will not pardon thy old ones not passe by thy former transgressions Secondly compare thy great unthankfulness with thy Makers bounty and goodness this may beget in thee a detestation or loathing of thy former sins and lewdnesse whereby thou didst reject Gods commands who if thou servest Him will save thee and obeyedst the Devils suggestions who will for thy service everlastingly torment thee When thou hast attain'd to this the first and best ingredient of Repentance a Detestation of thy former impieties as Cursing Swearing Lying and the like then draw near to the Throne of Grace meekly upon thy bended knees with teares in thine eyes and sorrow in thy heart saying with blind Bartimaeus in the Gospel Mark 10.48 Jesu thou Son of David have mercy on me forgive me all my sins past whereby thy holy name has been dishonour'd thy word ill spoken of and my Neighbour injur'd When thou hast thus made thy approach to God with hearty sorrow for thy sins doubt not but that he will draw near to thee with mercy and forgiveness Jam. 4.8 doubt not of a pardon since Truth itself has made the promise Ezek. 18.27 28. Ezek. 18. When the wicked turneth away from his wickednesse c. Because he considereth and turneth away from all his wickednesse which he hath committed he shall surely live he shall not dye he meanes the death of the Soul which is an eternal separation of it from God the fountain of joy and happiness which in the Word are implyed under the name of life He shall surely live he shall not dye a sweet and gracious promise distrust not Gods performance of it if thou truly repentest Daturus est non fallet quia veritas promisit ask and thou shalt receive Aug. for he that is most true will perform what he has promised because he will not he cannot deceive nor be deceived And thus relying upon his gracious promise of hearing and granting our devout Prayers and Petitions our humble requests for his pardoning and purifying grace in the third place beg earnestly of him the assistance of the same grace which is likewise preventing and strengthning to keep thy tongue from all profanenesse cry with holy David Psal 141 3. Set a watch O Lord before my mouth and keep the door of my lips From which humble request of the Prophet we may collect this that as our lips in that they open and shut are the Souls gate through which our inward thoughts break forth apparel'd in the dresse of outward words so as a gate is for the most part shut our lips should never open but to the glory of God and our Neighbours good 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. This by the way 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is a learned Rabbies glosse on the Text. Now if you demand what kind of watch it is which David desires God to set before his lips the acute Eusebius Emissenus shall answer this Quaere Euseb Homil cont diversa vitia p. 138. and clear this doubt Si cordi statueris adhibere custodiam ori non laborâris imponere disciplinam i.e. set a watch to guard thy heart and there will be no need to fence thy mouth Illud siquidem voce depromitur quod prius in officinâ cordis formatur The heart is as it were the Master of the Mint which first sets a stamp upon thy words which are current if they bear Gods image if they carry in their sound the note or mark of Piety and goodness if otherwise i.e. if they be profane and impious they are not allowed of by God being condemned in the holy Scriptures The Tongue is the Hearts servant Mat. 12.36 37. which like that Centurion saies to the Tongue by a kind of command Speak this and it speaks it Run in the Praises of God and it runneth Swear and it sweareth Say nothing and it is silent The Tongue is but as the hammer in the Clock which strikes not of it self but keeps time and moves according to the motion of the wheels within The VI. Gen. part The method which is to be used in the Cure To cure then the unbridled motion of the Tongue begin with the Heart the which if it be as Davids was fixed upon God Psal 108.1 the tongue will cease to lash out into Cursing and Swearing but will as it followes there in the same verse sing and give praise to God for his manifold mercies and blessings which we have received By the heart as hath been explain'd is to be understood the whole Soul which is fixed and setled upon God when it seriously considers his Almighty wonder-working Power and Greatness who created out of nothing this great Universe consisting of Heaven and Earth by his powerful word and sustaines all things in being by his providence This Meditation is an act of the Intellect and may beget in us an awfull fear of his Majesty which ought to be feared The will is fixed upon God when considering and weighing his many and great benefits we devote our selves wholy to his service submitting our wills to him in all things loving him without wavering praise him without ceasing for his mercy goodness And lastly the Affections are fixed upon God when they wander not through loose desires of fading earthly vanities but are chiefly taken up and possessed with an holy delight in God and his Saints on Earth and fed with a firme hope of enjoying Gods presence of seeing Him one day face to face in his Celestial Paradise This Hope is not a barren grace but begets in a man a religious Care not to offend God and to abstain from any the least Sin to which his Nature is most prone because it may lead him into other sins and separate him from the love of God and at last procure his everlasting banishment from those joyes which he believes are unspeakable and hopes to enjoy in the glorious presence of the blessed Trinity together with the blessed Angels and company of the elect Saints to all eternity Which most happy and joyful Fellowship rather then he would lose a good Christian if he were put to his disposall would choose to suffer all the most exquisite torments that ever have been invented by the bloody wit of Tyrants nay he would rather sustain for many thousand yeares even Hells paines Let fire and wild beasts racks and strapadoes yea and all the torments of Hell seize upon me and torment me so I may win Christ it is the triumphant saying of Ignatius the martyr recorded by Eusebius This holy martyrs brest burnt with a love of God and a desire of Heavens happinesse That love caus'd him to feare nothing but Gods displeasure which followes upon our sins by means whereof he might be deprived of everlasting joyes and debarr'd from the enjoyment of Gods most glorious presence In a word the soul that hopes to attain Heaven and desires to reign there for ever with God will
that is religious works in the soule these three effects First expulsionem peccati Hugâ— Secondly executionem boni Thirdly conservationem boni propositi i. e. It drives out of the soul and keeps out sin it stirs us up to the practice of piety and Godliness and lastly it causeth us to maintain and cherish our good purposes of serving God in holinesse and righteousnesse It is therefore call'd by Parisiensis Lib. de moribus c. 2. Janitor cordis the door-keeper of the heart Ipsum Infernum pro nodosâ clavâ vibrans holding ever as it were a ragged Staff in its hand to knock down and kill the very first motions of sin in the Soul and that Club or Staff is Hell or the frequent consideration and remembrance of those everlasting torments which are prepared for the Devil and his associates who combine with him in wickednesse for profane Rabshakehs and cursing Shimeies for Whoremongers for Adulterers for Lyars and common Swearers between whom and Hells everlasting torments there is but a small partition nothing but a weak and slender thred of a * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. brittle frail and momentanie life the which when God shall cut with the Sword of his incens'd Justice they shall drop into Topheth that bottomless pit of Hell where the everlasting wheel of their unsufferable torments shall run continually turning about without ceasing from ten thousand years to an hundred thousand after which shall succeed so many millions as there be sands upon the Sea-shore or have fallen drops of Rain since the beginning of the World after all which ten hundred thousand thousands of years expir'd the damn'd Souls in Hell would think themselves happy if they then might have a release from their paines and torments But there is an irrevocable sentence of Almighty God and a For ever and ever annexed to that Decree which shuts out all hopes of Ease and Comfort O I could wish that men would in time often meditate on the grievousness and everlasting continuance of those torments that so they might prevent them by their seasonable and unfeigned repentance To suffer pains and torments and that too everlastingly is a thing to humane nature which delights in ease and pleasure so horrible and grievous that if there were but one among all the Sons and Daughters of Adam that should suffer this-wise in Hell it were enough to make us all quake and tremble and to say within our selves as Christs Disciples did when he told them that one of them should betray Him Is it I Is it I And let me say to thee as Nathan said to David Mat. 26.22 2 Sam. 12.7 Thou art the man thou art he that shall suffer thus to all Eternity whoever thou art that persistest in any sin without remorse of Conscience without any sense or feeling of thy sins committed against so great and terrible a God whom the glorious Angels do worship with an awful Reverence chanting out evermore this joyful and triumphant Hymn Blessing Glory Wisdom Rev. 7.12 and Thanksgiving and Honour and Power and Might be unto our God for ever and ever And that thou mayest after death have a part or communion in this Celestial Angelical Quire and not howl and cry in the Devils Chappel beneath amidst that Infernal and black Chorus of dark Fiends and Reprobates labour betimes by an holy meditation of Gods infinite Power Majesty and Greatnesse together with his great Mercy and Goodnesse to settle the Fear of Him in thy Heart and Conscience 2 King 12. 