feen in the oath of fidelity drawn
up by the fourth council of Toledo; Be-
fides, the office of a judge in Ifrael was of
a nature too much out of the common
courfe of affairs, to be brought as a pre
cedent ; for God himfelf was pleafed to be
king over Ifrael, as his peculiar chofen
people, and he fometimes raifed up men of
heroic fpirits as his instruments to deliver his

[ 107 1
his people from oppreffion ; and thefe de*
pended immediately on him. When. the
fervice for which God had , called them
forth was over, they ufually lived a
private life. To make laws, and compel the
people by oaths to obey them, never came
into their thoughts ; not the leaft trace of
fuch a pretention is to be found either ia
thefe or any of .the ordinary judges of
Ifrael, who yet were chofen oufof the heads
pf the tribes. SECTION LXII.
ON the reftoration of the Jewiih govern- Thethird
-,_,,,. . . objedtion
ment, after the Babylonian captivity, po- anfwered,
verty and oppreffion had given occaSion to Efdras*
many abufes. This the devout Efdras
could not fee without extreme grief; and to
put a Slop to thefe evils, he made all Ifrael
take an oath that they would obferve the
duties contained ip it; and to this they
fwore. ^ ;
But here be it noticed that the duties of
the Mofaic law were at that time quite ne
glected, the dues, of the priefls and Levites
not paid, the neceffaries for the fervice of
the temple not furnifhedf and, in direct
contradiction to the law, foreign women
Were taken to wives, and fuch profane mar
riages

[ io8 ]
riages Connived at. Now, the accomplish
ment of the plan formed by God himfelf, to
fend the Meffiah for the falvation of man
kind, required that the fervice of the tem
ple fhould be reftored, and kept up till the
coming of the Meffiah : and thefe were the
duties contained in the oath propofed by
Efdras ; and this oath was the more rea-
fonabie, as the duties were the very fun
damentals of their religious and civil con
stitution. Ifrael's pofleffion of the land was,
by virtue of the covenant, connected with
their performance of the duties fpeeified to
them by Efdras ; and this oath was in effect
only a renewal of the antient covenant with
God : nothing of homage or obedience
was fworn to Efdras.
SECTION LXIII.
Farther IF the oath of allegiance be fo well
tforfof rfc warranted m. Scripture, how is it that
Samuel, after difcharging his office of
judge irreproachably, does not, on be
ing fo illegally depofed, fay a fingle word
to the IfraeUtes about their perjury ? Had
his authority flood on fuch a bads, how
could he fo readily defcend from it ? For,
as a prophet, he fbrely Should have endea
voured

[ *°9 1
voured to rectify the fickle and perverfe
temper of the people, by representing to
them the facred nature of an oath ; and
the danger which they incurred in foul and
body by violating it : efpecially, fince it was
not fo much Samuel as God himfelf, as he
oondejeends to fay, who was rejected to
make room for Saul's new fangled royalty.
And why did not Saul require an oath of
homage ? How could it be that, amidft fo
many illegal admkifrratians, the violent fe-
paration of the ten tribes, fo many rebelli
ons, Seditious, depofttions, and murders, not
one of the. te®g& of Judah and Ifrael thought
of this fo rare expedient of binding the peo
ple to obedience by an oath. Either they
muft have been very Shallow politicians, or
muft have known, from good experience,
that the fword will go farmer in enfbjcihg
obedience than all the oaths that can be
made. We are not to imagine that this So
valuable Hate^fecrct was. not known to
them. Swearing prevailed to fuch a de
gree among the Jews, that the prophets
denounced God's moft destructive judg
ments againft them on account of fuch
profanations.
SECTION

no

SECTION tXlV.
Farther . NO ruler Should claim aright ofimpoflng'
: ' oaths, which affect foul and body, till he

tion.

can prove that the Almighty has put into
his hands the key ~of hell to punifh the
difobedient ; and the keys of heaven to
reward good fubjeets. Could one inftance
of this be produced from holy Scripture^
which yet, I defy any one to fhew, ftill
would not this warrant rulers in binding
fubjeets to obedience, under penalty of eter
nal damnation : this cannot but be a high
offence againft the divine majefty. •»
SECTION LXV.
Saying of , VERY far is the New Teftament from
Chrift. countenancing any fuch thing. The fen-
tence pronounced by the Word of truth
itfelf, " fwear not at all,-" annihilates all
fuch power, blafts the fig-leaves of far
fetched interpretations, and Silences all pal
liatives, excufes, and equivocations. Among
the Jews fwearing was got to fuch a pitch
as to be ufed in common converfation, as
an ornament of difcourfe on any trifle;
and was accounted very lawful, provided they

f III 1
they did, not fwear to anything falfe, '-'as
that a man faw an ox, or a camel fly ;
nor to things commonly known, as the
fabbath was the feventh day; nor to
impoffible things, as that one would touch
the moon with one's finger ; nor to cri
minal things, as that one would never pray.
This, and the like trumpery, occurs in
the Talmud*: otherwife, fay they, an oath
has fome good in it ; and the divine cle
mency bears with it, nay has enjoined it
as a religious duty. But what fays our
blefled. legislator, the eternal fon of God ?
Ye have heard that it has been faid by them
of old times, thou jhalt not for fu ear thy f elf ,
but fhall perform unto the Lord thine oaths.
But I fdy unto you, fwear not at all, neither
by Heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by
the earth, for it is his jootftool ; neither
by Jerufalem, for it . is the city of the
great king ; neither jhalt thou fwear by thy
head, for thou clanft not make one hair
white or black '.'.but let your communication
be yea, yea, nay, nay ; for whatfoever is
more than . thefe cometh of evil, Matt. v.
Selden tells us of an Englifh clergyman
(Linacre) who, and only a little bgfore his
death, reading this paffage for the firft
time, threw away the book, with thefe
words
3

t II* 1
words, We are not Chriftiam, or the gcf^ei
is wrong ; we fwear too mucky, or Chrift fiff*
bids too much. SECTION IXYl.
JrTscon- THIS Pa%e beiag veF3" differently ex-
ceming plained, candour requires that, to the beft
Matt. v. c£ my p0or aj>^jl|]eSj j should impartial
fet down die reafons alkdged for
opinions. Qhc fide thinks that Chrift here com*
bats the falfe prejudices, of which the
Pharifees were fuU, that Mofes. had enjoined
the oath as a holy thing* aod thus they
had come to make a common cpftom of
it. Chrifi allows that Mofes permitted them
to fwear, but did not enjoin them ; fer*
mitted, not as in itfelf good, all fwearing
coming from evil ; permitted, but not on
all occafions, as a decoration, to difcpurfe,
but "only very Seldom, and by no means
to fwear falftly j permitted* hat not with
raifapplkd words* by Heav«$,.by the _ tem
ple, by the aliar, by Je* ofalem, by one's ,
head, but by the living God atone * per- {
nutted, not triiisgJy or ueneeeffaf ih& but
only in weighty matters j per&t&ted not ocT
aU oocainns, httt «h% an iadjfpsnfihle n«*
** ceffityj
z

[ us 1
cetfity. But their abufes of this permiflion,
as in their bills of divorcement parting
with their wives on every petty occafion,
induced Chrift to reftrain the frequency
of thefe bills, ' without altogether fup-
jsreffing them ; nay, he declares thofe given
on account of adultery or any Scandalous
caufe to be valid. Thus the prohibition
fwear not at all is not to be taken in the li
teral fenfe; a matter being often, carried
too far, in order to obtain what is right
and proper. To give a tree a ftrait growth,
it muft be often bent into a direction quite
oppofite to its crooked ply.
With this view it is, that Chrift for
bids all anger and ufury whatever ; which
yet^ under proper reftraints, are very jufti-
fiable. Chrift himfelf certifies that he is
not come to deftroy the law, but to fulfil
it ; not to promulgate a new one, but to
clear the old from all the falfe expositions
of the Scribes; which yet would be the
cafe, did this paffage abfolutely forbid
all manner of fwearing. The fame divine
perfon has frequently given fanction to
fwearing, and particularly when he af-
fented; to the high- prieft's atteftation.
Though the abufe of oaths is indeed 'de
plorable, and ought by all means to be
I fuppreffed,

( M4 J
fupprefted, yet is the proper ufe of fwea*.
ing to be retained.
SECTION LXVII.
The other BUT the pthers maintaka that thefe
opinion. Wor(js j|j^port an abiblute forbidding of aH
oaths whatever, alfedging that ©bftinacy
and hardnefs of heart imtft not be fup
pofed to have prevailed among Chrift's
difciples, though the Jews, by reafon of
thofe vices, had been permitted to fwear ;
and the permiffion muft ceafe, when the
motive of it no longer exifted : that every
thing for which oaths were taken related
to temporal goods, honour, wealth, power,
preferment; ail which it was the capital
precept of Christianity toienouncei Worldly
goods were now no longer pledges of
heavenly hkflings, andthus the lofs of them
was to be fubmitted to, rather than gain
or increafe them by, fwearing: that nothing
was worth Staking eternal damnation on
it : the whole world, according to Chrift
himfelf, is not to be compared to the lofs
of a foul, and he heft knew the inestima
ble value of it, by what their redemption
coft him : that to require damnatory oaths
is utterly irreconcilable with brotherly love :
that

C **5 J
that a father, on feeing his child flanijL
near a precipice;, draws him hack from the
danger, aqd takes him away ; in like man
ner flurfing fathers of the church Should
not allow their children to take fuch oaths,
however willing they may be: that Chrift's
meaning could not be merely to forbid rafh,
falfe, unneceflary, trifling oaths, as JVflpfes
had done before ; and furely the antithefis,
but L fay unto you; -imports fomething more
than a renewal of a former prohibition :
that Chrift forbids not only fwearing by
Heaven, by the temple, ;&c. but as St.
James, who may he fuppofed to have known
his mafter'iS meaning, expreffes hhnfetf,
" Above all things, my brethren, fwear
'* not at all-; neither by Heaven, neither by
¦' earth, nor by any other oath :'' that here
is no exception, as in the bills of divorce,
elfe Chrift, as in that pafe, would have
made an exception of fome exigencies:
b£rplainly,fays,,a^#te/fr not at all. It is no
asrhflre faid, ye Shall on no account whatever
be angry ; but, on thepontrary, be&ngryand
fi/t not, fo that it is only finful, and not juft,
anger whjeh, is forbidden : that they would
lain tkttovr what plainer words Chrift could
have ufed to forbid .all manner of fwearing
without ejgBgptipn ; having -firft forbidden ,
I 2 fwearing

t i-i6 ]
fwearing indiferiminately, fwear not af all,
he afterwards directs us in our promifes
and affirmations, let your yea, be yea, and
your nay, nay ; adding likewife the reafons
of the command and prohibition, every
thing above thefe expreffions proceeding
from evil : that the high prieft's putting
Chrift to his oath was a pfefumptuous out
rage, and Chrift's anfwer a proper fubmif-
fion, efpecially as confiftehtly with the
character of a dutiful fervant he could not
exempt himfelf from Mofes's law; but
is there any thing of an imprecatory oath
here? and were it.fo, Chrift was lord of
his own foul ; buHuTrelyVe, who are not
able to make a hair white or black, can
not pretend to the like privilege : that im
precatory oaths pre-fuppofe fuch a power
over one's felf, which Chrift had denied in
the example of a hair ; Shall we then pre-
fume to arrogate to ourfeives the arbitrary
difpofal of fuch a power over our fouls,
Which are Chrift's acquisition, and pur-
chafed by his having been obedient to
death ? Were this power given to man,
which can never be allowed, then were
fuicide lawful : for if I may at pleafure
calf down God's vengeance on my foul*
furely I have power over the lefs, and may ufe

t "7 1
ufe my frail perifhing body as I think fit.
But, after all, they allow an oath to be
warranted by the examples of the faints,
that is when the matter is of great mo
ment,, and God invoked on only, as a wit
nefs, and not an avenger; yet arnidft the
many flagrant abufes even in thefe points,
it is better totally to forbear all' manner of
fwearing; and this they confirm with St.
Austin's words, Omnia jur amenta perniciofa,
falfa, exitiofa ; nulla flecura,
< SECTION LXVIII.
THIS is the fubftance of many thou- Grotius's
fand books', and as many more may be *°^hte
written before the parties come to a folid
reconciliation : all the erudition of the pa
cific Grotius has been of no effect. He
was for interpofing his friendly mediation,
and after maturely weighing the point,
than whom no perfon was ever more ca
pable; he obferved that the firft opinion
has on its fide all the councils from the fixth
century, multitudes of popes, emperors,
kings, and princes, and the general practice
of the world ; foon afterwards, all re
formers* all members of government, and
perfons in office, have held an oath ne-
^t;~- i 3 v ceflary»

I m j
c&HTary, and a very proper means f^p pig*
fervieig the flate and the puhlictraaqttilifjri
likewife, no body knew better than he,
that an oath hash©'; very creditable origin «d
boaft of; he kndw that treachery, mif-
fruft, iniquity, hyfocrify, $wf, hattfci^
and revenge, have produced the mon-
ftfofifs fwsrm of oaths* efpeciafty in. r6*
publics; he, knew that the violence pf
tyrants, the craft and practice! of eccle-
fiaftics, with the irtfatiable ambition and
avarice; of both, have fluck at nothing tp
promote- this odious breed,' and faife them
to a frequency and import inconfiftent with
common reafen, humanity, and reverence
to the Deity.
SECTION LXIX.
Panizans THE latter opinion can produce in it?
of the kt- defence the primitive martyrs, who joy-
rfionT" ^ty" ^ down their lives for the truth ;
the majority and moft learned of thd fathers,
together with the whole body of Chriftians
down to the fixth century, and afterwards
all who were not compelled or fbduced tb
pTofeis different-Sentiments. With regard
to the Watdenfes, theWkliffites, that pro
digy d£ learning ' Erafmus, fome of the
reformers,

[ "9, ]
reformers, and the moft celebrated divines,
whofe many exceptions and limitations
intimate that oaths are bad thing* ; if
prudential motives hinder them from de
claring their disapprobation openly, they
make the indifpenfible properties of an
oath to be fo multifarious as in effect to
explode all fwearing. Accounts are pretty
well in an equilibre, without adding the
poor opprefjed Meuonifts and Quakers.
In all appearance, did not cuftom, though
it can plead neither experience, reafon, or
revelation* prevail above all other considera
tions, the former opinion would long fince
have given place to the latter. The very
eminent Grotiusthinks that Chrift here for
bids only pwmijfwy oaths, all future things
being out of man's power and ability;
that fometimes they muft do what they
would not ; and frequently an unexpected
concurrence of cireumftances hinders them
from doing what other wife they would j
and thus they become perjured quite con
trary to their will and intention. St,
James himfelf adds to his precept this very
reafon, tfboyeaJl things fwear not, name
ly, fuch psomiflbry oaths, that ye may not
appear to folitrs, which agrees better with
the original than our translation, left ye fall
I 4 into

[ 120 ]
into condemnation. Grotius grounds himfelf
on the phrafeology of the Helleniftp ' and
Job xxxiv. 30. but fides with the latter,
relatively to promiffory oaths, and with the
former in the lawfulnefs of affirmative
paths : he has had the fate of all media
tors, to incur the difpleafure of both par
ti^.

