PLEA I.

Amongst these, the first Alle­gation we are to remove, is this, That Swearing is indeed a Sin, but that (as Lot said of Zoar) Gen. 19. 20. it is but a little one, for were it of the blacker Dye, in what a sad condition were mankind, since the number of Swearers is not inferior to that of Men.

Answer. But certainly he that seriously considers whom the least sin offends, and what it merits; how Infinite a Justice, Majesty, and Goodness, it provokes, and how intolerable and immortal a Punishment is due unto it, will easily concede, That to believe any Sin otherwise than compara­tively little, is in it self an Error absolutely great; for the most [Page 8] dwarfish are to be called small, but in the sense that the Astronomers call the Earth a Point; for so in­deed it is, compar'd to the Firma­ment; but in it self considered, 'tis so vast, that the Spots and Shreds of it are both the Stage and the Subjects of the Ambition of Conquerors, and the Jars of Monarchs. And truly, since the least (unpardon'd) Sin is sufficient to damn us, methinks we should as little slight petty Faults, because there are fouler Crimes, as we do Pistols now there are Cannons used. But granting this Assertion to be true in the general, it will forfeit that Attribute in this Ap­plication; for this Sin is one of those that are expresly and by Exod. 20. 7. name forbidden in the Ten Com­mandments; where it is not only listed among, but has the Prece­dency [Page 9] of Murther, Theft, and of Adultery; being the sole Com­mandment (save one) that has a Threat annexed to the Law; which in this passage is, For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. In which last words, the great Lawgiver foreseeing men would be very re­miss in the prosecution of a Fault, in which their want of Zealous Piety makes them not to be con­cern'd, declares that he himself will take the Vindication of his Honour into his own hands, and inflict himself the Punishment of a Crime, that fears it but from Him. And then if those Tres­passes be not severely dealt with, that are alone punishable by the Supreme Magistrate, let all con­sider what a fearful thing it is to fall Heb. 10. 31. into the hands of the living God. [Page 10] Which brings into my mind a pret­ty Extravagancy that is reported of the Turkish Laws; which pu­nish Blasphemy (as they call it) against Mahomet with inevitable Death, but enact no Penalty upon the like dishonour offer'd to God. Because Mahomet (say they) is not in a condition to vindicate himself; but God is ever able to revenge his own Affronts, and therefore they resign that care to Him. Who indeed many times has (in such cases) done it so soundly, and so much to the pur­pose, that those sawcy Wretches have had cause to think it as poor a Privilege to have their Oaths out of the cognizance of the Laws of men, as thieving Beggars do to be exempted from the danger of the Beadle and the Stocks, be­cause their Crimes are reserved for the Gallows.

[Page 11]But to resume our Proofs of the Sinfulness of Swearing: Ad­mit the Guilt of Single Oaths were no less venial than is pre­tended; yet certainly, when in most Swearers the frequency of swearing is so great, that one day may be guilty of more than a Thousand Oaths; (these Sins not growing single, as Apples or Cherries, but like Grapes by clu­sters; the Swearer's Devil having a title to the name of the Gadarene Mark 5. 9. Spirit, that, answering our Savi­our, called himself Legion) their Multitude cannot but render them considerable: And he that re­members that a Thousand Holes may as well sink a Ship, as some great Leaks, will conclude Oaths to be extremely dangerous, at least for their Number, tho they were not so for their Heinousness. Nor [Page 12] are they only ruinous to the Per­sons that use them, but have a de­structive Influence upon that State that suffers them. For whether or no what the Prophet related once of Judah, Because of swearing, the land mourneth, be not a fulfilled Jer. 23. 10▪ Prophecy of England, I wish it were rather Charity than Partia­lity to doubt. For tho the multi­tude and variety of our Sins be so great, that 'tis a puzzling Task to determine to what particular Crimes our Calamities are due, yet certainly our Oaths are too considerable an accession to our sins, not to infuse a suitable pro­portion of Gall and Wormwood into that bitter Cup (of Afflicti­on) these gasping Kingdoms drink so deeply of; and whatso­ever feather'd, I am confident our Oaths have strangely pointed [Page 13] those fatal Arrows that destroy these Nations.