2 Chr. 24. ver 2. As Joash prospered so long as Jehoiada lived and was his Counseller in like manner so long as the Fear of God resides in thy trembling Soul thou shalt go on and prosper in the wayes of Godlinesse and be freed from the perpetration or committing of many foul enormous sins To conclude this particular love and delight in God as a most indulgent loving Father dread Him as a most just terrible Judge whose Power is irresistible and his Justice implacable against impenitent obdurate Malefactors If thy heart be thus sweetly temper'd and tun'd with Love and Fear there will be no unpleasant no jarring discord in thy Tongue but instead of profaning and blaspheming Gods most holy name it will ever be sounding forth his praises in Prayer and Thanksgiving This is the first and best remedy against Swearing A second may be collected out of the fore-cited words of St. Austine The II. Remeâ—y A firm purpose and resolution against it Legi timui sayes he luctatus sum contra consuetudinem meam in ipsâ luctatione invoâ—avi Dominum i. e. I wrastled or contended with my bad custom of Swearing and in my earnest contention and strife against it Gen. 32.24 I strove like Jacob with God in prayer I called upon the name of the Lord. Now what may we suppose to have been the matter or substance of his devout prayer but that which was the Prophet Davids Psal 116.4 O Lord I beseech thee deliver my soul from the power of sin and my imbred corruptions keep my soul O God from the guilt of presumption that I offend not wilfully with my tongue Renew my will and affections that I may hate and abhor this odious sin of swearing that I may delight wholly in what thou hast promised and love to do what thou commandest c. A man that can pray thus to God in Faith not doubting to be heard but believing that his Petitions shall be granted that man by Gods grace shall find a change in his heart the eye of his Vnderstanding shall be enlightned to apprehend fully the infinite and awfull Majesty of the Almighty his Will shall be inclined to that which is good and enflamed with a fervent desire to serve his God for whose onely service he was created Eph. 2.10 and for which he shall be most mercifully and richly rewarded This Velle this fervent desire of serving God is the Remedy which St. Chrysostom prescrib'd to his Auditors to subdue and beat down in them any Lording sin Hom. 11. in Act. Apost especially that of accustom'd Swearing There is sayes he no need of great cost for this main business there is not required much labour or great pains nor length of time If there be onely a willing mind an ardent desire to forsake this sin the work is well-nigh done Pars sanitatis est velle sanari sayes the Physician He is half cured that is willing and endeavours to be healed Erasm in Enchir. d. Magna pars Christianismi est velle fieri Christianum this is the language of the Divine He is almost a Christian or arrived to a good degree of Christianity that is willing and desirous to be inform'd in the knowledge of Gods Law which must be the Rule of our Christian profession Put on then a willing or strong resolution of forsaking thy habituated sin of Swearing so maist thou
6. To speak nothing but what is Necessary to be spoken Profitable to be heard 7. To bridle our Passions chiefly that of Anger the cause of as many other sins so especially that of Swearing 8. To avoid Drunkenness and to be lovers of Temperance 9. To shun the Company and Society of those that are given to Swearing 10. To consider the manifold and great miseries such blasphemers bring upon the Kingdom Places and Families wherein they live 8. A Diet for the Tongue being cured consisting in these three things 1. To be slow to speak 2. To be circumspect in speaking 3. To use few words when we speak 9. The benefit that will redound to us by observing this Religious Diet which is two-fold If we respect First our bodily Estate we procure to our selves hereby reputation and peace Secondly if we respect our Souls health hereby we shall free it from the guilt of many a sin 10. The Conclusion of all comprising an exhortation to this duty of not Swearing in regard that we are Gods Saints elected His Sons adopted His Servants redeemed by the blood of his Son Christ Jesus Therefore in all and for all God is to be glorified by us which is chiefly done by Invocation and Thanksgiving the two parts of Prayer and the Christians best Sacrifice A Prayer To be used by one that is addicted to the Sin of Swearing O Eternal Omnipotent Lord God who in thy self art the fulness and perfection of Glory and Happiness who needest no Tongue to praise thee no Pen to express thee and no Work to magnifie thy Greatness before whose glorious Name that is * Vid. Psal 20.1 Rom. 10.13 thy self an infinitely Great and Glorious God Angels and Arch-Angels bow with an humble lowly dejected reverence to which thy blessed Spirits and Saints of thy Triumphant Church sing perpetual Hallelujahs Rev. 19.1 so that Heaven rings and resounds with their Hymns Praises I a poor sprig of disobedient Adam who am as vile as sin can make me and deserve what curse thy wrath can lay upon me do here presume to take thy holy Name into my defiled lips that Name which I have dishonoured in my words disparaged in my thoughts and profaned in my actions yet knowing that thou art a jealous God and a consuming fire burning with love to a poor humble sinner and believing that as thou art fearful in thy Judgments so faithful in thy promises I fly upon the wings of this Faith from mount Ebal to mount Gerizim Deut. 11.29 from the dreadful Name Jehovah which I have abused to that gracious Name of Jesus wherein thou art well pleased In that most sweet and soul-refreshing Name O God I present my supplications unto thee beseeching thee not to remember what I have said or done but what my Saviour hath suffered for me in his Agony and bitter Passion O let his bloody sweat anoint my bleeding wounds and accept of his death as a full satisfaction to thy Justice for my sins Cleanse thou my heart O God from the stain of this bosom-darling-sin whose custom begun with a wanton imitation and being continued with an habitual presumption had almost taken out of my guilty Soul a sense of it and of thy displeasure against it O my God now that I have begun to have a taste and sight of the foulness and danger of my crying sin afford me I beseech thee that measure of thy Grace which may work in my heart a fear of thy displeasure and beget in me an awful reverence of thy Name Let all my communication be ordered as in thy presence let thy Holy Spirit govern the words of my mouth and so sanctifie my thoughts with the continual meditation of thy Commandments and of those fearful plagues which thy word denounceth against Swearers that I may be ever hereafter of the number of those thy servants who sanctifie the Lord in their Hearts 1 Pet. 5.15 who love and fear thee above all things in Heaven and Earth who delight with trust and affiance in thee above all worldly stayes and comforts and praise thee evermore with joyful lips Lord I desire to praise thee O heighten these desires I resolve by thy assistance no more to blaspheme thee O strengthen this good resolution for the time to come and avert those judgments from me which thy word hath threatned and my sin my black and filthy sin hath deserved And mortifie all those unruly passions which provoke me to offend thy Goodness especially that of Anger which if immoderate and carried on with precipitate rashness benights the Soul darkens Reason and hurries a man to the acting of those things that displease thee Therefore dear God kill this Fury in me and leave only so much life in it as to be zealous for thy Glory Quicken my Soul with faith in thy promises inflame my affections with love of thee for thy mercies fill my mouth with prayers to thee and praises and crown my weak desires of praising thee with the all-sufficient power and strength of thy Grace that glorifying thy Name with my Tongue and by an holy conversation I may escape that vengeance which thy Justice threatens against my sin here and obtain that happiness which thy mercy hath promised hereafter Lord grant these my requests for the merits of thy Son Christ Jesus in whose Name and Prayer sanctified with his sacred lips I beg these mercies and whatsoever else thou knowest requisite for me and for thy Church saying Our Father c. A Prayer For the whole Kingdom MOst glorious Lord God who delightest not in the death of one single sinner nor takest pleasure in the destruction of any Creature thou great and mighty God Jer. 32.18 whose name is the Lord of Hosts who rulest over all and governest all things in Heaven and Earth look down I humbly pray thee from the Throne of thy Glory and behold this sinful Kingdom wherein we live with an eye of mercy and pity Thy goodness and bounty O Lord have displayed themselves to us in many great and undeserved National mercies by restoring to us our most gracious King and Him to His Royal Dignities and redeeming thy Church from that Disorder and Confusion by means of proud and unquiet men whicn threatned our utter ruine and vastation for so great deliverances we are obliged to make returns unto thee of a thankful obedience by reforming our sinful lives and obeying thy commands But we as if we had forgot what thou hast done for us have done nothing for thee but rather much against thee by rebelling against thy word by resisting thy holy will by abusing thy Creatures through our wanton excess by profaning thy Sabbaths and blaspheming thy most sacred Name which ought to be ever hallowed and had in an awfull reverence by us These are our National personal crying sins which like so many infectious Vapours have mounted up to Heaven and being condens'd into a thick Cloud of