#

SECTION LXX.
Grotius YET will the ftrongeft champion for
attacked. oatkS) th0Ugh .arme(j Goliah like, and at
the head of a whole hoft of cafuifts, have
a hard talk to foil Grotius ; he alone is able
to Stand againft many thoufands, it being
their misfortune tp perplex themfelves with
fo many duties, artd bewilder themfelves
in fuch a labyrinth of explanations as to
he quite at a non- plus. Grotius baffles
all their attacks wjth their own weapons,
and makes one an inftrument pf the de
feat of another ; and many deferring their
party came over to him.
On Grotius's afking them what, and
to what purpofe they' fwear? One fays,
we fwear ©bediepce to all commands, in
junctions, and prohibitions; to keep them,
and live according to them.
.'. v Another

[ Ml }
Another fays, it is impoffible that Should
be the object of an oath, it is not obedience
but ovAyfubjeblion which rulers intend ; and
this distinction they prove as follows:
i. It is impoffible that an oath fhould
be required to all duties and commands,
fome of them being as it were ftili-born,
fome becoming obfolete, fome being quite
infignificant, and the ends of the greater
part attainable by other means ; fo that
fuch an inconfiderate and rafh oath is little
lefs than perjury.
2. This explanation is generally admit
ted by rulers; and, furely, an oath muft
be underftood according to the meaning of
thofe who impofe it.
3. This is abundantly proved by prac
tice: never is a delinquent punifhed as
perjured for an omiffion of duty ; the law
is fatisfied with his fubmiflion to the pe
nalty annexed to his crime.
Thefe ingenious elucidations the former
combat in this manner.
1. At this rate, we know not what duties
our oaths.imply. ; and this itfelf Shews how
defectively they are couched,' and the ne-
ceffity of fpecifying thofe duties to the
pbfervance of which we bind ourfeives by
oath $ for, in the ftrict literal fenfe, all
arp

{ 122 ]^
are equally cojjoinqdj. and there is no dif-
tinguiShnig where the fcrvejeign; requires
obedien.ce,, and where only fubje&ion.
2. It is not in man's, power to remit the
obligation of an oath. When any onefwear-
eth, and binds his foul to any thing, he
fwears, he will not break his word, but
perform, ail that came out of his mouth.
He fwears to obey, and not to fubmit to the
penalty j to comply with the law, and not
to fuffer punifhment.
3. It is an injury to the honour pf the
fupreme powers to imagine that they want
only to be fingering mulcts, though crimes
were to increafe fo as to threaten the total
ruin of the people.
Uncer. Laftly, we are to confider not our de-
tainty of praved cuftom, but what will be the iflue
«ion.°pi" of God's tribunal, '
StiU more inconsistent is their anfwer,
when Grotius afked, whether a man, on
manifeft breaches of his duty fubjecta him
felf to eternal damnation, in virtue of thefe
words, So help me God,, as this is true, and
tf otherwije not help me, even in, the hour of
death ? Here the Sticklers are ftrangely
at odds ; fome anfwer in the affirmative,

1. Other wife there is an end of the
ftrongeft obligation by which man can be
1 bound $

> [ 123 1
bomi) the plain literal fenfe admits of
no other comment or interpretation!.
2. Otherwife an oath is but a meer bug
bear, a cobweb catching only, weak flies.
3. They farther would, fain know to
what purpofe the Avizationes, the oath-
tables, and all the awful ceremonies, if the
fwearer does not draw on himfelf God's
eternaV vengeance?
Others deny it, and come forth brandifh-
ing thefe weapons.
1. It is not to be fuppofed), nay it is in-
cbnfiftent with free ftates that Chriftian
rulers Should expofe themfelves and their
children to eternal mifery, only for fome
duties of little or no importance.
2. The end of all governments relates
Only to temporals, the fecurity of life,
property, and character ; confequently the
penalty, which muft always be propor
tioned to the crime, cannot be extended
to eternity. 3. Were fuch a rafh compact formed,
never could it be valid, and the lefs, as all
promifes which turn on things to come,
are not in man's power, and as little is the
difoofal of their fouls.
4. The moft arbitrary defpotifm cannot
juftffy any fuch monftrous claim, either
from the firft facial compact, or from re
velation;

t "4 ]
velation ; and as to what deceit and fuper-
ftition have introduced, and our modern
infidelity upholds, the fooner we are rid of
it the better. SECTION LXXI.
Thetruth. THTJS thefe champions Whh all their
ardour cannot agree about what, to what,
and on what, they fwear. The whole
hoft of cafuifts difperfe, and a great part
muft come over to Grotius. However
they will ftand up for the imprecatory oath
as the band which links the whole toge
ther, and is nota little fupported by the
contempt of religion fo unhappily prevail
ing amongft us; truth is not difficult to
be come at; it is only our ferious-endeavours
that are wanting. The English have a
faying, we could go farther, would we but
ufe our legs-, indolence fwallows at random
any tale that is told us. Our reafon of
itfelf is Sufficiently weak, and we impair
it by floth and negligence, and a fupine ac-
quiefcence in the prejudices of cuftom.
How we We do not determine truth or falfehood
by the nature of the thing, but by geo-f
graphy: what is cuftomary we admit, as*
true, like well bred members of theftate,
doling with:, that .opinion which is moft
current.

feek it.

t "5 1
current. A difcreet Swiffer on this fide
the Alps muft, on the warrant of Geo
graphy, firmly hold that a truth, which
on the other fide of our mountains, is
laughed at as a mere fable. Of this, in-
flances without number might be given ;
but, agreeably to our defign, we fftall keep
to the taking an oath. That Chrift's faying
fwear not at all, is addreffed to the Pha-
rifees and Scribes of the tenth century, no
lefs than to the Pharifeesof old, is indifpu-
, table ; or they muft be able to give proofs
of their having received anotherand a new
gofpel. It is certain that the Jews, with all
their fwearing, come very fhort of Chriftians
oaths, the latter being now multiplied into
fo many different branches, that the bare
names would make a middling dictionary.
It cannot be denied, that if ever our
Saviour forbad any thing, it is the curfing
one's felf ; and he even mentions the reafon,
for ye are not able to make a hair of your
head white or black. As inconteftable is it,
that having borrowed our imprecatory oaths
from the tenth century,' and inherited from
it the wretched ufe of them, and by
cuftom retained it, Chrift's words alfo con
cern us. Muft we not here with aftonifh-
ment afk why we do ndt yield to truth ?
why

{ *«0 j
Why "we fuffer ourfeives to he bandie4
about by the fluctuations pf different opini
ons, and entangled in inextricable Shares, and
this in matters relating both to our Spiritual
and temporal ftate ? To what can this be
owing ? SECTION LXXII.
why we »;AN important word here prefents kfet&
jj»^of reafon of ftate 4 the palladium of fuhtile
politicians, and which, Uke an oath, it Is
neceflary to fet in a clear light, as both
may be jofed to igood and evil purpofes-
the former but too often degeneratk)g-?fei»
Machiavelifm, and the latter into perjury.
Reafon of If rulers to compafe their ends make
ufe of means, which frequently appear
abfurd, the advantages of them not being
immediately vifible, or perhaps iniquitous,
a6 a detriment may refute from them to
fome, though to more attended with a&>
vantages : the ww in which, they act
is called reafon of ftate-, and may be good ;
but often is abufed as a cloak for iniquity,
ipiers makBagJawaortaking-EMafiaresjCPftt
tt»ry to all jpfiaoe, and the welfare «f the
ftate purely for private views : in thjs^afc
it were more &igii% termed tsyv&my itfea©
reafon

It IS.

[ lay 1
rt&ftm yffotoe. Now whoever takes a view
of the domestic State of * eplMies, ab
stracted from their relation to foreign
powers, muft See whence that wretched
cuftom cf imprecatory oaths has been fo
long retained, and ftill fufeiifts with a moft
unreafonable rigour.- The hringing all
duties under the Obligatfoin of an oath,
gives rukrs much lefs trouble than particu
larly to examine what duties are worth
fwearing to; and in difpatching affairs it !is
more eafy and expeditious to cut afunder
with an oath any knot which may occur,
than to go about untying -it in a tedious
^fbuflion. It Suits better with natural
pride to cover «nvy, hatred, malice, rc-
-vengie, and many other odious paffions
under ain oath, than expofe our infamy to
the world. Rulers of republics can give us
the beft instructions. Where one party
cannot make good their caufe fo well as
their opponents, a frefh oath 4s invented,
conceiving that the great tyrannically afcafe
their power ; whereas they themfelves fer--
"vHely forbear ufing their power, Always
fklbg with the great. Both fides act on
r*»jh of *fi«e. This fame reafon -of1 ftate
is a rjowerful lenitive agamft-all twinges of
Confcience, cfcfting eternity quite out of
fight,

£ 128 ]
fight, bufying itfelf only about the pre
fent, acting authoritatively, prompting to
fwear, and trampling on all objections de-
ducible either from fcripture, reafon* or
experience; and thus rulers elude giving
anfwers to the troublefome queftions of an
awakened confcience.
Thefe are the advantages of their reafon
of ftate. Yet it cannot dull the keen
conviction that this fwearing to fuch a mul
titude of duties is productive of number-
lefs perjuries; however they may ftrive to
blind themfelves with fubtile elucidations,
and conceits of the great diftance of eter
nity. They concern themfelves only about
temporal things, and model their confcienees
accordingly ; reafon of ftate proceeds autho
ritatively,' tramples on all the objections
of fcripture, on principles, reafon, and ex
perience, and arbitrarily enjoins them to
take aU convenient oaths, as if it could
cancel the declaration uttered by the
mouth of truth, of the judge of the world,
and fuperfede the inviolable power of God
over mankind. But if fome reflecting con
fcienees are for abiding by Chrift's words
fwear not at all, and require explanati
ons, reafon of ftate being of a ready in
vention, is for putting them off with the
example

t "9 3
Example of our pious forefathers. But it
tbiy will not clofe with this, and cannot
relifh the ordures of the ancients, theworfe;
for them, reafon of ftate being fo pofitive
is to undertake explaining away Chrift's
words. Let this ferve for a faint fketch of what
reafon of ftate is. Whoever deflres farther
information, may confute Cohring. differt.
de ratione flatus-, Naudi cohfid. polit.jur les
coups detat; and Rudiger's: Art of Govern
ment. Hlftory every where fhews us, that
reafon of State has in all times prevailed1 too
much. But there is a God who turns the
wjheel of deftiny, and very often baffles the
deepest laid meafures.
SECTION LXXIfl.
WE Shall now try whether it be not pof*
fible to draw up' an oath, which may be
taken and obferved by oppofite parties with
a fafe confcience^ and ferve as a model of
a rational oath, ha'ving all the requifites of
an oath, being of unexceptionable validity
on whatfoever fide it is viewed, and like-
wife able to ftand the teft of reafon and
revelatjon. K 'Form

[ !3° I
EoeM pf a rational an$ proper 0atjjj
Pretmble. *' I fw/^r,
«c To the living Gpd, on whom my
" whole life and being continually.de-
V pend; lf To thee, 0 Moft High,, befpre whpfe
" almighty power the great ones of thjs,
** earth are bpt duft and afhes, yea fe(§
" than nothing ;
"To thee, Q God pf truth, who
" fheweft mercy to thofe who are, of an
" upright heart, and abhorreft all &JS&-
" hood and hypocrify ; |fc
" To thee, O righteous God, who will
<e reward every one according to his
" works, and not fuftjbr the profanation of
" thy name to go unpunished ;
" Tp thee, O omnifcient God, to thee
fc who knoweft my inmpft heart, and who.
" feeft into all Secret things, fo that with
11 thee darknefs itfelf is light;
" To thee, O God, who art every where
*' prefent, and who in a particular manner
'j affifteft at this tranfactipn ;
" Tp thee, O God pf. unfpeakable ma-
" jefty, who art poffeffed of eypry pet-.
" fedtion ; for thine is the kingdom, the
" power

f >3> i
H power and the glory, Fqr ever ape

li ever.

4i With the deepeft reyerenee do I bow The oatfjj
" myfelf before the throne of thy riia^
" ]e&yi be thou witnefs to the upright in-
" tention of my heart willingly to conform
u to the following duties : r1
" Not to abufe the dignity,- power,- and JJfde. of
" confideration which have been eom-mit-
** ted to me.
" Never to deny any ohe my due
" protection, afliftance, and impartial
" juftiee. " Never to defign or take in hand arjy
4\ thing which may difturh or hurt the
** §&tsj por to conceal any thing of that
*e kind which may come to my know-
" ledge. " To negltet nothing which may con-
ff tribute to the public welfare.
'* Not to abufe the liberty \vhich I en- Duties of
" joy under the gracious government which U)Je '
" God has fet oyer mp.
" To be ever faithful and obedient to it,
4* and not to undertake nor counfel any
" thing by which ijts power or honour m%y
"' fuffer. •
" Duly to fuhmit myfelf to it •, that is,
[' on my committing any trefpafs againft
K 2 " its

[ !32 1
** its laws, to fubmit myfelf to legal
" punifhment. " Readily to venture my life and fortune
" in fupport of the government, and of my
" beloved country.
Conch- -• " But knowing my weaknefs, I implore
" the merciful and gracious God, that he
" will ftrengthen this my upright difpofi-
" tion| and by his fpirit incline my heart to
" perform the duties to which I have now
*' fworn. Amen."
Obferva- Thefe duties are indifpenfibly neceffary;
they are poffible: they are adapted to the
end of all government, and they are likewife
fufficient for preferving the end of fociety. ¦ *»
COROLLARY,
REAL felf-intereft is and ever, will be
the great motive of man's whole conduct,
and all his meafuires, the conftant object of
which is the attainment of happinefs. The
firft mean ufed towards this defirable end,
was fociety and reciprocal intercourfe and
affiftance, and thefe gradually became en
larged into communities and governments.
The fecond mean was laws for reftraining
the pernicious excefs of paffions; andthat thefe

f 133 ]
thefe laws might be fupported with due
vigour, rulers were invefted with adequate
powers; and in procefs of time, that no
thing might be wanting to the fecurity of
mankind, an oath or fwearing was intro
duced, and gradually aggravated to an im-i
precation, though the world had fubfift-
ed near five thoufand years, and feveral
potent monarchies to this day fubfifl withr
out any fuch thing: yet is it accounted one
of the moft folid foundations of govern^
ment ; and what was invented in the times
of darknefs, and by monfters of .-.wicked-
nefs and cruelty, we retain from hereditary
cuftom. It is not now made a queftion,
Whether Chriftians can bind themfelves by
a curfe? that is, whether they can enter
into fuch a compact, by which the infracter
incurs eternal punishment,
It is in vain to difpute this point with
thofe who infift on the practice of binding
people by oaths. They herein betray their
ignorance; they are Strangers to the weight
of an oath, to the various duties, of mart,
as a member of fociety, to the nature of
government in republics, and to the apV
vantages of Salutary laws. The prefent
-queftion is not about the obfervance, but
only this : K 3 U

r m V
|« an imprecatory. oaffrdijbwable?
jThe following inquiries will furnlSh a
jready anfwfer.
Is it not Stupid to give or take fuch fe-
cufities as are not in man's vowet, apd oB
no kind' of advantage ?
Is it not ah enormous impropriety to
rifque eternal happinefs againft temporal
^rifles ?
Is it pot a prefumptuous rhadnefs to ceP-
fiire heavenlywifdorn, which for the fafety
and welfare of focieties has appointed laws,-
apd not an path ?
v- Is it not grimace and mockery that mU
piffers are to attend a traitor under fentenee
of death, in order to Save bis foul, which he
has forfeited by an imprecatory oath, fworlj
f)y command of the fiipr erne powers ?
Is it not an amazing contradiction to fetch
from religion a band of unity among men,
big with the greateft mifchiefs both to reli
gion and men ?
i Is ifcnot countenancing of filicide- to al
low man a power of /pledging his foul?
" Is it not m<|ft impioufly robbing Chrift
pf his property, which he Hfiis acquired
from his Father, as a repompence fpfrhis in*-
pxprefilble fafferings ?