As for the supposal this Mistake is built on (the Involvedness of all men in the Guilt of Swearing) it is as weak as 'tis uncharitable; for (besides that to allow no bo­dy an Innocence from swearing, is as much a Slander to mankind in its present condition, as it would be its Crime if the accusation were true) our Saviour gives us the World's Example rather for a Caution, than for Imitation: Where he tells us, That the Way to Hell is a Road, and throng'd Mat. 7. 13. with Numerous Travellers; but Heaven's Path is narrow, and the Gate that inlets to those Mansions of Bliss, as unfrequented as 'tis strait. Even Mahomet himself (in his discourse with the Jew Adia) having at the Last Day divided [Page 14] Mankind into Threescore Troops, makes but Three of them Belie­vers, and all the rest Reprobates. But certainly he whose Command this is, Thou shalt not follow a multi­tude Exod. 23. 2. to do evil, will hardly take the Practice of that Multitude for a just dispensation of the Law of that God, who having command­ed us to live by Good Precepts, will scarce accept it for an Excuse, that we have err'd by Bad Exam­ples. 'Twould be a strange ab­surdity in Physick, because a Pe­stilence is more dispers'd and epi­demical, to think it therefore the less dangerous; or to believe that the Multitude of stinking Carkas­ses can lessen the Noisomness of the Stench. But as in Pious Duties the general Concurrence contri­butes to the acceptation; so in Sins, the like Consent but hastens [Page 15] on Revenge: It being with the guilty Kingdoms as with leaking Boats, where the Number of the Passengers but makes them sink more nimbly. And accordingly we read, that the Universality of the Sodomites Beastliness was so far Gen. 18. 32. from justifying each single sinner, that they were all consum'd with Fire from Heaven, for the sole want of Ten Righteous Persons. 'Tis for them only that think it no misery to burn in Hell with others, to fancy it no sin to swear with Company: But for the rest of men, let them take this from me, that Sins whose seeming Pettiness makes them less formidable, do oftentimes prove the most dange­rous; and he that dares esteem any Sin small, may soon be brought to think none great.

PLEA II.

Well, but objects the Swearer, I do not swear so often, and my Conscience by seldom accusing me of that Sin, assures me that I do but unfrequently commit it.

Answ. But sure in Vice, whose Essence consists in a repugnance to Mediocrity, every little is too much; and he that swears fewest Oaths, swears yet too many by the whole number that he swears. One Oath is too many by one, when one is enough to damn. And who would swallow Poyson, because obliged seldom to repeat his draught? To pass over this, that the same Considerations that contract the Number of your Oaths, do aggravate their Guilt, by arguing both a clearer know­ledge [Page 17] of the ill you act, and a more bridling power to restrain it. But alas! how seldom does the silence of his Conscience make for the Swearer? We know that Insensibility of Pain may as well proceed from the deadness and stupifi'dness of the part, as from a perfect and unmolested Health. In fighting, that is held a heavier blow, that (stunning) takes away the sense of Pain, than that which pains the Sense. Be­ware your Tranquility resemble you not to the Toad, that feels not Poyson, because he is all Poy­son; and resents no alteration from it, because 'tis natural to him. There are Legions of Swear­ers, in whose mouths Custom swears undiscernedly; and who being tax'd with it, (and believe what they speak too) swear that [Page 18] they are no Swearers, and thus commit the fault they would wipe off the imputation of. But wise Physicians hold it a fatal Symptom when Excrements are voided without the Patient's knowledge; and 'tis a sign that the Thief has haunted long, when the Mastiff forbears to bark at him. In such cases, Conscience, like oppress'd Subjects under an arm'd Tyrant, forbears Expostulations, not out of want of the causes of com­plaint, but out of use of suffer­ings. But certainly this Lethargy of Security is much more dange­rous than the Feaver of a restless Conscience; since in the one, the smart soon drives us to the search of Physick, but the other is so far from addressing us to Reme­dies, that it never lets us know we need them. In such still Con­sciences, [Page 19] as in the Sea, the smooth­est Seas, the smoothest Calms fore­run the rudest. Tempests: For Conscience, when long forc'd to play the Mute, turns to a Scold at last; being like o'erladen Mus­kets, which whilst no Fire comes near them, can scarce be known from them that are not charg'd; but at the least Spark (of serious terror) that falls into the Touch­hole, they will be sure to fly a­bout our ears.

PLEA III.

True; but (may you answer) there are others that swear as much as I, and oftner; why then are not they more reprehended for more frequent Faults?