105. Q. 2. Art The breach of that Commandement which relates to a greater person is more hainous then the breach of that which respects a less and the greater the offence is the sharper will be the punishment Vain and idle Swearing being then a breach of that Commandement which enjoyns us a reverential and awfull esteem of the Name of God never to use it but in our prayers and thanksgivings for mercies and then too with feare and an awfull reverence as it denotes an Incomprehensible Essence terrible in his Judgements and filling Heaven and Earth with his unbounded infinite presence I say the sin of swearing being so directly against and so injurious to so great a Majesty must needs be repai'd with punishment and that in the greatest and highest degree of vexing sorrow and tormenting paine For this the land mourns Hos 4.3 For this i. e. for swearing vainly and falsly as it is expressed v. 2. This sin as it is the leader in the Prophets muster of hainous sins there so it is I am perswaded the Captain the Chief sin of the inhabitants of this Island and the chief provoking cause of Gods heavy judgements of Warre and Sedition of Plague and Pestilence of Sickness and Diseases which have been and are still within our Walls and reign among us These calamities will stick close to and lie hard upon us until by our prayers and hearty repentance we have cast out this Devil I mean the Sin of Swearing out of our tongues and the contempt of God out of our hearts and instead of it settle in them a reverentiall feare of his divine Majesty which will so bridle the unrulinesse of our licentious loose tongues that we shall seldom or never profane his holy Name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. For where the fear of the Lord is Naz. Ora. 3â— there is sayes Nazianzen a dutiful observance of his will and commands and in whom this observance is that man keeps his soul clean and pure from the pollutions of sin and from the corruptions of the Flesh 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So that learned Father in his 39. Oration Secondly The second Reason as the sin of swearing is most injurious to God so it is most dangerous in respect of our selves The Jews have a saying which I find in Elias the This bite Transgressio trahit transgressionem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one sin draws on another Sin is of a spreading and fruitful nature the first begets a second this a third c. God in his punitive and permissive Justice so ordering and disposing of the wayes or actions of men that because they as the Apostle speaks knowing God to be omnipotent most just and good Rom. 1.21 glorifie him not as God but magnifie and exalt themselves above God therefore by themselves shall they be debas'd upon their own heads shall they heap coales prove their own executioners in that being given over by God to reprobate minds they shall adde uncleanness to profaneness drawing Sin as it were with a Cart-rope encreasing daily in impiety Isa 5.18 and hereby aggravating their guilt and punishment Thus in David murder followed upon his Adultery 2 Sam. 11. and in his Son Solomon the excessive love of women brought forth Idolatry 1 Kings 11.3 4. his Wives turned away his heart after other Gods In like manner lying doth evermore accompany idle and rash Swearing The Prophet intimates as much Hos 4.2 where he couples these two foul and ugly Sins giving the precedency to Swearing By swearing and lying c. They met together in St. Peter Mat. 26.72 who affirmed with an oath that he knew not Christ his Master And he that accustoms his tongue to swearing will be bold with a lye a base sin which as it proceeds from a cowardly feare so it tends to cozening and fraud he that dares dishonour God will deceive his Neighbour We read of Almanzor that famous Turkish Emperour whose life is accurately penn'd by Sir W. Raleigh that as he himself was never known to make a lye Sir W. R. in his Hist of Mahomet p. 146. or speak an untruth so he term'd and accounted Lyars Disciples of the Devill the plagues of the world betrayers of the Truth Destroyers of civill and Christian conversation and the right hand of Satan No man that ever told a lye unto him escaped unpunished but received his punishment answerable to the quality or weight of his lye The least was publick disgrace but lies of an higher straine of a deeper stain which concern'd the Common-wealth he chastised with whipping cutting of tongues banishment disabling to be a witness and in some cases they were repaied with the losse of life which rigour begat terrour in wicked dispositions restrained false informations and gave a stop to unnecessary suits And when he was once sick in an Admonitorie letter to his Son he advised him that he should at no time make or bear with a lie for Lyars said he are Devills in flesh enemies to truth Subverters of Justice firebrands of Sedition Causers of Rebellion betrayâ—â—s of kingdomes and to themselves thus much harmfull and injurious that when they speak truth they are not believed nor credited If the practice of Almanzor and this Counsel to his Son were observed in our Christian Kingdome we should be more free from bloody strifes and Sedition As lying is a pernicious sin dangerous and hurtfull to the Common-wealth or State we live in so it is a base and infamous Sin The antient Germans used to say If a man loses his gold it is a great losse if his fame or good name a greater if his faith or credit the greatest of all And this loss a lyar sustains whom no man will trust though he ushers his assertions with a thousand Oaths Et saepe quo plus jurat minus fidem facit and it ofttimes so falls out that the more he sweareth the less he is believed As lying is a Sin branded with infamie among men so it is also to God most abominable and odious Prov. 12.21 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. And Prov. 6.17 A lying tongue is reckon'd amongst those six things which the Lord hateth and the reason of it is this Because as we commonly hate those things which are repugnant and contrary to our humour or dispositions so God hates a lie as most adverse and contrary to his revealed will as where it is said Thou shalt not bear false witnesse c. and likewise most opposite to his divine Nature which is most true God is not a man that he should lye Num. 23.19 Nay he is Truth it self and that three manner of waies First because he is most truly that which he sees himself and from everlasting knew himself to be and that is a most perfect Essence without any the least spot of errour or stain of sin wherefore he is most truly good truly omnipotent truly wise truly
as if it were true Four degrees of Perjury or maintain that which is true to be false knowing it to be true or lastly promise with an Oath what they mean not to perform or what they have lawfully promised then intending a performance of it when they made the promise yet afterwards even when the thing is possible and in their power to do perform it not but wickedly fall from their word These are the four degrees or parts of perjury in the proper and strict acception of the word There is another degree or kind of it which I find in St. Chrysostom How 14. ad Popul Antioch who concludes excellently in an Homily to the people of Antioch That not only those who themselves take a false Oath are guilty of perjury but they also who occasion the like sin in others and that two manner of wayes First by forcing them through fear of death losse of goods imprisonment or the like 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys ibid. to take a false Oath against their consciences Secondly by swearing the contrary to that which another has sworn to do and so opposing the same man by force and might that he cannot effect what he has tyed himself to by Oath As if a School-master it is St. Chrysostoms instance should swear that his Scholar should not eat a bit of bread untill he had fully obeyed his commands by performing what he had enjoyn'd him for his good Now if the Father of that child knowing that his Master had taken such an Oath should rashly swear the contrary and fondly there being no fear of danger for want of food feed the young Scholar having not perform'd his Task the Father of the child would be guilty as well as the Master And such men who cause others to sin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. do as boyes that contend for a long rotten rope some tugging at one end of it and some at the other so that the rope at length breaks asunder by which means they fal all to the ground in a confused manner bruise their bodies in some one part or other And this last kind of perjury when we are the cause that others are perjur'd we may call Perjurium occasionale occasional Perjury as there is Homicidium occasionale occasional Murther which is committed by thee when thou illegally actest contrivest that which occasions a poor man either to lose his own life or to kill his Brother But to return to my purpose and to discover more fully the hainousness of this crying sin of perjury It is a compounded sin a sin as hath been said made up of an Oath and a Lye a Monster amongst sins ugly and odious to God and man the Devils snare so called by St. Chrysostom in his eleventh Homily on the Acts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby he catches poor sinfull deceived souls and hurries them to infernal darkness Falsa juratio sayes St. Austin non est leve peccatum Serm. 10. in Decollat Johan Bap. imo tam magnum est peccatum jurare falsum ut propter reatum falsae jurationis Dominus prohibuerit omnem jurationem i. e. Perjury is no light nor trivial sin nay it is so great and horrid a crime that to prevent the guilt and danger of it Christ forbad the use of all Oaths he means such as are vain and idle ones when he said Swear not at all Hast thou seen a stone sayes * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianzen thrown down a steep hill or precipice never ceasing from its precipitate hasty motion untill it