Is

*
Is it not a frantic cuftom to fling away
one's foul for duties of little importance, and
not absolutely neceflary ?
Is it not a horrid renunciation of the
whole work of redemption for Chriftians
to deprive themfelves of all grace and
mercy, even in the hour of death ?
Is it not an abominable prefumption to
call on that God before whom the pillars of"
heaven and earth Shake, and adoring che
rubs and feraphs with deepeft reverence co
ver their faces ! that high and lofty One
whofe name is holy 1 to call on himas a"
fecurity to the procedures and ordinances of
Wretched worms weltering in their filthy
and which tooiofteh are the dictates* of pride
ahd revenge ? Chriftians, Whofe criterion
Is love, and their capital rule indifference to
all earthly things' ; Christians have a£ted
with fo little concern towards each other,
and for the fupiJort of their commands^
have agreed on imprecatory oaths, that, td
gratify man, God, who is love itfelf, and
whdfe love is the fountain of alfblifs, muft
Withdraw all his mCrcy ana favour, and
j3bur down his flaming indignation on that
poor mortal, who either from wea'knfcfs. or
ihcogitartcy, fails in his obedience to their
Wmminds* Can this be confidered without
K 4 emotion ?

[ 136 ]
emotion ? Who can forbear ftanding. forth
to put a flop to fuch a dreadful evil ?
Is univerfal fwearing promotive of the
welfare of our country? and are evils fpp-
' preffed by a multitude of oaths ?
The foregoing form of a proper and
lawful oath is, with regard to
God (he being called on jn ajl his per
fections as witnefs) an honourable' cpnfef5
fion of our faith? confidentially offering up
fo him a heart void of falfity.
The ftate: hereby all tumults and fe-
dition are prevented, the fundamental du-;
ties both of rulers and fubjeets fpecified in
plain words, and the performance pf them
folemply promifed by the party fwearingt
Thus every one, who is not giyen up tp the
moft abandoned profligacy, may both chear-
jfully take this oath, and eafily fulfil it.
The duties ; they are few? as the duT
ties worthy of an path are few; they are
fundamental ; they are adapted to apdfuf-
£cient for the end pf all goyernment.
Obligation : the folemn repetition pf
this oath will, with all whofe confidences.
are not feared, at leaft have an equal force
as any babbling of an imprecatory oath.
Who can fo much as doubt that the

t 137 ]
Peity's vengeance will pot overtake, hki*
who fwears falfely by his name }
SECTION LXXIV,
TO «be guided in a point of fuch. im*
portance by an abfurd cuftom, and not by
fcripture and reafon, is both an jnexcufable
negligence and Scandalous ingratitude.
Who could or who dared to perfuade Farther
mankind to bring in the Divine Majefty asfromthe
a fecurity, nay, to make him the execu- Vs™* *ni
tioner of their revenge, op the breach of all rulers.
any of their human ordinances, perhaps,
from a natural careleflhefs, or fuppofe it
even were out of obftinacy and deliberate
wickednefs ? Is it poffible that men can
act with fuch malice and rage towards their
fellow-creatures as to impofe on them im
precations fo terrible, that the reading of
them in court fills the whole audience with
horror, apd the obligations of them fo va
rious and extenfive, as neceffarily to imply
perjury? Where then is low,. to our
neighbour, that royal command, thatcha-
racteriftic of Jefus's diSpiples ? Shpuld two
citizens enter into an obligation, with this
penalty, that the party failing fhould cut
pff his arm or leg; is there a ruler on earth,.
who

['.. 13* ]
who would. allovtf of fuch an dgfee^trient ?
or would not Bedlam be thought the fitteft
place for thofe who were capable of fuch ex
tremities ? No fuch thing can be th§ view
of a ruler ; for fuppofing fubjeets to break
their moft facired oaths, and even to have
imbrued their hands in their fovereign' s
bloddi as was the cafe of that unfortunate
prince-Charles the Firft of England, would
not the terrors of death be greatly aggra
vated to fuch a fuffering prince by the cer
tainty of the eternal damnation of his fub
jeets, on account of the oath he had irh-
pofed on them ? Whereafc Charles, igno
minious as his execution was, had quite
other thoughts, praying p-taeftly for themi
Likewife, why are minifters ordered to at
tend the moft infamous malefactors under
fehtehee of death, urtlefs with a vieW, if
it be poffible, of facing their ' fouls' ?
Whereas if the imprecatory claUfe'be meant
in good edrneft, this deVdut care has jiift as
much- td fity for itfelf as the appointing a
jfrfyfidian tb prefcribe to fuch a maieB£t6f,
how he fliall prdfefvt himfelf from any fu
ture diftempers. Befides, the ruler has
nothing todo With hereafter ; the only ob-i
jeet of his adminiftr'itlon is fecurity, quiet,
and' "welfare hi this life: therefore, not-
withftanding

*tfrthftandteg any deep-rootfed pfejud&esf, let
jb help me God be expunged from all oaths,
and the rather as the people Ati^MiMQf
impofed upon by this fheW of devotititi.
Efcovedo fhewed himfelf a man of
fenfe, in requiring from the duke of Af-
fehdt this plain and Short oath : If you dd
ffi &od help you ; ifhoti the devil take y»u±
foul ahd body. To which they all faid,
Amen! Let it not be i'ppt eh&hded5, that
this- will Weaken the ihlpreflion ; for riot to
mention that the people dd not fb much si
mind this alteratidh; the folethnfty of the
preamble makes ample stnlend^fbV Hi H6
whom this Will not 'bind to the p'efforrn-
ante of his duty, will not be frightened by
any words an oath cat! be eloathed hi: < ~
S^E CTI-ON IfiBft,
A S > to the ¦ duties ; the above" fpecmed Fhr°md °~
concern the foundation of 'tile1 ftaftfj and ties re-
are fufhcieht to prevent any tumults 'and J"£gn9
perrrmotions. Now what nidie1 can role'rs ., '
require frc-hi their fu'bjeetsj and^'theie^ftbtii
tBfeir fillets, whd; eqoaliy with0 fftfcHfiifci.
Je#, have likewife their ddties ? Iflp*tef$t8>
hcs efpecially; all the mem^etfthe^ftalp
#e aceoutited to Bfr on-S le>eMft£tne4u«t jetts^

[ H© ]
jects, under the fame laws, bound to like
duties, and liable to the fame and fre-.
quently more Severe punifhment. But to
their prudence it is referred to appoint what.
duties. are to be fworn to ; (thefe Should be
as few as poffible, fuch only as nearly con
cern the very bafis of government;) to
afcertain all others, by wholefome laws,
ordinances, and punishments, and not by
paths, and to force a proper obedience to
them. It is a general fault in all repub
lics to make ufe of imprecatory oaths, as
the m°ft forcible ^ obligation. To afk
whether this, in a religious fenfe, be al-
Ipwable, would be a dangerous queftion;
yet this is the fource of the land's being
fo wretchedly over-run with perjury.
SECTION LXXVI.
Oaths on CONSEQUENTLY oaths to the per*
every pro- formance 0f all other duties are ufelefs,
motional- , , . - ,. „i_
ways a dangerous, and , infidious, even were the
profana- ao0ve form to be adopted. The fupreme
powers want nothing farther than a prer
rogative of- enforcing obedience by fuch
penalties as the law, appoints. Where then
is the neceffity or even the propriety of
fwearing aU w^P enter on any office or poft, they

[ Hi 1
they having before been fworn to the fun
damental duties ? And for the fmaller, as
fet down in the instructions or precepts,
the greater part of them are not worth an
oath. Honour, intereft, the fear of pu
nishment, unquestionably operate beyond
an oath ; befides, an honeft man has a claim
to confidence, and after all, his probity
muft be trufted. In a well-conftituted go
vernment an individual can fcarce do any
considerable damage to the public ; one
has his eye on another. Privatorum odiis
res publica crefcit, fays Tacitus, that clear
sighted politician. To all thofe little towns
and villages where even fwine- herds are
put to their oath, I would recommend the
Philadelphians, who wifely make fuch or
dinances', and ftrengthen them with fuch
penalties, that a regular obedience is paid
to them. SECTION LXXVII.
LIKEWISE in all inferior courts of Abufe fo
juftiee an .oath is but a weak tie. The rea- £Xa-°
fons for determining the fentence ftill re-ture-
Strain many, and the right of appealing to
a higher court, makes them the more at
tentive and circumfpect in their decisions. That

t J42 ]
That the Divine Majefty Should he iptrp^
duced \ri all law affairs, many of which
are for mere trifles, is a fhocking fcandal!
as if a li^lc honour or money among
Christians (as they call therpfelyes) whofe
capital duty is.felf-djenial, were of greater
concern than the hpnpur of God's holy
name. Suppofing we cannot come at our
right wtehout fwearing, a ready equivalent
for thje lofs is, that it teaches us to be more
carefulfpr the future;; and. to calj on the moQi
high God tp be as it were an arbitrator in a
flight lofs, is really making much top free
with that Majefty to whom belppgeth a|l
honour, worfhip, apd glory. Its being;
allowed by the laws to a truly pipus man \s
po excufe, for it is known how fuch per-
miffion crept in, and at a time when ajl
people were infatuated wjth a fondppfs. fqr
fwearing, having been brought tp believer
that an oath was a moft facred part of de
votion ; and thus it was thought oaths
could not be too much multiplied', efpeci
ally where the difcovery of taujh was con
cerned. This, is the rife, of witneiTea
"Being, put to their path, which \s now thf
practice of aty courts of judicature.
SECTION

C »43 1

SECTION LXXVIII.
THE firft who appointed this oath was
Conftantine the Great, 1. i. c. de Teftam.
The emperor JuStinian, 1. 19. likewife gave
it his Sanction ; whereas this oath was never
ufed before in civil caufes, neither by Greeks
nor Romans, and very Seldom in criminal j
but the canon law brotjght it into eftablifhed
repute. The celebrated Thomafius in his
Differt. de Fide jurid. c. 2. fays, " The
" clergy make a handle of this oath to
interfere in worldly affairs, which $he
emperors fhould prohibit, or at leaft irn-
pofe fome restrictions." The Jews-knew
nothing of fuch an oath. Que Jingle witnefi
fhall nop be admitted againft a man ; in every
taufe two or three witneffts Jhall be required^
Deut. xix. And if they proved falfe wit
nefles, that punishment which they in
tended againft. their brother was inflicted
on them, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, "top*
And for coming at the truth of a wit-
nefs/s declaration God appointed this me
thod; not an oath, but, iff, That the
judge Should make a Strict examination.
2dly, That the appointed punishment Should
be inflicted on the falfe witneffes, without
3 an?

I '44 I
any indulgence or mitigation. This the?
divine jurifprudence thought fuffipient to
deter all falfe witnefles. The hiftory of
the chafte Sufanna fets this in the clearest
light. The parties fufpected were not per
mitted to fwear, though that excellent wo
man's life lay at flake. If we take the di
vine precept for our guide, God himfelf
cOndefcends to interfere in our favour, as in
this. cafe. Daniel's prudence baffled their
craft and wickednefs. When any one was
capitally convicted through the intrigues of
falfe witnefles, they were to be firft in put
ting him to death, with thefe words, It is
thy wickednefs has brought thee to this end,
and not we ; and then they were followed
by all the people. Accordingly we read,
Acts xvii. that at the floning of Stephen
the falfe, witnefles threw the firft Stone. Is
truth more effectually brought to light
by our jurifprudence ? Experience plainly
Shews the contrary. Judges are mifled
by the paths of malicious or fuborned
wretches, and thefe often give only an ap
pearance of improbability or probability to
the matter as will beft, ferve the turn : and
how can he pronounce a right fentence on
fuch evidence ? However, according to fuch
evidence it is that fentence muft be pro-'
noupced. SEC-

I I« ]

-US
SECTION LXXDt.
BUT why is not the declaration of an Betterme.
honeft Confcientious man to be admitted as coming at
a prdof in law ; every one being, by theunth*
law of nature, intitled to belief, whilft he
has not brought himfelf under fufpicion
by breach of truft or fraud ? Truth and
credit depend rather on the temper and
condition of the witnefs, than on any oath.
An able judge will Credit one perfon of
known honour, fooner than ten knights of
thepoft. And, unquestionably, were the
divine jurifprudence to be adopted, much
better would the end be anfwered : for
from experience it is manifest, that he who
is not afhamed to lye before a judge, fitting
as God's reprefentative, will not flick at
a falfe oath. With fuch the penalty is a
ftronger tie than the moft terrible oath.
Among the Romans falfe witnefles were^
thrown down the Tarpeian rock, and the
Jews punifhed them by the jus talionis.
And punifhing them with reftitution, ba
nishment, or imprifonment, ^ would be a
more effectual check to all falfe witneffing,
than putting the iffue on an oath ; efpe
cially, as it is come to fet fe eafy on peo-
L pies

[ 146 ]
pie, and the confequences not very bad ;
for when falfity and perjury are proved as
clear as the fun at mid -day, yet feldom or
never are they punifhedj or at leaft not ac
cording to their demerits. The celebrated
Stryk in his Dijfert. de Proceff. abbreviandis
per poenam mendacii mentions it as a very
great defect that lies tending to perpetuate
proceffes are not fufficiently punifhed.
Section lxxx.
An oath ANOTHER abufe which ftands in
be°foeafiiynee(* OI" correction is the iffue's being too
allowed, xafily referred to the defendant's confcience,
•who thus clears himfelf by his Simple, oath :
.this fhould with much caution be allowed
in one of a fufpected character, more efpe
cially if . the matter be of importance, and
jno other way to come at the truth, that he
may not wrong his confcience in fo terrible
a manner, and left the facrednefs of an
.oath be impaired and brought into contempt.
And if many circumftances concur to ren-
.der the defendant "fufpected, yet would it
be better that the judge had. an extraor
dinary power to punifh fuch a one : for,
in matters of concern, fcarce one of a
thoufand has fuch an awe of an oath as to
confefs

t '47 3
confefs the truth. I am mightily pleafed
With the decree of the faculty of Halle,
which in fuch cafes advifes the following
fentence : That the party accufed on fu£-
picions, if they be very ftrong, fhall pay fo
many dollars, or fuffer imprifonment for
fuch a time, unlefs he can and will clear
himfelf by' oath. Here tender confidences
are left to their option ; but one circum-
ftance that appears to have promoted the
exceffive ufe of oaths, is that they ferve as
a cuShion for indolence. It is not every
judge who is able, or will take the trouble
clofely to examine every circumftance ; and
this fword at once cuts the knot afunder,
withqut the trouble of loofening it. But,
what comes within the convenience or ad
vantage of magiftrates belongs to reafon of
ftate, and confequently is not eafily a-
mended. SECTION LXXXI.
GROTIUS being thoroughly acquainted Abufe in
with the nature of government, clearly fee- bi/aferiK
ing the unavpidable multitude of perjuries, Mies.
and being deeply concerned for the terrible
curfes annexed to Oaths, and withal of fuch
extraordinary learning, penetration, devo-
L 2 tion,