Answ. To this I may reply in the terms of the Apostle, Am I [Page 20] therefore your enemy because I tell you Gal. 4. 16. the truth? And add out of Solomon, That reproofs of instruction are the way Prov. 6. 23. Prov. 13. 18. of life. That poverty and shame shall be to the man that refuseth instruction, but he that regardeth reproof shall be honoured. And lastly, That he that being often reproved, hardneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy, I know there are many Sauls, whose Choler flames against those Davids that endea­vour their dispossession, tho they attempt the Cure even with Mu­sick, I mean, the mildest and the gentlest way. But I must beg my Swearer to consider, That 'tis an Inspired Writer that assures me, There is a generation that are pure in Prov. 30. 12. their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. Your Excuse is just as if in an Hospital a despe­rate Patient should say to his Phy­sician, [Page 21] Why I can need no Phy­sick, for there are others here as sick, and many more diseased than I.

To complain of being repre­hended for Vice, is to complain that one is car'd for; like the fa­vourite Child, that cries for ha­ving the Knife taken away from him, when it is not from others, for whom we care not whether they cut themselves or no: Which is as if our Eyes had right to quar­rel with us, for not enduring that dust there, we suffer in our Shoes. Certainly as we deserve not Praise for other mens Vertues, so can we not decline Censure by the alle­gation of their faults. Take heed there be not places hot enough in Hell, tho others fry in more tor­menting Flames; and remember, that as it is not Health to be not [Page 22] altogether as sick as gasping peo­ple, so it is but a very sorry good­ness not to be as bad as the worst. How strangely are our Affections misplac'd! In transitory Goods, which he rates justliest that prizes least, we think we never have enough, if any body else has more; but in the Goods of the Mind, which cannot be over­valued, we think our selves suffi­ciently stor'd, if others enjoy less. We are discontented at another's Wealth, and proud of his Vices; and whereas his greater Poverty should exalt our Gratitude, and his greater Piety create our Emu­lation, his Riches make us envious, and his Sinfulness secure.

PLEA IV.

Well, (may you reply) but I scorn to swear falsly; and what [Page 23] know to be true, why may I not safely swear?

Answ. This weak Objection satisfies many Swearers, (so easi­ly men believe what they desire) but with as little Reason as they swear with need: For that not False alone, but Rash and Unne­cessary Oaths are forbidden, ap­pears evidently by the expression made use of in the Third Com­mandment; where Perjury is not alone condemn'd, but it is flatly written, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Which if needless and customary Swear­ing do not, 'twill be a strange Riddle to me what the Com­mandment means to prohibit. But that this is the genuine Sense and Design of those words, is clear'd by these express ones of [Page 24] our Saviour, (cited before in St. Matthew's Gospel) Ye have Mat. 5. 33, 34, &c. heard that it hath been said of old time, thou shalt not forswear thy self, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, Swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, &c. And to this sense the annex'd affirmative Pre­cept expounds the negative Law; the word Communication in the for­mer shewing the Interdict to be chiefly meant of Oaths employ'd in common Discourse and Con­versation. Nay, God himself seems manifestly to determine all the Controversy, by that clear distinction express'd in a passage of Leviticus, whose words run thus, And ye shall not swear by my name Lev. 19. 12. falsly; neither shalt thou prophane the name of thy God: I am the Lord. And certainly if we must answer [Page 25] at the Last Day, for every Idle Word, how much more will that Account be exacted of us for eve­ry Idle Oath?

The Jews at this day, (as I learn'd whilst I lately convers'd with them at Amsterdam) have so profound a Reverence for that great Name of Jehovah (common­ly called Nomen Tetragrammaton, and Ineffable, so frequently record­ed in the Scriptures) that they hold it unlawful for Mortal Lips so much as to pronounce it: But tho I esteem this fancy suitable enough to the rest of the Extra­vagancies of their Modern Te­nents, yet certainly their Super­stition will condemn our Irreve­rence. I remember an Expositor observes upon the 6th. of Deutero­nomy, and the 13th. verse, That the word there which signifies [Page 26] Swear, is put in the Hebrew in the Passive Sense, to imply that our swearing ought to be a kind of ne­cessitated act. And a Father tells us of one Clinias a Pythagorean, who being fin'd in a great Sum of Money which he might have esca­ped with an Oath, chose rather to pay the Penalty impos'd, than not to pay unto God the Reve­rence that he thought due unto his Name. Besides, he that makes no Conscience of swearing vain­ly, will soon make but little of swearing falsly: For he that in a lower degree so voluntarily breaks God's Commandment for no­thing, may soon be drawn to break it in a little higher degree for his Profit.