arrived at the hills foot or bottom Of such a speedy nature or quality is every sin chiefly that of Swearing to which the tongue that is accustom'd in its unruly motion will at last fall into that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he calls it that profound gulf of perjury 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. Perjury the greatest down-fall and most dangerous precipice A gulf indeed for whoso is plunged in it i.e. whose soul is loaded with the weight of so great and heavy a guilt that man without a special hand of mercy will hardly ever raise himself by repentance to recover Gods grace but will sink deeper and deeper waxe worse and worse adde sin unto sin and thereby provoke God to punish him both outwardly in his body goods and good name with sicknesses poverty and disgrace and inwardly in his Soul with horror and perplexing grief with disconsolate sadness c. untill at the last despair sink him into the bottomless pit I will conclude this point with that of St. Bernard Si pejerare times Serm. de modo bene vivendi 32. nunquam juraveris si nunquam juraveris nunquam pejerabis If the fear of perjury does possesse and trouble thee never swear if thou never swearest thou shalt never be forsworn And perjury he can hardly avoid who hath an unbridled tongue accustom'd to take Gods name in vain Qui saepe jurat saepe oportet pejeret To this good counsel of St. Bernard I shall only adde that of St. Chrysostome to his Auditors the Antiochians whom he bespake thus in his forenamed 14 Homily 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. I beseech and exhort you to represent to your thoughts the Head of St. John the Baptist bleeding in a Charger and suppose or imagine that you heare this voyce or exhortation utter'd from his Tongue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hate and abhor an Oath which was my murtherer Herods rash Oath of which he should have repented and not kept it was the cause of the Baptists death And he that is given to much swearing murders his own Soul deprives it of Gods grace which is the Souls life and being guilty of many other sins which accompany rash swearing as lying c. he intitles it to everlasting death the wages of unrepented sins and if to forsake our sins be truly to repent and the only mark of a sound and unfeign'd repentance we may safely say that few Swearers can be named that ever truly repented Therefore cast out this poyson out of thy mouth banish this sin speedily from thy tongue before it be habituated in thee and so get the mastery or dominion over thee that it never leave thee but die and lie down in the grave with thee The third Reason Thirdly as the sin of Swearing is most injurious to God most dangerous and hurtfull in respect of our selves in that it is the parent or cause of other crying sins as lying and perjury and likewise the productive and provoking cause of Gods just and heavy Judgments or punishments upon our souls and bodies so it is a most scandalous sin in respect of our Neighbours or Brethren Quanta est notitia reputatio de Deo in hominibus tantum nominatur per vocem exteriús Raym. with whom we have daily Conversation and Commerce Raymundus in his
AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST Swearing To which is annexed an Appendix concerning an Assertory and Promissory Oath in reference to the Statures of the two now flourishing Sister Universities Also a short Catalogue of some remarkable Judgments from God upon Blasphemers c. By R. BOREMAN D. D. and Fellow of Trinity Colledge in Cambridge 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Et optimum est homini ut non omnino juret Maimon LONDON Printed for R. Royston Bookseller to the Kings most Excellent Majesty at the Angel in Ivy-Lane MDCLXII To the Right Honourable THE Lords and Commons Assembled under our most Religious and Gracious King in the High Court of Parliament Right Honourable IT was ever a grand master-piece of prudence in Patriots and State-Governours whilest they were to encounter in an hostile way with forraign enemies to secure all home-bred dissensions as knowing that a bosom or domestick enemy is most dangerous Lib. 4. de Bel. Jud. It is recorded by Josephus that the intestine broils amongst the Jews especially those of the Zelots were so great that Vespasian on purpose deferr'd the siege of Hierusalem being informed that they promiscuously murdered one another so that the less work was left for the Sword of the Conqueror Thus those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as he calls them Seditionists subdued themselves before their City was besieged and entred by Vespasian Moreover I have read of an old prophetick saying That our glorious and now flourishing City of London should be destroyed by it self Sin and Faction within the walls of it may which God divert effect that which was prophesied and may it please God so to enlighten the eyes of all that inhabit it and other parts of his Majesties Dominions as to be perswaded of this Truth that if there be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if crying sins that strike at Heaven out-brave God to the shame of men if such be suffered to go unpunished in this Kingdom then though our walls were as high and strong as those of Babylon though our Hosts or Armies were as numerous as those of Sennacherib 2 King 18. or that Persian King Xerxes whose Souldiers when they shot their Arrows in the face of their enemies are said by the Historian to have turn'd the day into night and darkned the Sun all the like or greater forces and bulwarks cannot hinder Gods vengeance or revengeful Justice from breaking in upon our Nation to waste and destroy it if sin or sins of a deep stain or high provoking nature reign among us especially after the receiving of great blessings and enjoying many undeserved mercies by a special design or ordination of the Divine Providence of which our most gracious Soveraign being very sensible to an high degree of gratitude to God his Defender and Restorer was pleased for the prevention of future calamities in his three Kingdoms to direct an Order to the truly Noble the now Duke of Ormond the Lord Steward of His Majesties Houshold for the rectifying of all manner of disorders and by the assistance of his Officers of the Green-cloath to suppress all kind of debauchery and vice in any person of what Degree or Quality soever Besides this his Sacred Majesty hath by a late Proclamation dated the thirtieth of May 1660. declared his holy and just displeasure against dissolute and profane men hoping they are his own words that all persons of Honour or that are in Authority will assist His Majesty in discountenancing such mens vices and punishing them according to the established Laws for their enormities To His Majesties hopes and pious desires in that Proclamation give me leave to subjoyn my most humble Supplication to your Honours that because as the Roman Oratour styles all Magistrates you are designed by your high place and calling to be the Commonwealths Physicians Hedges against profaneness and the firm Banks to keep us from an inundation of trouble and confusion which may arise from Sects Schismes and Heresies you would be pleased to crown your renowned matchless and most loyal actings for the good and wel-fare of our most glorious King and Church with this religious resolution to issue forth a strict and special Order against that Epidemical Soul murdering and State-confounding sin of Swearing which is the Captain Leading-General sin of this Nation for which if it be not speedily checked and stifled by the powerful hand of Justice we shall grow as infamous now and in after-ages as the Asiaticks were for Pride the Carthaginians for Treachery and the Scythians for Drunkenness The hainousness of this Sin I shall discover in the ensuing Treatise as being most injurious to God scandalous to our Neighbour and hurtful to our Selves it carries with it a contempt of Gods person as well as of his precept and that in a publick manner which three aggravations are not to be found in every sin To which if we adde a fourth which is the frequency and commonness of it it will appear then to be the master-sin of this Nation as it is set in the front of other horrid sins Hos 4.2 Men break the Sabbath but once in a week but Swear and blaspheme they do every day every hour I wish I could not say almost every moment It is so commonly practised that through daily custom and imitation it hath crept into the mouths of young Boyes and Children which is to be bewailed with a Ieremies Lamentation Now for the better Remedy of so great a Malady which has distemper'd our Kingdoms great Body though I dare not prescribe to your greater Wisdom yet let me request you to call to mind that grave and wise Counsel of Carolus Caraffa in the Council or rather Conventicle of Trent who said there and that most truly that when the Civil Magistrates Gods Ministers do accord and draw in one yoke then is the Church and State best governed So then if all the Ministers of Gods word were enjoyn'd as his Majesty ordered by a Proclamation Aug. 13. 1660. to turn the edge of their Spirits declame at the least once a month in their Sermons against this Goliah this monster-sin and if the Magistrates in all places would stir up themselves to a more lively and active execution of the Statute against those who shall in this sort presume to blaspheme by taking Gods most holy Name in vain if this course were once strictly undertaken and all Informers against such foul-mouth'd blasphemers encouraged for their pains by receiving a part of the mulct drawn out of the others purses if this course were once undertaken and constantly in all places followed we should find to Gods glory and our great comfort that the fear of shame and punishment which with most men is more prevalent then the love of God would chase away all profaneness from their mouths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Horeil 14. Through fear of punishment a long and inveterate custom of sin hath oft-times been omitted that strong band