[ 148 ]
tion, and philanthropy, conftrues our Sa*
viour's prohibition relatively to promiflbry
oaths agreeably to their plain literal mean
ing. By the explanation in our form of
an oath the great Stone of offence is re
moved, efpecially as Chrift abfolutely for
bids all curfing both in promiiTory and af
firmative oaths ; on this account, that we
are not able to make a hair white or black.
All that fcripture and reafon allow a Chrif
tian herein, amounts to no more than this :
that in important cafes of neceffity for dif-
covering the truth, and as an affurance of
our integrity and the uprightnefs of our
intentions, we may invoke the omnifcient
God as a witnefs ; but not caU on God to
avenge on us any failures in the duties we
have fworn to.
SECTION LXXXII.
At dec- THIS being plainly proved, how is that
ngwTto cuft°m or" fwearing at elections to choofe
theeiec- only fuch perfons who have the country's
welfare at heart, to be exculpated ? Why
not rather abide, in general, by Mofes's
pattern, from which thefe duties are bor
rowed ? Being fenfible of human weak-
nefs, he has only enjoined, and not Strength ened

[ J49 1
ened his injunction with any imprecatory
oath. But fuppofing a reflective confcience
was for obferving this order, where will
he find a political pair of fcales to weigh
the merit of the parties ? One he knows
only by the fpecious fide, and the other is
-under an evil predicament. Of courfe the
latter he will reject, and promote the for
mer ; whereas could he have previoufly
weighed the merit of both, he would have
preferred the latter, as fitter for the office.
There is no man fo depraved but on fome
certain occafion may have behaved well;
and none fo virtuous as not to be charge
able with Some crime or misbehaviour. The
word worthy, which it feems is not to be
weighed, means no more here than that
any one may be chofen who is not a
profligate or an ideot. It muft be a def-
perate cafe, indeed, when a perfon is fo
far void of merit, as to be incapable of fuc-
ceeding the place of this or that member in
the political body. Even negative merit
has fome weight, which often recommends
a man in numerous aSfemblies.

SEC-

t 150 ]
• SECTION LXXXIII,
t^thT1^ THAT man can prefume to fwear,
electors, -without any revenge, envy, hatred, ill-will,
or fraud, is unaccountable. Amid ft all
the reverence due to the gods of Ifrael, no
body could ever perfuade himfelf that their
exalted dignities freed their nature from
earthly infirmities, and from men raifed
them to be angels. Yet muft this be
granted to impofe with any reafon a form
of fwearing, in which the paffions apper
taining to the frame of the human foul muft
be declared to be fet afide and excluded.
At this rate, is the oath made for man's
fake, or man for the fake of the daih? Is
it not againft the whole bent of nature that
I fhall not promote the advancement of on6
for whom I have the higheft efteem ? No
wonder, indeed, that the end of fuch in
judicious oaths is not obtained ; for from
man nothing above man is to be expected.
The experience of all ages manifests that
we will, as far as poffible, affift in prefer
ring thofe we love preferably to others ;
and this the difciples of Hobbs, with all
their fubtilties,, will never be able to invali
date, nor to excufe the temerity of fuch an
oath.

[ *s* I
oath. The exceptions' to many other oaths, '
which rulers have impofed on themfelves,
we fhall forbear. This inftance may be
fufficient for inciting rulers to take in hand
the limitation of oaths, as a thing abfo-'
lately neceffary, and thus deliver themfelves
from fuch galling fetters. For it fhould
be well obferved, that in republican go
vernments the rulers have fworn to, and
confequently are bound to, all the duties of
fubjeets (then certainly fubjeets they are)
and over and above to all the duties of rulers.
This two-fold relation to the ftate fhould
prompt them to extirpate this infernal cuf
tom, this fource of fo many perjuries, with
which their dear country is over-run.
SECTION LXXXIV.
HITHERTO we have Shewn the pur- feecap;ta.
pofes for which fwearing was introduced, lation'
and what were the original foufces of it ;
namely, pride, tyranny, infatiable ambition,
avarice, neglect of all duties, hypocrify,
ingratitude, floth, and dullnefs. It has far
ther been Shewed by . What men it was
countenanced and propagated, fuch as were '
fcandals to human nature, a Nero, a Ca
ligula, Domitian; or Stains to the Chriftian
L 4 religion,

[ r-5* 1
religion, a Hunric, a Sifenand, an Alex* >
apder III. an Innocent III. a Boniface VII.
and VIII. a Gregory IX. as likewife the
fathers of the fourth council of Toledo,
with their violent imprecations, though moft
of thefe wronged their confcience, from a
dread of ticking, or corrupted by his mo
ney, when, at the fame time, the people
firmly adhered to Chrift's plain command,
and threw out the propofed oath ; likewife
what artifices were ufed to reconcile the
'laity to an oath, and to varniih this exe
crable imposition with a Shew of devotion,
that at length the oath came to be accounted
both equally facred and ufeful, and enjoined
by Gpd as a mora] command.
It has been Shewn how in the ages of
darknefs and ignorance, fwearing came into
urtiverfal vogue ; innumerable oaths were
contrived, inverted with awful folemnities,
and yet no better obfervance of the duties
fworn to ; or* rather at no time Was there
fo open a profligacy of manners and viola*
tion of oaths.
It has beep Shewn th.at% the annexing
imprecations to oaths cannot be maintained
either from the principles of government,
reafon, or fcripture, and that it is not in
the leaft to be palliated by the examples of •
. >( faints,

[ '53 1
faints, and far-fetched wreftings of holy
writ. It has been Shewn that this unhallowed
device is productive of nothing but perjury j
that many kingdoms fubfift and flourish
without any fuch things and fubjeets are
bridled only by a proper execution of the
laws. Thus power, which is the fword God
has put into the hands pf rulers, is the
true mean for attaining the ends of go
vernment. It has been Shewn that this unhallowed
device is but a mere notion, a prejudice, a
wrong cuftdm, fprung up in the times of
darknefs, and kept up only for bad pur
pofes. Now were rulers, as guardians of
the divine laws, to interpofe their authority
againft any profanations of the name of
God, whofe deputies they are, their wifdom
would direct them to break in pieces this
galling chain, and to form fuch oaths as
might be taken and kept with a fafe con
fcience. How would fuch a meafure re
joice great numbers of fenfible perfons and
intire well-wifhers to their country! how
would posterity blefs the memory of fuch
deliverers I

SECTION

[ J,54 }
SECTION LXXXV.
IF all thofe reafons cannot prevail for brings *
ing oaths within due limitations, fo that a
wretched cuftom is become a fecond nature;
it is a melancholy proof that fwearing, like a
fatal poifon, has pervaded the wholebody po
litic. Some, With all kinds of fophiftry*
fpin an oath into fo fine a thread, as to
tally deftroys or at leaft weakens its obli
gatory power, all the while conceiting that
they have hit on its true import ; while in
others the amazing number of perjuries
ftapifies alll fenfations of the guilt ; and this
foon brings on fuch a ftate of obduracy,
that great as the crime is, little or no notice
is: taken of it.
SECTION LXXXVI.
Of the Religious Oaths.
EUTYCHUS, patriarch of Alexandria,
Without any other authority than barely an
PBcertain tradition, will have it that the pa
triarch Seth in his laft moments made all his
defcendants fwear by the blood of Abel,
that they would not quit that holy mountain
1 which

[ yss 1
Which he had chofen for his dwelling, nor
deliver it up to the defcendants of the ac*
curfed Cain. But the great uncettainty of
this appeals at firft fight.
Euphemius, patriarch of Conftantin- The firft
dple, refufed crowning a Grecian emijjj°™_
peror (Anaftafius) till he had promifed in no 489.
Writing and upon oath to maintain the pu- r^<
rity of the faith, Evagr. 1. 3. c. 52. But
what this . was appears from Theodoret's
LeSlor. 1. 2 . namely, to affent to and pro
tect the decree of the council of Chalcedon.
Anaftafius, though he had the beft right to
the crOWn, being fufpeeted of Eutychifm,
could not promife himfelf any quiet on the
throne without keeping in with the patri
arch, and fwore according to his prefcrip
tion. But he was no fooner warto on the
throne, than he fent Euphemius into exile,
and, notwithstanding his oath, openly fided
with the feet of the Acephali. From this
'fpring flow all the oaths Which to thisiday
are taken by princes at their coronation ;
and at the instigation of this patriarch the
'emperor made a law that all bifhoris Should
he fworn, whereas before, a bare Cdnfeffiori
of faith ftrfficed for their enthronement.
But it was not till many years after, df
which

[ *5° 1
which we fhall fpeak in the feqtiel, and
from quite other views, that fuch an oath
came to obtain its full force ; though as to
emperors and kings, the oath was infepa-
rable from their coronation. By religion
in thofe times was meant no more than to
defend the canons, which yet were much
fuller of curlings than bleffings. The clergy
apprehended that princes might inftitute
other forms lefs adapted to the dignity,
doctrine, and lives of the ecclefiaflics. The
people were for a long time excufed from
any oath ; but the princes were ftrietly
bound to it, their power being neceffary to
the ecclefiaflics, for enforcing the decrees
of councils, and punifhing the contuma
cious : and well has Thomas Aquinas faid,
Trincipes nil nift brachia clerifuiffe.
SECTION LXXXVII.
•IN the eighth century prelates were
likewife obliged to take this oath; but
Gregory II. thought proper to add to pre-
ferving the purity of the faith this Short but
very fignificant claufe, likewife fidelity and
obedience. Fidelity and obedience to whom ?
To Chrift? No, his kingdorrubeing not
of this world, but to Peter's vicegerent, to
whom

[ m I
whom his fword defcended by inheritance;
and Boniface, the German apoftle, appears
to have been the firft who took this oath.
Baron. Annal. ad annum 723.
SECTION LXXXVIII.
THE Roman court at firft met with a Meets
general oppofition to this oath, except ^^
among its moft implicit votaries. Others
looked on it as utterly unneceffary to thofe
who by their calling were peculiarly obliged
to preach the faith. A Polifh archbifhop,
even in the twelfth century, fpoke vehe
mently againft this oath, as an unjustifiable
innovation, and contrary to the canons;
nay, wfote to the fee of Ronie, that this
oath could neither be impofed nor taken
with a fafe confcience. The holy pontiff
Pafchal II. found means to difperfe this
Polifh fcruple ; faying, in his anfwer to the
archbiShop,," To be fare, as our Saviour
u fays> whatever is beyond cometh from
" evil; but that very evil, as permitted by
" Chrift, is what conft rains us to require
" that amplius, or that which is beyond;
" or, pray, tell me, does not a departure from
" the unity of the Churches, and from the
" obedience due to the facred fee of Rome,

** come

I 158 1
** come from evilT* Lit. Pafchj ex Collect*
pone. Cameralis.
Who cannot but admire fuch a happy
folution of religious fcruples ? If any ftill
remain, the Pallium will be large enough
to cover them all ; for the curious manu
facture of making the coftly Palliums all
pf lambs- wool having been fet up at Rome,
and to be had in no qther part of the uni7
verfe, all oppofition to this path was
obliged tP fubmit, efpecially as afterwards
that ufurping fee had, by means of the
concordata, extorted the power of collating
bifhops in Germany, France, and Spain.
The prptectipn and favour of the Roman
fee being now the fureft way to prefer
ment, the clergy dropped their qepofition
to the oath of obedience. This oath
Gregory VII. drew up with fpch circum-
fpection, that little mention is made Of the
catholic faith. The fum of all the duties
is a quiet obedience to the RomiSh fee,
without troubling one's felf with any thing
farther.

SECTION

t '59 1

SECTION LXXXIX.
AT length this fervile oath came to be The laity
impofed on the laity ; but it was at a time takfTit,
of fuch deplorable ignorance,' that among IIZ9-
the young people very few could fay the
Lord's prayer, and as few amongft thofe
advanced in years knew any more of the
Creed. •*''¦>'
The council of Touloufe in the year
1 1 29 enacted, that all males, from twelve
years and upwards, fhould abjure whatever
was contrary to the holy Roman church and
the orthodox faith ; likewife fhould believe
and adhere to the Catholic faith, as believed
and taught by the Romifh church, and,
to the utmoft of their power, fhould, dif-
courage and profecute all heretics. By this
fenfelefs oath did the poor laity bind them
felves to fuch duties as could not fo much
as be enjoined. They were to believe what
they did not underftand ; nor were they to
examine, in order to underftapd : for as to
what the Church believed, they knew little
or nothing of it; fo clofely was the light
of the Gofpel hidden under the bufhel of
'fuper-ftitiort, and the ordinances of men,
that fcarce a fingle ray of its light Shewed
.;•••- itfelf.

t 160 ]
itfelf. By this oath the effcnce of the
Chriftian faith was exploded, human ordi
nances were made articles of faith, freedom
of confcience extirpated, and religion, which
is to be propagated not by compulfion but
perfuafion, totally extinguished. Accord
ing to Lactantius, Nil tarn voluntarium quam
religio. Peter's vicegerents could not re
concile themfelves to the antiquated ex
ample of Chrift and his apoftles, to declare
the word with mildnefs, and to proceed
in the demonftration of the power of the
Spirit; fire and fword were to be the in
struments for converting fouls, and an oath
for keeping them in their ftate of conver
sion, though in the whole deportment and
doctrine of Chrift there is not any thing
that in the leaft looks that way.
Retained The reformation of the Church being
at the re- now become neceffary, has greatly con-
formation ... , . ~ ; . ,
tnbuted to the propagation of this oath.
For the council of Trent having made- a
decree (though it never was put into full
force, being, afterwards limited to eccle
fiaflics) that all catholics Should fwear to
the canons, and continue in faithful obe
dience to the fee of Rome; (Father Paul's
council of Trent, feff. 24. c. 12.) fo, pn
the other hand, the partizans of the Augf-
3 burS

i 161. 3
burg confeffion, after feveral meetings at
Brunfwie, unanimoufly agreed that all
princes, counts; barons, towns, and fub
jeets Should fwear that, to the utmoft of
their power, they would promote the
truth which they profeffed, and ftedfaftly
continue in it. This amidft fo many
changes in the Sovereignty of cities, and
the artful machinations of their enemies,
was thought the beft Way. for fupporting.
the reformation, which had been intro
duced : this was the motive of Luther'a
zeal for retaining the path, Thorn. I£ft.r not
considering, that though fo Vehement, againft
the Roman papacy, he was thereby fetting
lip a petty pope in himfelf. , Forms," con-
feffions, and .catechifms fuperfeded canons,
acts, and decrees of councils, and were
impofed as rules of faith ; and both clergy
and laity were, with no lefs ftrictnefs, fworn
to the maintenance of thefe new ordi
nances. To this, as Seckendorf juftly
concludes, it is owing that in moft parts of
Germany the clergy and laity fwear to ad
here to and fupport thefe forms. , But that
this unhallowed expedient has done more
harm than good, and ftlrred up contro-
verfies innumerable, may be feen at large
in Sleidan and Seckendorf, and efpecially
M in

[ i64 v],
in Arnold's excellent Ecclefiaftical Hiflory.-
Now whether this path of religion, as it i$
ftiled, has its warrant ia Scripture (for by
that alone are we to be guided) we fhall,
fo. the heft of pur abilities, impartially
ciaraine* ': ... .
S E C.,T ION XC.
seopeof THE fcope df this oath is fpid to be*
religion. *&*¦ **&& welfare of the Church , as if the
welfare of the Church was to be fup-
potted and promoted by an oath. It is al-
ledged, that- as, by the apoftle's rule, every
thing in. the Church is to. be done decently
and- in order, i Cor. xiv. -it was neceflary
that certain ordinances, laws, and forms be
aftented to and obferved by the members >
and this is the very fource from which
have flowed all creeds, confeflionSj canons,:
S?c which by degrees, though quite con*
trary to their nature,, have obtained; the
force of- laws ; and to the maintenance
of triero all- the members of the Church
are fworn.