And tho many of our Gallants (doubtless in a pure Complement to the Devil) are pleased to con­demn [Page 27] the breach of this Com­mandment, only when the sinner wants the excuse of an advantage by it; yet certainly he that uses to toss God's Sacred Name in his mouth without any Reverence, and employs it about every trifle, will easily be tempted not to care much what he does with it, nor to what use he puts it. And there­fore holy David makes it a sym­ptom of Hatred against God, when in a Psalm he says, Thine Psal. 139. 20. enemies take thy name in vain. These Considerations may clearly teach us what to think of those usual forms of speech, such as are, God forgive me, God help you; and the like of those customary Exclama­tions, such as are, O God! O Je­sus! and those others that are usu­ally employ'd to proclaim our wonders, or supply the want of a [Page 28] Complement, with an excess of Irreverence: For tho these unre­garded Trespasses be in most per­sons faults venial enough, as the effects rather of Ignorance and Heedlesness, than of Design; yet are they fashions of speaking, which besides that they are always needless, and often scandalous, do but inure our mouths to a very sawcy slighting of that Awful Name, which eternally to praise, shall be in Heaven both our Em­ployment and our Happiness.

PLEA V.

Nor will it avail the Oath­monger to reply, But I do not take God's Name in vain; for I swear not by God, or by Christ, or other Oaths of the like nature, but only by the Creatures, as by this Light, by this Bread, by Hea­ven, [Page 29] and the like; and the Crea­tures name I hope it is no sin to take in vain.

Answ. For sure if we will allow our Saviour to be the best Interpre­ter of his Father's Command­ments, he will teach us a very dif­fering Lesson, in those (already Mat. 5. 34. twice alledged) words of St. Mat­thew; for doubtless he that forbids to swear by Heaven, the noblest, or by Earth, the meanest Ingre­dients of this vast Fabrick of the World, intended that Prohibition should reach all other Creatures; which is as clear as light, in the ensuing words of the 37th. verse of the same Chapter; where Christ's express Injunction is, But let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil.

[Page 30]Besides, either by the thing you swear by, you mean God, or no; if the former, your Guilt is evident in the Breach of God's Commandment; and if the lat­ter, remember what the Spirit says in Jeremy, How shall I pardon thee for Jer. 5. 7. this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. And in effect, 'tis questionable in Divinity, whether be the greater Sin, to swear falsly by the Crea­tor, or with truth by the Crea­tures; for as the former is an act of high Impiety, so is the latter of Idolatry: Because swearing by any thing being a part of Divine Deut. 6. 13. & 10. 20. Isa. 65. 16. Josh. 23. 7. Jer. 12. 16. Exod. 23. 13. Worship, (as the Passages the Margin leads to, will evidence) implies in us an acknowledgment of some Divinity in the thing we swear by; which without Om­niscience, is uncapable to discern [Page 31] the inward Truth or Falshood of our Oaths; and without Omni­potence, unable to reward the one, or punish the other. A con­sideration so prevalent with many of the Primitive Martyrs, that they chose rather to expire in Tor­ments, than swear by the Genius of the Emperor. Nor is an Oath only an Act or Species of Divine Worship, Isa. 48. 1. and 45. 23. but by a Synechdoche is taken for the whole Worship that men pay their Maker, in the 63d. Psalm, and the last, and in Jer. 4. 2.

PLEA VI.

Ally'd to this Plea, is theirs that will not flatly swear by God, but by certain fictitious terms and abbreviatures, as by Dod, &c. and by the like disguizing of them believe to justify their Oaths; as [Page 32] if they cared not, so (like Saul to 1 Sam. 28. 8. the Witch of Endor) they may go mask'd to Satan.

Ans. To these I shall only answer with the Apostle, Be not deceived, Gal. 6. 7. God is not mocked; since (as the same Apostle elsewhere says) He 1 Cor. 3. 19. taketh the wise in their own craftiness. Well may this childish Evasion cheat our own Souls, but never him, who judgeth as well as he discerns Intents; and regards not so much the precise signification of your words, as what they are meant and understood for; which (in such cases) is usually an Oath, since the same credit is both given and expected upon these mongrel Oaths, that is paid to those they mean, but would not seem. These people bring into my mind the Bloody Persecutors of our first [Page 33] Christians, who cloathed them in the skins of savage beasts, that it might seem no crime to worry them; for so these Hypocrites disguise God's Name, to give themselves the license to disho­nour it.