hath been broken and the sinner converted Under the old Law he that blasphemed the name of the Lord was stoned to death Levit. 24.16 The severity of forraign Christian Kings and Princes against such Blasphemers is set down in the midst of my Treatise Some were burnt in their Lips with hot Irons some order'd to be drown'd others were beheaded and punish'd with the confiscation of their goods and loss of their lives thus dealt an Earl of Flanders by name Philip with profane Swearers To all which I must adde as a most exemplary piece of Justice which I wish were observed and practised in His Majesties Royal Family that famous Decree of that good King Henry the fifth the whip of France and the scourge of Vice in whom Piety and Valour did as they do in our renowned King meet together he decreed by a Special Order relating chiefly to his Court which might I suppose have an Influence upon the whole Kingdom That every Duke for each Oath should pay forty shillings a Baron twenty Knights and Esquires ten every Yeoman three shillings and four pence ordinary Servants two pence which was accounted a great mulct in those days the younger sort of Boyes and Pages were well whipt for this offence and this Law was so well executed that all the Nation over very few were heard to swear an Oath This I intimate wishing that the same or the like strictness of Severity might meet with the looseness of this Ages Impiety and hoping that persons of worth and preeminency whose reputations in the scale of Honour weigh down the rate or weight of punishment will reform without it and scorn to have their Nobility blotted and their mouths defiled with that unprofitable cursed crying sin which is the badge of debaucht Ruffians the cognisance of accursed miscreants who are branded by the Prophet David with this black mark of being Gods enemies Ps 139.20 and the continual practice of the Devils in Hell and damned Spirits who Curse Swear and Blaspheme God in the midst of their Torments This is the sole Language of those Infernal Inhabitants the which that it may no longer rest or nest in the Tongues of prophane Rabshakehs who are the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys worst of the worst Subjects the most pernicious enemies to the State and Church for that in a manner by their sharp Tongues they clip the wings of Mercy hindering it from flying to us with blessings and quicken the pace of Iustice to proceed in a speedy execution of curses and heavy judgments upon us that their mouths may be stopped and by execution of the Statutes which is their life this common sin of Swearing receive its deaths wound that there may be no more blaspheming in our Streets nor within our private Walls that this glorious Reformation may be throughly wrought and effected in our Land I shall to these my weak endeavours in Print add the assistance and strength of my Prayers to the great God of Heaven the Lord of Lords for a continuance and multiplication of blessings upon all your publick designs and godly undertakings that from your Honoured Persons who next to His Sacred Majesty who is the Upper are the Nether Springs of Iustice Amos 5.24 Iudgment may run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream to the bearing down of all profaneness whereby God is dishonoured and to the advance of Piety and Religion that his holy Name may be glorified by us This is and shall be ever a part of the daily Devotions of him who is a well-wisher to the Peace and flourishing happiness of this Kingdom and Your Honours most humble and devoted Servant in Christ Jesus R. BOREMAN Dec. 9. 1661. AN ANTIDOTE AGAINST SWEARING The ground or maine Ingredients whereof are those words of our Saviour MAT. 5.34 I say unto you Swear not at all I Remember a saying of Vincentius Lyrinensis Lib. de Haeres c. 37. Nullam esse ad fallendum faciliorem viam quà m ut ubi nefari◠erroris subinducitur fraudulenti◠ibi divinorum verborum praetendatur autoritas which as it meets with many bold practises in our times so it nearly concerns my present purpose Nullam esse ad fallendum faciliorem viam c. There is no way so easie sayes he to deceive a multitude or the common people who both love and are easie to be deceived and to invite them to sin as when we endeavour by fraudulent means to sow the seed of errour in their hearts to pretend the Divine Authority of Gods word It seems the Scribes and Pharisees like many in our dayes had learned this art of spreading and maintaining their false Doctrine by corrupting the Text. For whereas God commanding us to have in due Reverence his holy Name forbad the Jews and in them us to take the same in vain Exod. 20.7 i. e. to use it idly or to no purpose without any warrant from necessity and without respect to the advance of his Glory the Scribes expounding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in vain by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 falsly i. e. To back and confirm a lie which word we find Levit. 19.12 Thou shalt not swear by my Name falsly they hereby confounded two distinct precepts For by the latter in Leviticus is forbidden perjury which is the confirmation of a lie by an Oath by the former precept in Exodus all vain Oaths which are so when they are commonly used to confirme or ratifie the Truth in our private negotiations contracts bargainings and discourse From this false glosse of the Scribes interpreting the third Commandement as if only perjury were by it forbid and this too onely in the abuse of Gods sacred Name from this corrupt Spring issued these three perverse Doctrines which in our Saviours time were settled in the minds and hearts of the deluded Jewes First to swear by the Creature and to forswear they affirmed to be no sin Secondly they counted it no breach of the third Commandement if they used in their ordinary discourse the Name of God so long as they did what they promised and affirmed what was true With the Scribes and Pharisees in this second opinion agree both Maldonat the Jesuit on Levit. 19. and Socinus Vid. Rivet in explicatione 3. Praecepti Decalogi In hác corruptelâ eadem cum Pharisaeis sentit impurus iste Socinus c with his followers who maintain that onely perjury is forbidden by that Commandement Thirdly and lastly from this latter stream issued another as corrupt and unsound viZ. That whatsoever they had bound themselves to by an Oath in the Name of God they maintained that they were bound to do it were the thing never so unjust and bad Our blessed Saviour as it became so wise a Teacher who came from God as Nicodemus witnessed of him John 3.2 endeavoured in his first Sermon Ad Populum on the mount to root out of the peoples minds this false Doctrine of the Scribes
mercifull and just Secondly he is Truth in his works because all his works are true Ps 111.7 8. Dan. 4.37 being conformable to his divine will and answerable to his prescience determining by an everlastiâ—â— decree either to act by himself or to â—mit by others things to be done in the â—ry order and manner as we now see they are wrought and effected Thirdly he is Truth it self i. e. most true and faithfull in his words for what he has promised shall surely come to pass Let God be true saies St. Paul i. e. God will be true Rom. 3.4 though every man be a lyar For as God is light in whom there is no darkness either of Sin or misery so he is Truth in whom there can be no Falsity either Actively or Passively for that he can neither deceive nor be deceived by any though never so closely shut up in the mantle of Hypocrisy or reserved Policy To return then to the purpose Seeing the sin of lying is so discordant to the nature of God who is the original of all Truth nay Truth it self in the abstract i.e. most true in Himself in his words and workes this sin therefore must be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exceeding sinfull and hainous beyond all expression it being set in so great an opposition to Gods essence as that is most cold which is farthest off from the fountain of heat the Sun and that most dark which is remotest from it Gods greater light set up in Heaven to guide us by day as the Moon by night Ps 163.8 9. If lying then be a sin so hainous so odious to God what may we think of Swearing the procatarctick or prime cause of that foul sin I say that is the parent of this For he that dares cast contempt upon the glorious name of God by taking it too familiarly in his mouth the same will not stick to out-brave God and out-face Man with a lye for his private gain or to maintain his Credit because he promises to himself belief from the hearer whose simple honesty and open credulity moves him to think no man so daringly impious as to call the Almighty to witness a sin I mean perjury which he will severely punish with destruction both of body and soul with poverty and disgrace and sickness here * Ah miser eisi quis primo perjuria celat Sera tamen tacitis poena venit pedibus Tibul. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Implacabilis est Deus contemptis juramentis and hereafter with everlasting torments in hell fire The sin of perjury is a crying sin it roars so loud in the Conscience that it evermore disquiets the souls inward peace Nay more it begets hell in it and as I may so say awakens the Divine Justice which sometimes winks and connives at other sins It forces God to lay aside his Mercy in which he most delights and to become most severe in his punishments which have evermore fallen heavy upon perjur'd persons as appeares Gen. 14.4 where to affright and scare us from the guilt of this sin God by his servant Moses hath left us the examples of five Kings who having served Chedorlaomer King of Elam twelve years contrary to their promise confirm'd by an Oath rebelled against him for which Rebellion vengeance so pursued them that he with three Kings more made them to flie their petty Kingdoms The like examples we have 2 Kings 17.4 of Hosea King of Israel and of Zedekiah King of Judah 2 Kings 25.17 The former of these having promised obedience and service to Salmanezer the King of Assyria for his perjury lost his freedom being till his death shut up in prison The latter for the same crime against Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon lost his eyes having first seen the butchering of his Sons and now being led into Captivity his legs fast bound in fetters of brasse he had onely the use of his eares left to hear the reproches of his Enemies and of his perjur'd tongue to entreat for mercy and pitty in the midst of his pain and misery To these stories which I have borrowed out of the sacred Record of Gods word I will adde two or three more as most remarkeable and true The first shall be of Earl Godwyn who lived in the time of Edward the Confessor This Earl was he who with his ambitious Sons by his cruelty so irritated and discontented the Nobility that it was a main help and furtherance in the issue to the Conquest of this Nation by the Norman He wishing at the Kings Table that the bread might choke him if he were guilty of Alfreds death whom he had slain a little before was presently choked and fell down dead to the great terror of those that sate with him at meat Lib. 6. c. 8. Eusebius likewise tells us of three lewd fellowes that charg'd Narcissus Bishop of Hierusalem with a grievous accusation and to beget a belief of it in the minds of the Judges confirm'd it with horrid Execrations and Oaths The first wished if it were not true that he might be burnt to ashes the second that he might be tormented with some cruel disease the third that he might be smitten with blindness Narcissus relying onely upon his Innocency and unable to resist their malice and master their matchless Villany removed and hid himself in desart places for many years But mark the heavy Judgements of God which in the mean time fell upon those perjur'd persons The first by the fall of a spark of fire in the night was with his house and family consumed to ashes The second tormented in his whole body with that disease which he wished The third beholding these fearful Judgements inflicted on his two associates in wickedness and fearing to be made the like example of Gods revenging Justice confessed his sin and for it mourn'd and wept till he lost both his eyes A lamentable spectacle for false witnesses and perjur'd wretches A third story not to be parallel'd I learn'd of a knowing Gentleman in Hartfordshire it is of one Everell who many years since lived and dyed in St. Albanes He being accused before the Bishops Official for an act of uncleanness with a Maid to purge himself of this suspected crime wish'd in open Court that he might never speak more if he were guilty of that fact The word was no sooner out of his mouth but vengeance stept in for he was presently struck dumb and never spake again and afterwards by the Maids own confession it was proved that he had defiled himself with her By these dreadful examples Vid. Dr. Beard in his Theatre of Gods judgements c. 27. and many others which I could alledge out of our own Records and other profane Authors we may collect that God will not as he threatens in his word hold them guiltless but afflict them with sore Judgements who shall dare even against the check of their own Consciences to confirm a lye with an Oath
paths of the Seas all these recited by the Prophet David Ps 8.3 6 7 8. with many more not mentioned by him were made to serve us and all do in a manner thus call upon and bespeak every one of us God made us for thee Coelum terra omnia in illis creata 〈◊〉 ut amem te Domine serviaâ— tibi Maub Exercit. â—iet that thou shouldst serve and glorifie him who made us and thee O then let the consideration of thy unthankfulness to God thy Creator put thee to a blushing shame and let the memory of his mercies and blessings spur or incite thee to an active obedience and quicken thy dead or drowsie spirit to walk cheerfully and constantly in the waies of his Commandements do not dishonour nor disgrace him by a constant and wilfull breach of them by a frequent and rash taking of his name in vain Swear not The IV. Remedy by way of motive drawn from the irrational Creatures If all the fore-named Motives will not startle thy obdurate Conscience and drive thee to obedience of Gods Commands consider then the brute Beasts who wanting Reason which thou enjoyest and Speech which God gave thee to set forth his praises * Homo immedâ—atè est propter Deum omnia quâ—liabet habet propter Deum Raymund to advance and publish the glories of his Attributes yet they led only by the guidance of Natures Law offer no indignities no injuries to their Masters from whom they receive food and sustenance nay they have ever shewed themselves thankful to strangers from whom they received the least benefits or courtesies All which may serve to check thy ingratitude in dishonouring God by Rebelling against his precepts Lib. 7. c. 4â— Nat. H st The story in Aelian of Androcles and a Lion is remarkable he pull'd a thorne out of the Lions foot the Lion afterwards repai'd this courtesie by saving his life when he fell among thieves and cryed out for help Ael l. 8. c. 22. A parallel story to this we find in the same Historian of the Tarentine Woman and a Stork she cured one of the Storks young ones which had by a casualty broke its leg the Stork not long after in requital of her goodness dropped a rich Jewel into her lap as she sate in a solitary place bemoaning the death of her dear Husband a little before that time deceased The truth of these Stories I cannot warrant Let then the Scriptures to our shame be witness of mans ingratitude to God and of the brute Creatures thankful respect to their Masters and Benefactors Man for his sensuality and beastly lusts Ps 49.12 20 may be fitly ranked with and compared to the beasts that perish but they are above him admit him not as their equal if you respect their grateful dispositions The Oxe knoweth his owner Isa 1.3 i. e. will submit his neck to the yoke to toile and labour in the field when and so long as his Master pleases so the Asse knoweth his Masters crib or Manger i. e. willingly and readily stoops to any burthen sustains any blow because that is imposed and this comes from his hand by whom he is fed But Israel doth not know what great things I have done for them my people doth not consider how that for their Saviours sake or merits I have provided Heaven for them which shall be the reward of their service and where they shall rest everlastingly from their labours O Man think of Gods complaint here by his Prophet think of it with shame with an inward blushing confusion of spirit and for shame let not the brute beasts out-strip thee in thankfulness submit thy neck to Gods yoke which is easie and light obey his Commands and Swear not The V. Remedy A third consideration In the fifth place consider seriously in thy most recollected thoughts which may be a great remedy against Swearing what recompence God requires of us for all his benefits unto us It is Honour and Praise Praemium Dei est honor operis lauâ— gloria praemium creatura est utilitas Raymund And this duty we discharge when we declare and publish with joyful hearts and thankful tongues the Magnalia Dei those great things which he out of his great mercy hath done for us in our Creation Redemption Vocation together with the manifold and wonderful acts of his Providence over us For the least of which his mercies we could not be sufficiently thankful to God although we should live a thousand years ten hundred times told and spend every day and hour in that long period of time onely in Prayer and Thanksgiving Oh then let us wash our hearts from filthinesse and our tongues from all obscene pollutions Let our mouths be ever fill'd with Gods praises and let us chearfully redeem the time to this blessed work of thankfulnesse which because it is too large or too great to be done in this span-long life Sit illud meditatio frequens in hoc seculo quod perpetuum opus erit in futuro Aug. in Psal 148. it shall be ever doing in that which shall succeed hereafter and is everlasting For Thanks is the chief if not the whole work of the glorified Saints and Angels in Heaven who vent and spend as one sayes well all their burning fire of love in the flame of Gods praise The erect posture wherewith God has endowed man above his fellow-Creatures should put him in mind of his duty to God by way of thankfulness For as if the earth were not a fit object for our Contemplation our faces are set upward and our Souls too by so many foot carried up toward Heaven as our Bodies are erected to it By which frame of our Bodies we are taught this lesson to have our hearts alwayes fixed upon God in Prayer and Thanksgiving He that shall endeavour to follow Saint Pauls wholsome admonition Pray continually In all things give thanks 1 Thes 5.17 18. that man will seldome or never swear nor defile his Soul with the guilt or stains of idle and sinful discourses but being here on earth will live an Angelical life live like to an Angel and Saint in Heaven where there is only continual chaunting out cheerful Hymns which contain Gods praises and he that intends to bear a part in that Celestial Quire must lay aside his Cursing and Swearing and practise here betimes before death surprise him to sing that new Song which Saint John heard in his Revelation Chap. 5.9 10. and ever joyn with Saint Paul in his joyful and thankful Doxology 1 Tim. 1.17 saying Vnto the King immortal invisible and only wise God be honour and glory for ever and ever Again to incite us to use our Tongues to the praise or to exercise them in the praises of God let us consider to what end He gave us speech and utterance which he has denied to the other inferiour Creatures was it not