SECTION

£ 163 J
SECTION XCL
&UT it is worth notice*, that Under Remark
Cdnftantine the Great the Church was in
fome meafure moulded intoapoliricaltform,
and thus looked ori as other civil commvs*
nities, whofe reatl welfare indeed confifta
in outward tra©qtftlity ; and this is not to
be obtained but by wholefome laws, with
penalties annexed, as compulfive means.
But the Church ftattds on a quite different
footing ; it is contrary to its- riattrre that the
true end of it fhould be obtained by fuch
cdmpulfory means ; again, its true welfare
does not confif? in outward tranquility.
Confeffims^ canons, &c. maybe' fo. far com*
mendable and beneficial as to produce an
external union, and to point out,the way
to a real unity in faith and fpirit ; but
where this is not the motive, all external
union Signifies no more than the fcrew-
ing. on a wooden arm to ar living; mail's
Shoulder.

Ma SEC-

[ 164 I

S E'CT I O N XCIL
obfem- ACCORDING tothis motive are allcort^
tion. feffions and forms to be confidered ; and the1
view of them muft be that mentioned by the
apoftle^ that the whole body may be built up
in the true unity of the Spirit. He does
not fay, that outward tranquility may be
obtained and eftablifhed ; as. the true unity
in Spirit, which is the true profperity of
the Church, may fubfift without fuch tran
quility. Hiftory informs us, that never did
the Church of Godflourifh fo greatly as un
der the preffures of the crofs, when none of
thefe forms and canons and confeflions were
in being. The Gofpel was preached with
no lefs truth and energy in caves and de-
ferts than in. the fuperb cathedral' of St;
Peter?s at Rome, i Not lefs fervently was
Te deum fung by fhepherds in the field than
in our churches, when accompanied by the
folemn organ, and the trumpet's elevating
clangor. The real unity of the Spirit, I
may fay, was better eftablifhed by perfec
tions and difperfions than by any ecclefiafti
cal conftitutionsi decrees, canons, &c. to
which fo many oaths have been added* for
the

f 165 3
the better confolidation of the Church's poli
tical conftitution ; but to the true members
of the Church they are of no more ufe than
a bandage for binding a found limb to the
bpdy ; and with regard- tp falfe members,
they may be compared to the fattening a
putrified limb to a found body.
SECTION XCIII.
BUT great prudence is required to draw Neceflary
up fuch forms as fhall prevent not only all caatl0p'
confufion, but likewife all fuperftition ; the
nature of man being fuchas to lay a confider-
ableftrefs on externals, and forget the effence
of religion ; and ordinances calculated fpr
the advancement of true piety they pervert to
the worfhip of idols. The experience of
all times has fhewn that the verylaefl inten
tions have been abufed to fuperftition. "The
plainer, the, fhorter, thefe forms, the bet
ter ; and whenever they come to be abufed,
let them be altered, or totally abolifhed,
as Hezekiah broke in pieces the brazen
ferpent, though an illuftrious memorial
of Ifrael's wonderful deliverance. Who
fees not the great danger of irnpofing
fuch forms with an oath, as it has been
and ftill is productive of the greateft mif-
M 3 - chiefs

I 166 ]
chiefs to the Church, which in no timet
fince foeh impofition js known to have
enjoyed even an outward tranquility ?
SECTION XCIV.
Nature THE more the Church departed, fron*}
of it! " CS ifs primitive fimplicity, and affected worldly
grandeur, the more its constitution deviated
into a political fyftem. The priefts began to
hold diets or meetings,' dignified with the
appellation of councils: they enjoined
t^nfefiions of faith, as nerves for connect
ing, the Church's lifelefs body ; they made
canons as laws, though of quite a different
nature from laws; the latter being* chiej$y
intended for the licentious and immoral
whereas the former bound only thofe who
had freelfraflfnted to them. Their office,
indeed, impowered them to make fuch
canons; and with this power the negligence
©f the. Church had tacitly invefted them, yet
without any fbejudice/to true believers, as
thus they would forego their privilege in the
miew.eavenaat to. prove all things* But the
holy fathers accounting, their flails fo many
tribunaiEs, foon got the afeendant over
princes; "fo that they Seconded the eccleft-
aSlicafca&s as divine precepts, erecting. them
"'' i into

[ '*7 1
Into laws, ftrengthenir-grtthefflh with :ft£>
nalties, and ordering that, an oath Should
be taken to obferve them; and not only
the people, but the very- princes bowed
their neck to fuch a yoke. . In thefe diets
they were not unmindful' ©f , promoting
their own welfare, as if in that confifted
the Church's weal. They remembered, the
apoftle's faying, that they which fow in fpi-
ritual things i ought to reap temporal things.
This is. the very foundation of the Vatican t
fspder an increafe of powers and the im
position of oaths, is Antiebtfift grown up
to his prefent enormous bulk* * Let us not Who An-
deceive, ourfeives ;. the man, of perdition, ticbri11-
Antiehrift, is to be found in. all places.
Whoever makes himfelf judge over his
brother, forcibly obtrudes on ,him his. own
imaginations, and thus fets up himfelf, in
God's temple, ufurps Chrift's prerogative,
burthens confciences with terrible oaths,
for the fake of human edicts, and perse
cutes. -the true difciples, the living mem
bers of the4 Church ; fuch a one, whether
pope or king, Tovereigrj or. .magiftrate,
clergy, or layman, is Antichrift. Many
popes, were men of parts,, confideration,
and pkty,; and /here, have been many
M4 wortbh^Ts

[ i68 ]
worthlefs country parfons great Antichrists
in* a fmall fphere.
SECTION XCV.
Their bit, BUT the bond of faith and the fpirit
'" ' of life being wanting, all their buftle and
craft mifcarried ; all their conftitutions and
ordinances could not procure them fo much
as outward tranquillity. Of this we have
a clear inftance in the firft council of Nice,
which was^ convened on Arius's account.
Conftantine the Great owed great obligations
to the clergy ; it was they who had fettled
him on the throne. But the condemn
ing df Arius's doctrine, and the inftituting
confeffions of faith and rules of difcipline,
did not fatisfy the fathers ; they brought
the emperor to pafs -an adt,that every one.
who would not, in all things, conform to
the declared meaningand intentions of the
Church, fhould be Severely punifhed. Now
this was going beyond any Pagan prince ;
nay, they perfuaded the emperor, that all
their tranfaetions were to be looked on a|>
thofe of God himfelf; and the emperor
¦acdordingly Strengthened the council's? de-
prees with this formidable law, *' That
*¦'.' whoever

[ J69 1
fc whoever concealed an Arian bookv- and
" did not publickly burn it, whoevenem-
" braced that doctrine, whoever protected
" an Arian, pr offered to plead for? him in
" a court of juftiee, fhould immediately
" fuffer death by the hands of the. com -
'. mon executioner.". Thus thofe. harpr
brained fhepherds, incapable of reclaiming
ftrayed Sheep by mildnefs and in the power
of the Spirit, threw away the crook, and
took in hand a rod, laying, to the, irreparable
damage of truth and of poor fubmiffive fouls,
a restraint on the confcience, which nature
itfelf abhors. But the confequence was
anfwerable to fuch deteftable means; for
foon after, the erroneous feet of the Arians
became more powerful than ever; they
even wrought fuch a change in the em
peror himfelf, that he repealed all the acts
of the council, received the Arians into
favour, banifhed Athanafius, and did. in-
expreffible mifchief to the Church. The
Arians followed the example of the too
precipitate orthodox, hewing them down
on all fides with the fame fword .with
which the latter had, fo furioufly. at
tacked them. Now this divine judg
ment Should naturally have opened , the
clergy's eyes, had^tbey not been utterly eaten

p "70 1
eaten up with an infatiable defire of lord*»
ing it over men's confidences ; which Paul,
however, fets forth, in very black colours,
as the. moft dangerous hetefy, and the very
badge of Antichrift* who places himfelf in
Chrift's jpdgment-feat, aftuming .dominion
pVer- his brethren in matters of faith* Ex
perience has conftantly proved^ that fined
the eftablifhment of fuch cdnfeflions and
canons as a rule of faith, and to be fworn
to, few or none have renounced their er
rors. The prevalent party puts a peremptory
Slop to all further examinations ; bound by
the oath, they neither can nor will make
any conceffion, nor, allow the omifliort of
a fingle fyllabie, could even the peace of
the Church be feftored by it: the foul. is
bound to the contrary. Concerning this
abufe,. may be eonfulted ..Spanheim's. iMro-
trodublim to his Church Hiftory, and- Ar*
aold; To this- imposition of rules of faith
have been owing the elafhings ofcouncilsi
One protefting againft another, the clergy
in the mean time wantonly fporting with
fhe imperial prerogative and revenue. See
what Hilarius writes to the emperor on tins
head;; Gum- femel novas fidei prof ejfiones con*
fki&re caeper&nt, faila eft fides temporum po-
tms quamMMrtgeliorum ; jjdmodum miferabik

I *7! 1
$ft novas fidei ' fermasfinguRs amis tmfict, 1$
cum fecundum unum baptifioa fides una fit,
excidimus ex ilia fide qua f via eft. Tat nunc
fides ekiftuntquot volant at es. PqftNi&ani con~
ventus jynodum nil aliud quam fides fxribi
cerium eft. Annuas atque menfkruas\ de Deo
fides deeernimus, decretis pamitemus, pani**
tentes defendimus, defenfas anathematizamus;
& dum plures fiunt, a4 id effiheafferunt, ne
ullafii. SECTION XCVI.
IT could not be otherwife, when fuch Remark-
men took upon them to fey down the fav- flanece!n0"f
ing doctrine of faith in Words of their own, what ne-
andto exprefs the divine will more plainly followed.
thian the divine- Spirit. For if the pure
doctrines fif Chrift can be perverted by
•cricked men, to countenance their corrup
tions, how much more the weak forms of
men*s invention I Of this modern times give
an inftance in. the members of the famous
council of Trent, who were not able to
draw up the doctrine of a certainty of the
fbte of grace fo.cleariy, but that two of
them, Etorainicus Soto and Ambrofhis Ca-
tharinus, who have wrote on that article,
boil quite oppositely, both dedicated their
differtations

[ J72 ]
differtations to the council, each holding
his opinion eftablifhed by thofe divines. On
which the ingenious father Paul obferves,
that the emiffaries of the court of Rome
were extremely perplexed, and every one
wondered at the conduct of the Holy
Ghofl. -
SECTION XCVII.
^r^IH ALL thefe tranfactions, however, were
gy'sfelfifh . - ,
views, fo many fteps to the exaltation of the
clergy ; whatever became of the true wel
fare of the Church, the worldly welfare of
the bifhops was promoted. All the labours
of fo many councils centered in this one
point, to fix the clergy's unlimited power,
and, under the colour of religion, to lay
an infupportable yoke on the necks of the
deluded people ; and fo far have they fuc
ceeded in this wicked work, as to make a
trade of religion, turning the altar and con-
feffional into, a bank, the keys of the king
dom of Heaven into the keys of coffers,
and the moft facred duties of religion into
jobs more or lefs, profitable. And thefe
abufes, enormous as they are, are like to
laft, all ranks having fworn on their eter
nal falvation quietly to adhere to thefe rules; and

t 173 1
iahd fhould any one offer to arraign them*
his zeal would coft him his life.
SECTION XCVIII.
BUT the reformation breaking out like And not
the dawn amidft fuch Egyptian darknefs, J^jJ,
many errors became expofed, and many could be
abufes fuppreffed : yet with regard to put- W1
ting a force on confcience, much leaven was
fuffered to remain ; to Which, as the learned
Bohmerd obferves, the canon law, being
retained almoft every Where, not a little
contributed. Luther, indeed, was for a to
tal abolition of it ; but the lawyers defend
ed it as of great ufe for the regular courfe
and fpeedy adminiftration of juftiee, and
that befides the courts of judicature being
Ufed to the canon law, it was not without
many good and very commendable articles.
The political circumftances of thofe times,
particularly the retaining of the ufual oath,
as fomewhat facred, was another check to
farther, progrefs ; fuch being the nature of
man, that what has ftruck its roots deep
in him, as an important truth, is with great
difficultyallowed to be a common error, and
much lefs to be extirpated. SEC-

L 174 1
SECTION XCIX.
juftly op- THE reformers have juftly objected to
pofed. fjjg RomjSh Church, that it laid too great
a ftrefs. on creeds, &c, and even compelled
people to fwear to adhere to them ; by
which they became prepofterbufly raifed to
a level with the laws, and to be a judicial
fentence, determining all religious contro
versies,, according to which^ and not toth$
GoSpel; every teacher muff think and fpeak.
All this1 is corroborated by a terrible oath»
and punifhments of the difobedient. Here
it is inffantly V .DViwVtf, away "with fuch a
heretic to the flames ; whereas St. Paul by
devita means no more than avoid.
SECTION C.
Nature of ALL thefe positions, however confirmed
confer- by the canon law,, have been attacked, and
eonfutedj in numberlefs writings. It is; secy
jttftly pleaded, thatf confefEonr, forms, ca
nons-, &c. are not to be confidered as laws*
nor can be impoSed-; the nature of rehV
gious*1 controversies being4, fuch as not to be
determined per viam feptentia judiciaHs,
which belongs to God alone; but per viam
amicabilis

t 17J 1
amicabilis compofitionis ; that fuchconfeflions
do not prove' who is in the right, or who in
the wrong, but only fhews every one's opi
nion of the doctrine, and in what fenfe he
underftahds it. Now he who would freely
aflent to fuch a confeffion, and receives it
as a rule, gives it the force of a law with
tefpect to himfelf; whereas in its very na
ture it is fo far different from a law, that
the law abfolutely commands both the wil
ling and unwilling* that the law is derived
only from the fupreme power ; whereas
confejjkns are no more than a rule recom
mended for aflent and conformity, without
commanding; and the fotirce from which
they fldw is not the fupreme power, but
generally a npwer abufivety af•rumed, by the
clergy. SECTION CI.
Thefe articles were at firft generally re- p™ve£br
' witneues •
ceived, being agreeable both to reafon and
Scriptufc. All confejftons, &c. wereat firft
drawn up with this meaning, and to this
ufe. "- But to obtrude them as" laws, fa-
*" vours ftrdngly of the whore of Babylon,
" that woman fas the intrepid Luther
" openly fays in hi* notes on Zachariah) " that

t 176 3
*« that woman fitting in a bufhel, and
" cafting forms, ordinances, and fym-
" bols on the oppreffed confciences by
" bufhels-full ; but Chrift abhors all fuch
** falfe meafures and wares. Concerning
*c articles which be himfelf, in the year
" J 537* laid before the Proteftant ftates at
" Schmalkeld, he fays, that the end of
" his drawing them up, was, that on oc-
" caSion they might, if required, lay be-
ct fore the council a fummary of their
c< doctrine." , And how they afterwards
came to be fubfcribed by the minifters as
the Church's confeffion of faith, Luther
himfelf certifies ; u I have avoided making
" the articles very numerous ; the precepts
"of God himfelf relative to the Church,
" our fuperiors and families, being as
u many as we can difcharge with due ex-
" actnefs. To what purpofe then multiply
" decrees and ordinances, efpecially when
" no regard is paid to thefe capital points
" of God's own inftitution ? And thefe
" articles we are far from iffuingras flrict
" injunctions; this would be reviving the
" Popifh decretals, but only as a tefti-
" mony and declaration of our belief."
Luther very well knew that in God's word
was to be found enough, both for faith and
practice,

{ J77 1 .
practice to a well-difpofed heart ; and never'
had any fuch article as this come from his
pen, cduld he have forefeen that it would'
he impofed as a rule of faith. To the fame
¦purpofe fpeaks the famous Concordancer-
book. " They are not judicial degrees*.
" that is the prerogative of Scripture alone^
" but only teftimohies and elucidations of
" the faith." With this perfectly agrees the
Helvetic confeffion of faith, as we fhall fee in
¦ -. , . ¦¦ 1,0,. •' . i
the fequel. For a farther account of this1
matter, we refer to Lehmani acla pac. Relig;
SECTION CII.
BUT the bid artifices foon came into ^h7thcfe
-.' ..t .  •> runda-
p\iy ; of the like ftones with which that mentals
tower of Babel, demolished lately, was con- J^"^ e"
ftructed, another has been buili; of thofe from.
Very chains which coft fo much to break,
others have been forged, but indeed on a
different anvil. The Papo-Csefaria was an
abhorrence ; and what has been done ? The
*#drd is only inverted, arid a C$fard-Papia.
has been impOfed.
The irtvidfous honour of framing laws
and Compulfory oaths to' enforce religion,
the nature of which is perfect freedom, has
been reft to prince's" and fovereigns, on a
N fuppofition

[ «;.8 1
foppofition tliaf, induced by this concefliorij
they would the more zealoufly efpoufe and
fupport a reformation. Thofe very mo
tives, views, reafons, &c. which but a.
little before had been rejected as erroneous,
unjuftifiable, and pernicious, were now im
pofed as juft, neceffary, and beneficial:
for Luther himfelf at length came to be
for retaining the oath of religion. He
apprehended that the annual changes of
magiftrates in the imperial cities, and the
variable views of the princes, might im
pede the courfe of the reformation., Calvin
entertained the like apprehenfions ; and the
oath was judged to be a good fence againft
fuch accidents. Thus men, with all their
endowments, however great, are always
men ; and perhaps never does their weak-
nefs more betray itfelf, than when they are
for blending human policy with religion.
SECTION cm.
Bad con- LET us now proceed to the mifehiefs
fequences 0ccag0ned by the impofition of thefe forms.
At firft the Loci communes of the learned and
moderate Melancthon were recommended
aS a very good book ; but foont all candi
dates for holy orders were to fubfcribe to it
as

i *79 j
Ss a complete doctrine. Diflenfidns ifl-
ereafing, the fynod held at Lichtenburg in
1576 determined, that befides the three
creeds, the Augfburg confeffion, its defence,
Luther's two catechifmsj and the Smalcald
articles, fhould be received as rules. The Cori-
cordance-book, compofed by Dr. Schmied-
li, was likewife eftablifhed as a rule, and
to be indifpenfibly fworn- to; Farther,
fome country minifters afking how this
coiafld be idone with a fafe confcience, having
previously fworn to Melanethon's Loci com-
munesi which in many places difagreed with
the Concordance, Schmiedli made anfwer,
that the aflembly now abfolved them ipfo
faclo from all obligation of any former oath,
and that Melancthon being under fufpicion*
they muft reft fatisfied, and fwear again. A
poor village parfon took the liberty to re
ply* ,c Confcience Should not be laid under
" restraint 5 but we poor people, having fa-
" milies to maintain, muft take care not to
«' be turned out of our livings." On f this
occafion they feemed to have remembered
the behaviour of the popes concerning fuch
oaths, how after binding the people Strictly to
adhere to thofe laws, foon, in virtue of their
pretended power, they difcharged them from
any obligation ; no otherwife did Sclimiedli
N 2 and

[ i8o }
and two other profeffors, by means of
a prince whom they had infatuated, pro
cure, to the great fcandal of the German
Churches, an authority in matters of faith
for eftablifhing that book, which the, whofe
Roman clergy could not obtain for their
elaborate forms.
SECTION CIV.
Farther THE unreafonablenefs of thefe fob-
of it6""8 fcription's and oaths farther appears from
the many refervations in the fubfcribers*
One fubfcribed in general; others fummar
rily, fundamentally, only to the preamble, only
to this or that article conditionally ; excepting
the controverted points, with rejervatiott pf
better knowledge, as a catechumen ; others
ambiguoufly ; According to my approbation
of the foregoing articles I fubfcribe them ;
others not critice but only categorice, not
entering into particulars. All thefe excepi
tions are a plain demonstration of aggrieved
confidences, who were for healing their
wounds with this fort of plaifters. When
at length, with great labour and more finiftei?
practices, eight thoufand fignatures had been
extorted,, and thejfboafted that this inefti-
mable hook had been accepted by eight
thoufand

£ 181 ]
thoufand divines, though among this num
ber, were not a few country fchoolmaflers
and parfons of fmall villages, all proved
ineffectual : fo far were thefe devices from
fettling the concord and tranquility of the
Church, that all parts fwarmed with lam
poons, fatires, confutations, refieblions, and
admonitions ; the former by private perfons,
and the latter even by Lutheran faculties,
fynods, and communities, befides pieces of
the like nature published in England, France,
Holland, Switzerland, the Palatinate, and
elfewhere. Auguftus elector of Saxony,
under whofe wings this book had been
hatched, at length became fo afhamed both
of it and the Csrifaro-Papia, that he Sig
nified to Schmiedli never more to Shew his
face in his dominions; and the king of
Denmark, to Whom his fifter the electrefs
had fent a copy of this noted, I will not fay
celebrated, book, bound in crimfon velvet,'
ornamented with gold and filver, and eVen'
gems, committed it to the flames with his
own hand.

N * SEC.

[ l8» 3

SECTION CV.
{Hiftory of THOUGH to expofe our own faults be
yetic con- a difagreeable employment, yet regard for
feffion. truth obliges me not to conceal what has
happened among us. The .laborious Hot-
t'mger, in his Hiftory. of the .Church of
Switzerland, R. iii. L. vii.'p. 894, gives us
the following account : *{ Mr. Bulllnger
" had already in 1562 committed to paper
ff a brief fummary of the doctrines which'
*c he had preached and likewife recom-'
V* mended in writing during his life- time,
V that, on his deceafe, his family might lay
" it before thp magiftracy,. as>a teftimony
f ,' of his firm adherence to the doctrine he
',' profeffedx; jt was likewife read and ap-
" proved of by Peter Martyr.' .Being in
<e 1564 feized with the peftilence; which
tl at that time made a deplorable havock|tfa
" that hisrecovery was very doubtful, he
'.? inferted.a direction to that purpofe in his
«' will; but at the earneft prayer of. his
ct flock, God was pleafed to rerftore him ;
fl and, by a farther gracious providence,
ff this confeffion of faith was made putfhc?
*•< to the great edification of the Church.
?« Several calumnies haying been fpread
f* abroad,.

t 183 ]
" abroad, the Churches of Switzerland and
,( Geneva judged it expedient to make
C{ known the purity and holinefs of their
" doctrine in an explicit confeffion of
" faith : that pious ; prince Frederic III.
" elector- palatine, likewife defired Bul-
" linger to publifh this excellent confeffion
" both in German and Latin : for the
" elector being threatened with the ban of
" the empire at the next diet, on account
'* of his Angular op|pions, was defirous
"' that this cdnfeffipn of faith flfould; be-
" printed, as an evidence that he had no!.
" Singular opinions; but that all his fenti-
" ments were perfectly conformable to
'* thofe of the Profeftant Churches. ' After
¦" mature deliberation, the ecclefiaflics at
u Zurich, Bern, and Geneva thought it
'* proper that the other-Churches in Switz-
" erland fhould publifh this confeffion of
"* faith in their name. With thefe joined
11 Pundten, St. Gall, Biel, Muhl, Han-!
ijen, Neuenburg, SchafhauferT; and in.,
'«• 1,^,44 Bafil, Glarus, and Appenzel had
" their names inferted in it; nay, fuch
" was the reputation of this cortfeffMn of
" faith, that the Churches in Scotland,
" Hungary, Poland, and France fent for-
*^*mal letters to be admitted into the aflo-
N 4 . (j ciation.".

{ 1 84 3
'il elation. But 'it was thought better tha^
u fuch numerous communities fhould have,
*e their respective, confeffions."
S E C T I 0 N CVI.
Commen- THE Helvetic confeffion is highly ya5
i£, - • luable, as a noble memorial of the faith and
knowledge of thpfe crepufcular times; and
that.it beams with the irradiation of hea
venly wifdom equal to that of A.ugfourg, or
any other .confeffion of faith, is inconteftible,
But is not the fetting it up as a rule, and)
jmpofing it a.6 a law, with terrible oaths,.
running into the fame error as the %&•..
manifts, and juftifying the jdplatry of the,
Ifraelites in worshipping calves, left the.
people might again difperfe and go affray j
as if the conftitution of the Church could:
not fubfift. without thofe types and em-
¦ blems ? Such confeffions of faith, it feemst
muft be fet up as infallible rules of faith.; ,
' What is this but renewing Ifrael's dance,
f }4 honour of the idolized, calves?

JECTIQJj.

[ *«-s I

SECTION CVII.
§ IT is however to be obfervedv that income «¦»
11 i r rr • CeptlOBf
this juftly extolled confeffion two points toitr
were infer,ted as articles of faith; eternal
election and the facrarpent of the Lord's *
fupper, of which the ancient confeffions,
wherein falvation was alfocbtainable, make s ¦
pot the leaft mention. Thefe two points
have long been difputed with implacable
animofity ; and the wounds occafipned by
the unchristian virulence of thefe contefta
are npty rendered utterly incurable, by the
fubfequent impofition of new-fangled forms.
The oa,ths accompanying them, wreft-
ings of wprds, equivocations, difguifesj
diftinetions, dp not conceal the violence put
on confcience; the. flimfey evafions are eafily
feen through, and every fenfible Chriftian
muft allow that fuch oaths rob the divine
word pf its due honour; and the word of
man is, fubftituted as, the infallible oracle^
according to which every teacher is to ex
plain and teach the word of God. If there
be. any need of fwearing* why is it not the
holy Scripture that is fworn to ? Then
there foon would be a change, indeed, both
in words and works ; then, on the tolling of

t 1.86 ] /
of the town-houfe bell, a hateful chain^
which a little before had been thrown away
with deteftation, would be chearfully put
on again as a reputable tie.
SECTION CVIII.
Whatpro- MOST of thefe oaths owe their infti-
fwoin!S tuti°n t0 a precjpitate zeal for religion, and
are couched in fuch fevere words, that
when the commotions of the ftate come to
fubfide, and the contents are quietly fub-
mitted to, fcarce will any body undertake
to juftify the rigour of the literal fenfe of
fuch oaths. The magiftrates of all repub*
lies in general are fworn to defend the reli*
gion contained in the books of creeds ; the
clergy fwear faithfully to teach it ; the fub-
jeSls to adhere to fuch doctrine, and all of
them univerfally quietly to continue in it.
The laft is the more agreeable, many being
quite tired of examining; this oath pre-
fuppofes the party fwearing to be clearly
convinced of every fingle truth contained in
the creeds and confeffions pf faith ; for how
can he, who neither knows nor believes
thefe truths, bind himfelf by oath to adhere
to and defend them againft all contrary in
novations ? This would he engaging to
protect

[ i87 1
protect error : a moft flagitious oath," and
by its very nature invalid. On the per-
fuafion, that after diligent and laborious enT
quiry the truth had been found, was this
oath, introduced ; and to fecure the liability
of fuch a valuable acquisition, this addi
tional bond has been added. Let us now
fee whether this be a fure foundation for
fuch a fuperftructure, SECTION CIX.
WHEN at the time of the reforma- Not aP-
tion the infallibility not , only of the fee of
Rome, but likewife of the councils was
denied, the grounds of doctrine were exa
mined into ; an examination not only al
lowable but recommended by the apoftle,
Prove all things. Does this injunction con
cern only the believers of thofe times? Have
the reformers alone inherited an exclufive.
right of inquiry ? Have their followers np
claim to it ? Is it to be fuppofed; that we
having exploded the gift of infallibility, and
of celebrated councils, it has infinuated it
felf into our diets, and meetings of corpo
rations ? Binding ourfeives by oath to
maintain our eftablifhed doctrines againft
all other opinions, is attributing to the com-'
pilers