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep. ad Antioch Heavenly Father If thou imitatest him not but sufferest thy heart to burn with Anger and Malice I pronounce against thee thou art a Bastard and no true Son That then thou mayest truly retain the †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ignat. Ep. ad Magnes name and maintain by thy practise the duty of a good Christian follow the Prophet Davids advice Psal 37.8 Cease from Anger and forsake Wrath else shalt thou be moved to do evil thou wilt wrong thy Neighbour and injure thy good God by breaking his Commandements chiefly the third which concerns the hallowing of his Name which if thou beest a man of an angry and hasty disposition thou wilt often do when by Cursing and Swearing thou takest the same in vain Therefore in a devout imitation of thy Father which is in Heaven be thou as he is full of Compassion and Mercy slow to anger Psal 103.8 and of great goodness and if thou beest addicted or given to much Swearing besides the prevention of many other sins thou shalt by curbing thy angry Passion so bridle and restrain thy Tongue that it shall not so often as formerly nay seldom or never profane Gods holy Name The VIII Remedy To beware of intemperance especially in Drink The eighth Remedy is to beware of Drunkenness that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as St. Basil calls it that common strumpet that bewitches mens hearts and besots their braines That hateful Night-bird which was wont to waite for the Twilight to seek nooks and corners to avoid the houting and wonderment of Girles and Boyes but now is grown audacious and as if it were some Eaglet that dares the bright Sun it flies abroad at high-noon in every Street and displaies its filthy Nakedness in open places without all fear or shame It is observed by Clemens Alexandrinus Clem. Alex. in Strom. that it took first footing in the most barbarous Nations the Scythians who were such lovers of it that it grew into their name and to Scythianize was all one and the same with this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 idem quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inebrior Suid to be drunk I pray God that stain or reproach be not hereafter thrown upon us as it was upon those sottish Nations If His Majesties late * The 30. day of May 1660. Proclamation for the repressing of this foul sin were duly and strictly observed and put into execution it would not be so common among us But in that it is so frequent I wonder not that Oaths are so familiar in mens mouthes Quod in corde Sobrii est in linguâ Ebrii That which lodges with security in the Heart of a man that is sober discovers it self in his Tongue when he is drunk Hence is that saying of a wise and learned Author He that would Anatomize the Soul i. e. detect its inward and most benighted thoughts and intentions may do it best when wine and strong drink has benummed the senses The reason of this is given by Seneca Ep. 83. Non est animus in suâ potestate Ebrietate devinctus c. again Omne vitium Ebrietas incendit detegit i. e. Reason is not at its own Command so long as it is bound up by Drunkenness and fetter'd as it were with excesse of Meats and Drinks To confirm this besides our daily experience we have the expresse Warrant and Testimony of Gods word Whoredom Wine Hos 4.11 and new Wine take away the heart i. e. deprive a man of the use of Reason Nay which is more excesse of Wine or Drunkenness robs a man of Gods grace and assistance and banishes or drives his holy Spirit from us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil in Moral even as smoke does chase and drive away Bees as St. Basil observes Now what sin is there so horrid what abomination so prodigious and hainous which a Drunkard is not ready to act he being deserted by Gods holy Spirit void of Reason and Sense and left to the Ruling power of the Devil and the rage of his native lust which is well termed by Parisiensis origo seminarium omnium vitiorum the root source and seminary of all sin A man in such a desperate forlorn case or condition is like Sampson Judg. 10.19 when the locks of his haire were cut off and his eyes put out The Text sayes that not onely his strength went from him but that also the Lord had departed from him And as the Philistines did by Sampson so doth the Devil by a Drunken man he leads him in a string where he pleases makes him grind in the Mill of all kinde of Sins and Vices and like a Mill-horse leads him in a round from sin to sin from one wickednesse to another from Lying to Swearing from this to Stealing and from that to Perjury or Forswearing The Devil having moistned and steeped him in liquor shapes him like soft Clay into what mould he pleaseth Having shaken off his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or as a Father calls it Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Rudder and Pilot his Stay and Prop which is his Reason the Tempter hurries him into the gulf of all licentiousness and uncleanness dashes his Soul upon what Rocks and Sands he listeth and that with as much facility as a man may push down the moistned burthen of his body tottering upon its unstable Porters his feeble legs A man who has thus unmanned or unmade himself devested of Reason which by Plato is term'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a little Deity in the Soul of Man sitting there as it were in a Throne of Judicature prescribing what is good and forbidding what is bad A man I say if I may call him so that is drown'd in drink wanting the eye of Reason and the light of Gods Spirit both which he hath put out by his excessive liquor taken in such a one is the fittest agent for the Devil to work by he is now ready to act and attempt any sin or wickedness be it the sin of Cain or Absalom the killing of a Brother Father or Mother now he Sweares and Blasphemes who in his right wits and sober mood seems to be more Modest Chaste and Devoute And oft-times it so falls out by the just Judgement of God withdrawing his grace from those who are accustom'd to this Vice that the Oathes which fell from their tongues when they were drunk stick in their teeth when they are sober Thus one sin becomes the cause of another thus Swering for the most part accompanies and followes Drunkennesse They are two Sister-Vices whose Mother is our own corrupt nature the Devil their Father They like Hippocrates his twinns are born and live and die together they go as we say hand in hand and seldom part asunder Beware therefore of Drunkennesse Eph. 5.1 1 Pet. 2.21 and shew thy self alwaies a follower of
sanctifying Grace concurring with your sedulous practice of the fore-mentioned Precepts or Remedies it is cured of the contagious poyson of that sinne A Diet for the Tongue which hath been accustomed to Swearing Being then willing or altogether cured of that deadly poyson of the Tongue I mean a corrupt and vicious custom of Swearing beware of a Relapse which in this case as in bodily diseases is very dangerous for when a man hath tasted the sweetness of Gods Mercy in pardoning his sins and restoring him to health he must expect if he returns to his vomit again and falls into his former sin to feel the severity of his Justice in punishing him for his daring presumption For a prevention of this great danger in your dayly conference and conversation with men put into practice that wholsome admonition of Saint James Be slow to speak Jam. 1.19 Never open thy mouth but shut up thy tongue in silence unless by thy speech thou mayest benefit thy Neighbour prevent thine own hurt and advance Gods honour Num. 19.15 The Vessel which wanted a cover under the Old Law was counted unclean For either the dust fell into it which bred Worms and such like Creatures that defiled it or else if there were put into it any precious or sweet oyntment it presently lost its savour and was corrupted In like manner he that sets not a watch before his lips by silencing his Tongue so that it never speaks but to some good purpose that man as Saint James attesteth although he seemeth Religious Iam. 1.26 or makes a profession of Christianity because he bridleth not his Tongue he deceives himself or he hath a deceitful false heart his Religion is vain i. e. Nomen sine re a bare and empty Title without reality For how can he be thought to be religious who fears not God with an holy and devout reverence Neither can he justly be said to fear God Psal 5.10 whose Throat is an open Sepulchre sending forth out of it the noysome stench of cursing corrupt and filthy communication lyes and fearful oaths The guilt of which crying sin that you may avoid and withall not chill the fervour of devotion but preserve it in thy soul Keep thy mouth with all diligence remembring that saying of Bonaventure Si dignum quicquam relatione non habes Bonavent Spec. Relig. c. 20. tace Tutius humilius audis quam loqueris i. e. Keep silence if thou canst utter nothing worthy to be heard by the judicious and pious Christian If it be so thou mayest with more safety and a greater esteem for thy humility listen to anothers discourse then vent any thing of thine own which is light and frivolous Remember also that dreadful admonition of our Saviour Mat. 12.36 Every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof at the day of judgment Now that is an idle word in the opinion of Saint Hierom which is spoken sine utilitate loquentis aut audientis which redounds neither to the good of the Speaker nor profit of the Hearer much more is that which tends to the hurt of either Therefore be not hasty to utter any thing with thy Tongue so shalt thou free thy self from the guilt of many a sin chiefly that of Swearing Nescit poenitenda loqui qui proferenda justo prius tradidit examini Casaiod l. 10. Secondly be circumspect in speaking Nescit poenitenda loqui c. saies Cassiodore That man will never repent of what he hath said who weighs his