I 188 ]
pilers the fame infallibility as the Romifh
Church does* to its councils. That this-
gift of infallibility is no longer to be found,
nay, is no longer neceflary, may be proved
unanfwerably. In this oath, however, we
act as if we were in poffeffion of that? gift,
not confidering that were it really fo, we
might eafily ftate the truths contained in
our creeds and confeffions of faith in fo clear
a light, as to carry their proof with them,
and they might ftand for ever, univerfally
acknowledged and affented to, without the
¦fupport of an oath.
S ECTION CX.
Tjnrea- BUT allowing that thefe fymbols ap-
S of 1 peared infallible to Our forefathers* and they
them in confequence gave full aflent to them,
fhewed. thofe very fame fymbols muft furely ap
pear equally fo to us, before we can ra
tionally, I will not fay fwear that we will
adhere to them, but fo much as promife
our affent to them.; it being a clear cafe
with, all reflective perfonSj that truths can
be inveftigated by the underftanding only,
according to the degree of its perfpicacityi.
JTor as one fwears this cloth to be blue, but
when it is placed in a clearer light, and he
3 then

f 189 ]
then perceives it to be really green, he will
likewife believe it to be green, fhould he
have fworn over and over that it was bk»e.
How then can rulers and fubjeets fwear to
fuch truths, moft of which they have not
fufficiently examined, or perhaps not at all;
and if they have, did not understand them ;
and if they did understand them, did not
believe them ; arid if they did believe them,
how can they be certain that they Shall not
come to know better, arid confequently
have other thoughts ? Is then fo tremen
dous an oath to be taken to thofe truths
as an unalterable rule of faith ? This has
produced in many a very impious infer
ence : fince we muft fwear to fo many ar
ticles, and to examine them would fake
up our whole life, which we can turn to
better account, the beft way is to fwallow
them without any examination at all.
SECTION CXI.
BUT it is farther to be obferved, that By the
the Helvetic confeffion was originally meant S>n°a"
by our forefathers only as uteftimonial, and
not 2.. rule ; and the end of fo public a tefti*
mony was to clear themfelves from the re
proach of herefy, And they were nptfo
unalterably

Bhaltefably perfuaded of the truths therein
contained as certain and infallible doctrines^
elfe they would not have added : " If any
c< one can from the word of God put us
•«' into a better way, we are, under the
<c Lord's guidance, open to conviction,
" and will readily defer to him/' They,
according to the prophet's prpmife, ex-
jTeeted flill better times; an increafe of
knowledge, a clearer light, an effufion of
the gifts of ' the Holy Ghofl. They
very prudently did not fet up to have re
ceived all the gifts from that fountain of
living waters which will never be dried
up ; whereas, according to the constitution
we have fworn to, a growth in knowledge
is to be dreaded as hurtful. What elfe
can be meant by fo quietly adhering to that
conftitution ?
SECTION CXII.
Bythena- HEREBY the very nature of our
iaws.'°f " fyiahblical books lis altered; they are
impofed as laws, though they cannot be
an object of laws; for all human laws
relate to the agenda, and not to the cre-
denda : they direct the occupations of
men, and their transactions with one an*
other,

[ MM 1
other, and not their conceptions and opi* t
nions ; they take cognizance of externals,
and not internals. To order that the hea
venly truths fhall be underftood according
to this or that fyftem, is equally abfurd and
tyrannical. The ken of the moft pCne*
trating is but of fmall extent ; and as the
eye ftands in need of fight to difcern an ob
ject, fo even the moft clear- fighted fland
in need of the light of the Holy Ghofl j
which is a gift independent of any power
of ours. SECTION CXIII.
DO not princes take too much upon By the in-
them, in binding themfelves and their fob- tencTof
jects by oaths to fuch rules of faith?' asr°fc"-
having never received the key for opening
hearts, Acts ii. this belongs to God alone.
The emperor Maximilian II. calls this in-
trufive power a peft, a horrible villainy, an
infolent invafion of God's fovereignty.
Might not our Saviour, had he approved of
oaths, with much better reafons have ap
pointed that his heavenly doctrines fhould
be fworn to, as laid down with fuch me
thod and perfpicuity? In a free city it
muft be allowed that the fubjeets nevermade

made a furrender of their ideas and fentf-
ments to the magiftrates : it is not in their
power to be guilty of fuch a monftfottS
abafement. To imagine the contrary, is a
brutifh Stupidity. It is evident from reafon
and the nature of government, that rulers
have no other power than what relates to
the temporal welfare and tranquility of the
ftate. A popular adminiftration will in
deed find no difficulty in leading the people
like a flock, yet will they not be driven',
nor in religious' matters any farther clofe
with the prefcribed ordinances and rules-
than as they believe them to be right.
SECTION CXIV.
No in- I' WHY did not our Saviour fwear his
ftance difciples on commiffioning them to prdpa-
i„erthe gate his doctrines ? Who will offer to fey,
Gofpel. that Chrift, who founded religion in. his
own blood, was not infinitely more con
cerned for its purity -and propagation i than
any magistrate, ruler, or fovereign ? Yet
no religious oath did he prefcribe j thereby
giving us to understand that at the laft day
it is not fo much according to our opinions'
as our adtioPs that he will judge us. From
him we know that &free affent is effential. to

f *93 3
to religion. God requires the heart •, and the
impofition of forms and rules is fubverfive of
religion. Excellently is it faid by Tertul
lian, Humani juris ac poteftatis naturalk
efi, uhicuique quod putaverit, colere. Nee
alii obeft, aut prodeft alterius religio. Sed
nee religionis efi cogere religionem, qua.
fponte fufcipi debeat, non, vi, cum et h<fti<2
ab animo libenti . expoftulentur : This is
likewife beautifully difcuffed by the cele
brated Noodt, in his Differt. de Relig. ab
imp. jure gentium libera.
SECTION CXV.
THIS oath muft neceffarily prevent a TheScn'p-
blind implicit' faith, which our Helvetic ^smJeft
confeffion juftly treats with contempt. For would
if our ideas of divine truths muft be model- 1^.
led according to, this confeffion, to whatpur-
pofe do we bufy ourfeives in enquiries after
truths ? The profeffors in univerfities muft
compofe their lectures and explain the holy
Scripture according to this' rule ; and thus
Scripture, the original rule, is degraded,
and made fubject to human pofitions ; and
fuch explanations the fcholars muft em
brace as irrefragably orthodox : truth or
falfehood, light or darknefs, muft be fought
O for

t *94 I
for in geography. What is true on this
fide of the mountain on the 'other fide is
falfe ; they are not to ufe their own eyes,
or diflihguiih with their own judgment.
Their profeflbr, and he muft not be con-^
tradicted, tells them what is white or blade,
their own eyes are quite out of the queftion;
like Ifrael of old, they muft depend on the
lips of their priefts, though Jefus has graei-
oufly eafed the believers' of the New Tefla?
iment from fuch a yofee, and, if our floth will
allow us to prove all things, has- promifed
that we fhall have an unction from above
which will teach us all things, and. lead us
into truth. That great Englifh luminary
Locke brings in the count de Grammont
talking in this manner : " Why. would ye
*( have me prove every thing, and hold faft
" that which is good ? Rather give me a
."-¦ lift of the doctrines, which you believe
*' to be contained in that facred book.
Why am I to hunt for them in the holy
" Scriptures, where, after all, perhaps I Shall
*f Pot meet With them ; Since I am equally
" obliged to believe them, find them or
*' not?" Believed they abfolutely muft be ;
and fuch a proceeding cannot clear itfelf
from the charge offeree: for if anyone
entertains fcruples, and cannot bring him felf

C(

felf to fwear to all in the lump, fomd
particulars, Pot very far from fundamen
tals, n6t appearing to him in full evi
dence, all he has to do is to bury his ta
lent, efpecially in republican governments,
where fuch a confcientious refufal to fwear
excludes him from ahy preferment, though
unexceptionably capable of doing very good
fervices either in church 'or ftate; at leaft
mubh better than thdfe ready fwearef s, who
have no other merit than laying their reafon
and confcience at the feet of form and cuf
tom, little minding what and to what they
fwear. To have" more confcience than the
common flandafd is not allowed. Now to
a man of fpirit what Cari.be a greater heart
breaking than to fee himfelf rejected as an
ufelefs member ? If this be not compulsion
and' force, words 'have" loft their proper
import. . S ECTION CXVI.
BUT a conformift, unlefs his con-To n*
Science be doubly feared, will never bring
himfelf to teach principles which he in
his own heart judges to be erroneous.
An ecclefiaftic "with any fenfe of reli
gion -accounts' himfelf hound to preach"
O 2 only

{ i96 1
only the truth. But. if bound by oath to
teach that which he cannot own as a truth,
he immediately concludes, and not amifs,
that an oath can be no bond of iniquity.
And what courfe then does he take ? All
points of doctrine which he cannot digeft
he omits, and thofe which cannot be iritirely
omitted he difguifes in fuch high-flown and
equivocal phrafeology, that his hearers Shall
adrnire his erudition, though they do not
understand him ; or, pretending that doc
trines are too fublime for common capaci
ties, he deals only in morality, and tinVfo
fuperficially, wanting the folid foundajHen
of faith, that it is the fame thing whether
he took hia text from St. Paul's or Tully's
epiftles. But is this teaching the Helvetic
confeffion agreeably to the oath? And that;
the end of this oath is very far from being
anfwered by thefe impofitions and fubteiK?
fuges, the frequent religious combuftions
do too evidently evince. But we fhall not
open the wounds of our bleeding country;
an apoftolical teacher, however, goes -on:
his way, keeps to his mafter's instructions,
like the blefled reformers, who little trOus
bled themfelves about being exclaimBrA.
againft as perjured ; fenfible that the tranf-
greffing this irrational oath would do more
good,

[ i97 1
good, promote truth, and' explode fuperfti
tion, more than the ftricteft adherence to its
literal import. S ECTION CXVII,
BUT this abfurd religious oath is pre?- The „
• , „'.,, 6 ., ' i • ; .greateft
nant with a ftill greater evil, not only as evil.
precluding all accefs to thofe glorious truths
promifed us in the laft times; it is farther a
terrible incentive tp tread under foot the
moft facred duties of religion, and under the
pretence of religion, to commit the moft
crying iniquities, and moft unnatural bar
barities. It is ufed by the great as a man
tle to cover every wicked view, and pal
liate their crimes, juft as if they did God
particular fervice thereby; Under this pre
tence it was that the Jews, after putting
our Saviour to death in fo horrible a man
ner, pleaded their having fworn to maintain
their religion. This is the poifonous fpring
from which foon gu Shed out that torrent of
evils, which have filled the Church of
God with fuch fuperftition and difcord, and
fuch perfections and convulfions. Hence
it is that Europe has been embrued with*
the blood of fo many millions ; and, oh t
that our dear Country had not been ftained
O 3 with

[ i98 ]
with/the carnage, The evils which have
arifen from this .oath Stand recorded in hif
tory ; but what good it has done, is ftill to
be fought for, and never to be found.
Breaches it has rendered quite incurable ;
fo that all the meafures of good princes to
wards an union or reconciliation have proved
abortive. SECTION CXVIII.
Other / IT feems to be quite out of mind, that
f the Church is a community of weak and
ailing perfons, the greater part of whom
are not either well grounded in virtue or
knowledge, nor their understandings fo
thoroughly difcerning, but amidft all their
good purpofes ¦, they, frequently falL into er
rors, and overfights. Such wea£ perfons
are to bef treated with, a forbearing corn-,
paffion and, prudent charity. . The bruifed
reed is not to be immediately broken. ; We
are not tp invejghagainftXueha& pernicious
fectarie§,and hypocrites, and muehJefs .not,
Ip abufe andn^pjeft them as.political heretics.
If they behave? like goop. citizens, if they
quietly conform to, the laws, and fhew, aj
•readinef§ to lay dowptife, and fortupq for
their coHptry's good, fp far. from;,l?eing ex
pofed

I '99 ]
pofed to the outrages of the licentious,
they deferve protection and favour ; other-
wife, indeed, there is an end of the tie
between fovereign and fubject. Suppofe?
fuch well-meaning but weak perfons un
happily milled, do ndt attend the divine or
dinances, or even refufe to take the im
precatory oath, this does not bring therriT
under an outlawry; they ftill continue fub
jeets, and whilft fuch, they are intitled to<
protection. Oh, but they caufe confufion
in Ifrael, and the magifirate has a right to
punifh and fupprefs them as actual enemies
to: the conftitution of the Church. This"
old wile of the ferpent has been long fince
difepvered ; it is a thread- bare charge,
which it is high time to lay afide. The
impious Jews perfecuted and put to death
the prophets as incendiaries, asfeetaries, not
as God's prophets and holy men. Were it
not for the leaven of this religions oath ' no
fuch eruptions of falfe zeal would be
known. Luther fays in plain terms;
" They who conduct fuch affairs are ge-
" nerally wanting in charity, patience, and
<€ prudence ; and thus are more inclined to
'»' cut the knot than untie it. It is eafier to
" draw up a rule on paper, with an order
** for thofe who will not conform to it to
O 4 l[ quit

£ 200 ]
" quit the country, than tofotjaboutinftmetic
c« ipg them in a better way; of thinking;'' -i
Another abufe, isj/thathe who come6
over tp pur religion muft abjure his former
faith. : Now. if , this relates to opinions* it-
is not only fuperfluous but even for&ethjrjgi
abford. For where truth takes place, error
muft neceflarily vaniih, light and darknefs
being incompatible ; fo that here the oajfch*
is pointed at a non-entity, juft as if a town
Should, after the fiege is raifed, ftilf fire its
cannon at the enemy, who are qui«e withi
drawn. But if , error be ftill cherifhed;;
notwithstanding this outward abjuration*
the adminiftering'foch an oath is an injtu-y
to confcience beyond any apology or pal*
.hative. , SECTION CXIX.
. / ,-. -:
Not to be THE religious oath, on whatever fide
vindie'at- viewed, Stands upon a fandy foundatitsra.
Its ver^ fundamental hypothesis' has 'fome
thing contradictory in it, as will- appear tb
the plainest understanding. Articles of faith
are propofed to us, and finding them agree
able to Scripture,, we affent to them ; but
this will not do, we muft likewife fwear*
How fuch an inference is dedueible from
') reafon,

[ 201 ]
reafon, I do not fee. But are':we bound
to aflent to truths ? Certainly, we cannot
but aflent. Why then we Should take an
path to the Scripture, the pure fountain of
truth, and not to the inftitutions of fal-
lible man. Farther, if this aflent be
Sincere, if we really believe in thefe arti
cles, (I fpeak here of historical faith), then
the underftanding is fo fully imjpreffed with
them, that to fwear to them is as need-
lefs as to fwear that twice two make four.
It is impoffible not to aflent to a mahifeft
truth, and error can never be efpoufed" as
error : but this historical faith is the product
only of reafon and reflection, a very variable
conception. Now allowing that our impre
catory oaths could be juftified, how can a
bare memorial, an idea be made the founda
tion of an pbligatory oath ? But if we believe
that the truths affented to make us free and
happy, then not only our underftanding but
our heart is impreffed, and we fhould fa?
ther fluke out all its blood than forfake
thefe truths. The tie pf an oath is then
juft as neceflary as to fecure the head to the
neck with a firing, of bfrid foul arid body
together1; and no leSt abfurd is' it than to
compel one who fees the fun to fwear that
he fees light and not darknefs. But how if
there

[ 20 2 }
there be neither affent nor faith, which yet.
the hypotheCs* neceffarily requires, elfe the
religious oath k totally without any manner
of ground or foundation; and what can be.
aliedged in its behalf ?' Yet is this the cafe-
of the generality. Who ever encourages
them to feek after truth ? yet it is this' only
which can produce a rational affent. They
f«rear to maintain the form and externals'
of their national religion, not religion it
felf, and to continue in them; and this
purely from cuftom, without stay convic
tion of the truth. Thus by this oath is
; fet up art idol, which, by the bulk of the
people, is worShippedas an unknown god,,
without, one fingle thought about the real
efience of our holy religion.
S E'C'TI O N dXX.
Obje&iony IMPARTIALITY requires that we
ffiould hear what is brought in vindication
of this oath. Multitudes of innovators
have been known to promulgate their chi
meras, vand' never fail bringing' in the facred
Scriptures in proof of them. Now a rule
is. neceflary to prevent all fuch deceptions
v and pervertings of Scripture • elfe we Shall
be totally at a lofs where to fet our foot :
this,

E w I
this,, it is apprehended, would pccafion
gr(eafe copfufions and broils in church and
|tat,e. The hiftory of all ages fhews reli
gious differences among the fubjeets to be
big with the greateft evils, A frantic zeal
breaks loofe, and tramples down every bar
rier human and divine.
S E C T ION CXXL
A DIFFERENCE of opinions,, in itfelf, Confuta-
is no more productive of confufion and"0110* "•
rancpur than a difference of faces. It does
pot in the leaft of itfelf affect the public
tranquillity. Society may ftill fubfift in thq
moft amiable harmony ; whilft the royal
precept pf love has its due weight, never will
opinions. breed a tumultuous djfcord.
(;ift) No confeffions and rules- will .place
the heavenly truths in rnore order and
¦ clea^peis than has been done by Chrift and
hia apoftles. If the former darkened; and
wrongly explained the facred doctrines, no-
.thing better is to be expected; in our days j,
god incfefence pf their errors the authors
will-appeal tP thpfe confeffions as to the
hpjy Scripture. Of this we have given a
notable, inftance in -Section xciv. Thus.
there, w^ll -always be fome frefh rules, .adding, to

[ 204 ]
to the ancient, frTheLTays of light? though
hurtful to blearednefs, quicken the found
eye. He who is well difpofed to truth will
find it in the Scripture ; but he who means
only to make a r wrong ufe of it, or to tra
duce it, will, fpider-like, find nothing but
poifon, where the bee fucks honey.
(zdly) The holy Scripture : is and ever
muft be the infallible rule ; by this we muft
ftedfaftly abide. Curfed be that execrable
error, that the holy Scripture is like a nofe of
wax, to be twifled any way; yet by fafhionr
ing and moulding its import and fenfe to our
confeffions, we do in fact what we fo juftly
cenfure in words.
(3dly) Far be it from us to fay or think
that the Helvetic confeffion ought to be laid
- afide. On the contrary, we hold and af
firm it to be a valuable gem, a noble me
morial of our faith : to erect it into a law,
is abufing it, is altering its very nature;
but in fwearing to it, we fink back into that;
-mire of fuperftition, to emerge from which :
coft our anceftors fuch heroic labours.^
God in- (4thly) An apprehenfion of troubles im-
imagining pending over the Church is no warrant for,
it to be making,: ufe 0f unlawful means to 'avert this .
the guar- ° < , •
dian of fuppofed danger. To attribute the prefcryatioa t
truth. Q£ jjjg Church to our inventive prudence,
:..-.. is

{ 205 1
is gratifying our pride fedeed.^ Me. who*
gave us the promife, and has hitherto kept
it unexceptionably, : that the gates pf hell
fhould not prevail againft it, has power fuf
ficient to fecure it as the apple of his eye ;
independently of any inftitutions of ours,
his honour is concerned to make good his
promifes. In a proper liberty of confcience
there is nothing of that danger which peo
ple imagine. To what did ancient Rome
owe its unparalleled greatnefs? It allowed
every fubdued nation the free ufe of their
religion ; it tolerated all feets, which,
amidft fuch a variety of opinions,- could not
eafily have attempted any thing againft the
ftate, had they been fo difpofed. Of the
benefits of toleration, and the confiftency of
religious differences with quiet and friend-
linefs, we have a convincing inftance in
Holland, as that wife flatefman prince Wil
liam of Orange ftrongly reprefented tp the
Proteftant cantons. If the fovereign holds
the ballance equal among all fects, without
a partial favour to any, little is to be appre
hended; but if he puts .himfelf likewife
into the fcale, and fides with one or other
of the parties, and is for giving it an un
due weight, this indeed naturally brings on
troubles; for the opprefled party will have
recourfe

[ 206 ]
recourfe to any means for its deliverance.
This truth France has Sealed with its blood,
and Stands a convincing document to att
fovereigns. SECTION CXXII.
How has IF an oath of religion be admiffible, the
fecurity ^ t;me 0f fac reformation afforded fome fpe-
 ciouS excufes for it, considering how very
critical all circumftances were at that junc
ture ; however, to have adhered to the ex
ample of the apoftles,* had been better.
Jeroboam's policy was for bringing people
to be all of one mind, as a great ftrength-
ening to himfelf ahd his kingdom ;( and
what was the confequence ? He loft all, and
left this terrible charge on his memory,
that be caujed Ifrael to Jin. In the. firft
council of Jerufalem was difcufled this im*
portant queftion, Whether' circumcifion was
neceffary to falvation' ? The apoftles indif*
putably had a better right than either fa
thers or reformers to decide controverfies by
their bare authority, and abfolutely to en--
join that every one* Should govern himfelf
in opinion and practice according to their
rule. But how did they proceed ? Know*
ing what valuable privileges the faithful are
n*vii»2 intitled

[ 207* il
intitled to in the new covenant, they called
together the whole multitude oti both fidesl
Peter opened the debate with proving the
negative from Scripture, as the revealed
will of God concerning the falvatibn of the
Gentiles, He was fecopded by Paul and
Barnabas, who related how eminently their
preaching had been blefled among the Gen
tiles. James likewife declares it not ne
ceflary ; at length nobody offered any thing
farther in defence of -circumcifion. Here
upon, fome other points were added to this,
and 'recommended to the brethren, Jews
and Gentiles, for a bond of union. Here
was regularity, miidnef$, apd candour,
inftead, of imperioufnefs, colluflon, and
wrangling. The things difoufftd.were.ndt
unneceflary tenets, but eflentials of religion :
the queftion was not how one. was toibeak
pr write, but what one. was to do or for beah
Here was no judicial fentence, but a bro
therly admonition ; no impofition of daths,
truth wants no fuch props, but a plain
f ecpmmendation. of what the brethren had
agreed to.. Is. this manner of proceeding
top open, and fimple for our times.? Wilt
the prefent way of oaths and anathemas
go farther ? Muft religion of neqeffity be
modelled into a political form? Has not
perpetual

t ms ]
perpetual experience evinced; that-. by -this
fame path, not only the end in view never
has and never can be attained ; but, on the
contrary, religion is Stabbed in its very
vitals. Why then does this projecting world
fnarl fo agaipft any propofal for reviving the
fuccefsful pattern fet us by the apoftles, and
delivering the Church of God from this
Oppreffive oath ?
SECTION CXXIII.
Common a GENERAL erfor, efpecially in re
publics, is, that rulers. overlooktherealfpring
of all our adtipps, fubftituting in its ftead a
multitude of oaths relating to numbetlefs
duties, arid of which many cannot be fo much
as the object of an oath, as in our religion-
oath ; and this teaches us that the facred
prerogative of rulers, fuffers by a wrong" cuf
tom. The power given them by God and
the people, the care of the . laws, the
maintenance and execution of them,, their
authority over the fubjeets, namely, to or
der, and, in cafe of difobedience, to punifh;
this, and not the oath, is what fecures the
facred rights of rulers ; this, and not the
oath, produces obedience in the fubjeets j
this, and not the path, is the real fpring by
i which

I *«*9 1
which dhe ftate is kept in* its pro^ri&blAo'a ;
-and laftly, it is this, and not the oath, which
caufes the refpective duties' of Superiors and
inferiors to be carefully ofoferyed. '
SECT 10 N CXXIV.
. THE fovereign power mayteonfiftently V°ca£
propofe the Helvetic confojSBon to a candi
date for holy orders, as a teftimony of our
belief. If it agrees wkh his religious fen-
timents, he will perceive himfelf bound by
his own confcience fakh#a)lly to "preach the
doctrines, contained in k ; and his promising
this, qualifies him for admiffion, when he
may be admoniihed againft broaching new
opinions ; but there ". is no occSfion for
fwearing him to confirm his promifej the
certain deprivation attending any flagrant
breach of it, will naturally keep him pn bis
guard. If he takes upon him to promulgate
'Strange doctrines, which cannot long tie
concealed, he Should from that time bfe-
liable to be Sued for the amount of the
whole •falary he has received, and be farther
punifhed, according as his cafe fhall appear.
Kow here this innovator has no caufe of
complaint, having -been admitted into or*-
P der* '

I 2IO ]
ders on conditions which he has vio
lated; and thus broken a capital duty of fo
ciety ; fo that he may juftly be expelled, no
fociety bejng obliged to continue in office,
efpecially if ecclefiaftical, one who has
pountervened his moft folemn engagements,
If, as civilians hold, an oath is not to be
admitted whilft the end can be obtained by
pther means, this fufneiently Shews that the
religious oath ought to be abrogated, out
of reverence to the Peity ; and the rather,
as truth is able to defend itfelf, and wants
po armed champions; this is a funda
mental article among the very Maha»
metans. SECTION CXXV.
NOW he who is not wilfully blind will
clearly fee that the. fupreme power, by this
.method, would have confulted its intereft
better than by impofing oaths ; of which'
another evil is, that even worthy divines,
as they muft fwear to whole volumes, are,
enfnared thereby. The foregoing method ^
befides its conformity to primitive Chriftir
anity, is Hkewjfe better adapted to govern
ment, and may expect the divine bleffing *f

in a word, allreligfous compulfion deftroys
the effence of religion. ;I cannot, with *
any thing of a- good grace, require of the
fovereign that he fhall be more concerned
for; my welfare than I myfelf. Ir I take
a fdurhey to. Jerufalem, what is it to hini
whether. I go. on ftilts, on footor.on horfe-
back, by land or by water, in white or
black clothes, and what kinds of refresh
ments I ufe by the way, whether fkfh or
herbs, water or wine ? If I do but reach
Jerufalem, that is the point! It is not
forms and opinions that, will carry one thi
ther t unlefs I myfelf fet the beft foot for
ward, I fhall only be where I was with all
my Sovereign's fpecious ordinances.
SECTION CXXVI.
, I HAVE frequently wondered within 9ondfu"h
myfelf that our fovereigns fhould, make it whole Ef-
matter of fuch, indifference, whether theim-^'
precatory oath be afuccefsful method for pre-
Jfrving due fubordinaiion, and promoting the
welfare of the ftate f Amidft all their at
tention, and that to matters of fmall im
portance, amidft their unwearied labours
for the fafety and welfare of the State in
P 2 other

f V* 1
other refpetts, why fo very remits in fo
very intereftipg an article ? ftrange force of
cuftom 1 So important is this queftion, that
•aU others ftipj^ld he fet afide till it was folly
determined. On this, depends then: own
welfare, and that of many thoufands ; on
this may depend Sternal hlifs, or eternal
mifery I
SECTION CXXVH.
Man's TO avoid evil* and purfoe good, is the
chief aim Qnjy fayy pf flftture, and deeply is it im-
planted in ^eheacts of all men. This is
a fundamental .truth ; all others may be
controverted, to this univerfal experience
bears witnefs. This is real felf-intereft,,
the mptiye of every man's whofe conduct;
this gave fife to that compact among them,
th*xt forpe feU command, and others obey.
The fcope of bpth is the fame, the im
provement of perfonal and general welfare.
This is the fpurce from whence all govern
ments derive their being. The iupgriors,.
on their inftitutipn,, received a power to
make Salutary laws, and fecure temporal
welfare by the execution of them ; the
•ppjnt on which rulers fhoujd .conftanth/ keep

t *n i
keep their eye, and maintain thofe falutary
Jaws in proper rform, as the fupports pf na
tional welfare. By way of ftrengthening
thefe meafis, ah oath was invented ;- and
at firft not much fault was to be found*
with k ;; a body, however, which flood in
Heed of fuch phyfic, could not be fuppofed)
v ery found. But this phyfic is now dege.'
aerated intb a deadly poifon. Very fcan^
daldus abufe-i of the oaths foon appeared. •<?•
ift, Numberlefs dfltkfs^ to keep alf
»*which it Was impoffible, and by no means'
qbjeets of, an; oath, werb fworn to.
zdly, This fwearing wa^impdfeeV and
wkh cterrral.f imprecations* on OnfeV felf.
Now thefe beat* no proporti6n, have nb-
relation to temporal well-being) which' is
all that Comes within the verge pf gdvertf-
taerit ; no more proportion than'a halfpenny
to all the riches of the worldy than a day
to eternity.

P 3 SEC-

I 2*4 I
SECTION 'CXXVTII.
'ft ¦ .. -
.METHINKS I fee Chrift's favourite*
le come .up from the regions of the,
dead on a fwearing- day," and' repair to the
fen ate- houfe, o where the fathers of ourr
country are, affembled. Their .grave and
devout looks fufficiently fhew that matters
qf high concernment are in hand; The
fpectacle awakens John's whole attention ;
he hears a multitude of duties; laws, Ordiv
nances, commands, prohibitions^ ftatutes^
conftitutions* all. read over with a formal,
audible voice, and fo juft ahd proper, fo
adapted to the. good of fociety, and the
perfonal welfare of individuals, that every
one. fhould take a delight to live up to thpfe
injunctions, not only for confcience-fake*
but for his own particular benefit. The
benevolent difciple overflows with joy, and
with a gratulatory warmth cries out, Behold
how they love one another ! But foon is
this rapture interrupted by an imprecatory
murmur ; all the affembly confufedly
fwearing to live according to thofe in
junctions, and that on their failure, the
hands which they lift up may be blafted by

[ "5 ]
by fire- from' heaven, their tongues inay
rot in their mouths, thek eyes may ne
ver more fee the light, their ears Wb
their hearing, the thunder may crra-fh
their teeth, their limbs may drop afim-
der, and their efttrails hbrft amidft the
moft eifsqutfite -tbirturssi l How deeply is
John's; tender ?foul pierced at fuch ;a 'fcemre !
It brings to his mind the ohdurare Jews
at the crucifixion of our blefled Jefks
calling aloud for a curfe, His blood be upon
us and our children; and on them it has
been near two thoufand years. Have they
not been dreadfully vifited for their impre
cation ? The fears of it are ftill to be feen
in them ; they are no longer a people. He
fhudders to hear them invoke the God of
juftiee, that if they fail in thefe duties,
they may be excluded from all mercy,
even at the laft gafp, apd aU the vials of
divine juftiee may be poured on their guilty
heads ! He fhudders to hear poof mortals
fubject themfelves to the worm that never
dieth, to the unquenchable fire, and the
torturing fmoke, which afcendeth up for
ever and ever ! Here compaffionate tears
ftream down his cheeks ; his heart melts
with grief; it is with faultering accents
P 4 ~ that

[ 216 J
that he utters thefe few words: What
rancour is this in the children of men ! At
the conclufioh he hears that God, whofe
tender mercies are over all his works, will
execute thefe curfes. This he could not
fland ; and fighing out, O pitying love!
oh, immenfe clemency! — he haftily re
turned to the regions of death, as much
more eligible than to behold fo fhocking a
fcene.
The good fear not for truth f exprefs their zeal, „
And truth's defence promotes the public weal.

F I N I S.