words in the balance of Discretion before they be uttered Evermore consider what thou speakest and before whom ordering thy words so with Wisdom and Prudence that thou offend not God who is an ear-witness of thy words either by contradicting the Truth or perswading others to a belief of what is false Often call to mind that saying of S. Cyril 11. Caetheches Cyril 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. God hath a Book of Remembrance he sits and writes down in it thy oaths thy perjuries thy blasphemous and idle words for which he will call thee to a severe account at the great day of Judgement Therefore as I before exhorted consider alwaies as what so before whom thou speakest even in the sight and audience of God who will one day be your Judge Dr. Parisiensis Cujus praesentia est impraevisibilis potentia infallibilis Justitia inflexibilis iracurdia implacabilis who may surprize thee unawares even in the very act of sinning by his grim Bailiff Death whose Power too is infallible for none can escape it his Justice inflexible for it may not be corrupted as his Anger against the ungodly sinners is implacable and hardly to be appeased He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life Prov. 13.3 and he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction But he that never openeth his mouth but to the glory of God either by praising or praying unto him whereby he declares his belief in the excellencie of Gods Omnipotencie Goodness Truth and Omnisciency or for his Neighbours edification and good as Saint Paul exhorts us to Eph. 4.29 that man shall lift up his head with cheerfulness in the day of Judgment before the dreadful Tribunal of God and by his words he shall be justified i. e. For that he glorified God with his Tongue in his life he shall be pronounced just and righteous in the audience of the Saints and Angels and for the merits of Christ for whose sake his good works are accepted and his imperfections pardoned he shall receive the reward of the righteous and be glorified both in body and soul The Body with all the parts of it shall be beautified with Clearness Impassibility Subtility and Agiâ—y for it being most transparently bright and glorious it shall move wheresoever the Soul then wholly guided by Gods Spirit shall command it it shall move as nimbly as a small Fish in the water without any resistance or hinderance nay with far greater agility The Soul shall be adorned and beautified with more excellent perfections then our first Parents were before their fall in Paradise For the Understanding shall be freed from all errour in it shall be light without any the least mist of darkness it shall be filled with wisdome and knowledge in an high degree without any spot of ignorance The Memory purged from all possibility of forgetfulness The Will redeemed from its natural pravity and perverseness whilest it is onely fixed by Love upon God Almighties goodness If every part of man expects to be thus glorified by God it is good reason that * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Naz. every part should glorifie Him For this is the tribute they owe to their Creatour as every good Subject oweth Loyalty to his King This is the service they must pay for their Redemption God made all the parts of the body Christ Redeemed all I mean every part and faculty both of
Vengeance are ready to fall down once more and bring thy heavy judgments on us But O holy and most just God spare and deliver us from the guilt and power of our sins and in-bred corruptions Let not O let not thy Justice be magnified in our confusion but let thy Mercy be glorified in our Salvation and deliverance Remove thy judgments from us continue thy mercies to us increase thy graces in us that this whole Nation may with thankful lips and by the holiness of their reformed lives glorifie Thee our God who hast so wonderfully redeemed us from the hands of unmerciful bloudy men and rescued us out of all our wasting miseries And so rule and govern the Hearts and Tongues of all profane Swearers that they may as it becometh Christians who profess thy Name and Truth both by their words and works advance thy glory and publish thy praises These blessings O most gracious God with the preservation of our most Religious King and Queen with the rest of the Royal Family vouchsafe unto us for thy mercies sake and for the merits of our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus Amen A Catalogue or List of Gods Judgments upon Blasphemers and others viz. Cursers and Perjured persons ALthough Gods Judgments are somtimes like the writing upon the wall Dan. 5.25 which was a Missive of his Anger upon Belshazzar and came upon an errand of Revenge which none could read and unriddle but a Prophet although they be many times wrapt up in a Cloud of obscurity and darkness in that he punisheth for ends and reasons oft unknown unto us However we must assert and say with St. Augustine Judicia Dei occulta sint sed semper justa Gods Judgments may be hid as to the reason of them to the dim eye of our narrow understanding yet they are ever grounded upon the foundation of Equity they are alwayes just Nch. 9.33 They are his forked arrows feathered with Zele of his glory and headed with his anger and love for when they are shot out of the Bow of his Justice by the hand of provoked Mercy that guides the string they are ever directed against the face of Sin either to prevent or cure it to work in us humility to make us go out of our selves and to rest in him the Centre of our felicity Mich. 6 9. Hear the rod c. They are his voice from Heaven whereby he speaks unto us in a visible word and we then understand well the meaning of it when every such like voice leads us to repentance and works in us a reformation of our lives Many men have been brought to Heaven by the gates of Hell and many have been scared from their sins when they beheld the hand of Gods incensed Justice fall heavy upon others stained with the guilt of the same impieties which Hand striking one has ever a Finger stretched forth and pointing at another This many in all Ages have beheld as it were and discern'd by the help of Gods enlightning Grace so that they have been raised to an holy life by other mens falls and gained by their losses being healed by the sight of their wounds and built up to Heaven by their ruines So powerful are Examples above Precepts These usually lightly affect the ear and by it seldom enter into the heart of the hearer the other by a more violent force and energie work upon it through the eye Judg. 4.21 and are like Jael with her hammer and nail as she by these killed Sisera in the head which they pierced so those strike sin at the very heart begetting in men an awful dread and fear of God by â—â—…om they behold others severely punished and hence conclude that as God himself is so his Justice is immutable and will not be bribed to spare them if they continue in those sins for which he hath inflicted some heavy Judgments on others That the fear of God with an amendment of their lives may be thus ingendred in mens hearts who are profane and loose in their manners I have thought it very convenient to adde to my foregoing Precepts in my Treatise more examples of Gods severe wrath against three sorts of heinous sinners viz. Perjured persons Cursers and Blasphemers 3. Examples of Judgments upon Perjur'd persons who have broken their Oaths by not keeping their promises which they have solemnly made to others 1. To omit the stories of perjured Kings in the Holy Scriptures and their heavy punishments of which I have given the Reader a short account in my Treatise I 'le begin with that famous story of Vladislaus King of Hungary who Vid. Bonâ—in Hist Hung. contrary to the Articles of Peace agreed upon and sworn to between him and Amurathes the Turk set upon the Turkish Army that was secure and misdoubted nothing upon which there grew a long and sharp Battel till Amurathes perceiving his side to decline and almost overcome pulled out of his bosom the aforesaid Articles of agreement and lifting up his eyes to Heaven uttered these words O Iesus Christ if thou beest a God as they say thou art revenge this injury which is done both to thee and me and punish those Truce-breaking Varlets who call themselves by thy name Christians He had scarce ended his speech but the Christians courage began to rebate the battel lost Vladislaus was himself slain by the Ianizaries his whole Army discomfited and all his Souldiers put to the sword A just and rigorous judgment of God for that vile Treachery and Perjury which was by that Hungarian King committed 2. We read in that noted Book called The Theatre of Gods Judgments which I wish were oft perused by wicked men next to the sacred Scriptures we find there p. 12â— a story of a lewd Fellow that hearing Pâ—â—jury condemned in a Pulpit by a learned Preacher and how it never escaped unpunished said in a bravery I have oft forsworn my self and yet my right hand is not a whit shorter then my left Which words he had scarce uttered when such an inflammation arose in that hand that he was constrained to go to the Chirurgion to cut it off lest it should infect his whole body And so his right hand became shorter then his left in recompence of his perjury of which he lightly esteemed 3. Gregorius Turonicus Bishop of Tours makes mention in his Book de gloriâ Confessorum of a wicked Villany in France among the people called Averni that forswearing himself in an unjust cause had his tongue so presently tyed by the hand of divine Justice that he could not speak a word but onely roaring make an hideous noise and so continued a long time till by the earnest prayers of devout men and after his hearty sorrow for his hainous sin the use of that unruly Member was restored to him again 3. Examples of Gods Judgements upon Cursers 1. Luther in his Colloquies reports of a young Courtier at Mansfelt whose customary asseveration or