'Tis a very pretty slight of these Gentlemen, to cozen the Devil to their own advantage, and to find out By-ways to Damnation, and descend to Hell by a pair of back­stairs; and methinks argues a Cunning much about the size of his, that pleaded he was innocent of falsifying the King's Coin, be­cause he had displac'd some Let­ters in the Motto. But to Hell, as to Towns, these singular By-paths (tho less frequented) may lead directlier than the broad High­ways: And to these Gentlemen, and those that rely upon the last [Page 34] answer'd Objection, I shall at pre­sent only recommend the serious pondering of that passage of the Wise-man in the Proverbs: All the Prov. 16. 2. ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

PLEA VII.

It is a usual Excuse of some sort of Swearers, That they swear only some peculiar Oath, and that one kind of Oath cannot amount to such a Crime as the more scrupu­lous pretend.

Answ. An Apology equally ex­cusing with the Thief's that should alledg, that he commits all his Robberies upon the same Horse; and the Drunkard, that should offer to justify his beastliness, by affirming, that he never foxes himself, but with one sort of [Page 35] Wine, or in such a peculiar un­alter'd Bowl. Remember what an Apostle somewhere says of sin­ning, Whosoever shall keep the whole James 2. 10. law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. Just as a man that wounds a Buck in the Vitals, is truly and properly said to have kill'd the Deer, altho the Shaft reach'd but the Head or Heart, lea­ving the Legs and other parts un­touch'd. Thus in a Globe, tho there be numerous parts, yet he is guilty of breaking the whole Globe, that breaks it but within the Arctick Circle, tho near the Equator it have escap'd that vio­lence; for wheresoe'er you break it, you break the Globe; its Es­sence consisting in the entireness that is ruined by the fraction of any part. Sin, because natural to us, is so readily learnt by us, [Page 36] that as in shooting, by practising to hit Wrens and silly Sparrows, we learn the art of killing Feldifares, Thrushes, and the other sort of Birds we never aimed at; so by committing some small sin, we learn, tho insensibly (and per­haps undesignedly) to commit other and grosser kinds of sins.

One act may make us do dispo­sitively, what Moses is recorded to have done literally (at the foot of Exod. 32. 19. Mount Sinai) break all the Ten Commandments at once; for sin­gle disobediences, if presumptu­ous, may have the power to exile that Fear of God, whose expulsion comprises in it the whole trade of sin, which (Conscience once de­spised) is known without being learnt. If a reverence to the Commandment were that which did place limits to the variety of [Page 37] your Oaths, it would not permit you the use of any one, but lay an equal restraint in relation to them all; since the sinfulness of swearing does consist, not in the diversity of our Oaths, but in their forbiddenness. But this Ex­cuse it self is often wanting to ma­ny of our Gallants, who not con­tent with the received forms of dishonouring their Maker's name, do as much affect Novelty in their Oaths, as in the Fashion; and if they have a gift of singularity in swearing, are as proud of it, as of their Mistress's favour: Such peo­ple are as Nice as Impious in their Oaths, they will never use any till it be stale and threadbare, but (ever like their Cloaths) leave them off before they have been worn long enough to grow old. But whilst they are thus industri­ous [Page 38] in the discovery of new ways of provoking their Creator, 'tis much to be feared, that they do but (if I may so speak) find out for themselves a Northwest Passage to Damnation.

PLEA VIII.

But, continues the Swearer, if I swear not, I shall not be be­lieved.

Answ. But ('tis replied again) Belief is better wanted, than pur­chased at so dear a rate as sin; since he that parts with Heaven, makes over a bad bargain, tho Matth. 16. 26. the whole world were the accept­ed Price. But alas! unless men will construe their disobediences for arguments of your obsequious­ness, how unlikely is it, that (by believing you speak truth, because [Page 39] you use to swear you do not lye) they should take your readiness to transgress one of God's Com­mands, for a proof that you dare not break another.

How ridiculous would men esteem that Merchant, that should be confident to gain Credit a­mongst Lenders, by giving Bond for every trivial Sum, for which others are trusted upon their bare word? For in Oaths (as in most other things) too constant a fre­quency depreciates that authority which their rareness as well as na­ture gives them: That not being held a sufficient Security for the belief of a doubted or important truth, that is lavish'd to authorise every trivial and impertinent as­sertion; nor thought a convincing attestation of a questioned truth, that flows rather from a custom of [Page 40] sinning, than design of confirm­ing. No, no; he needs not many Oaths, that uses few; for to be known to make a Conscience of an Oath, will gain your words more credit than the swearing of a thousand; it being a visible and remarkable Judgment of the of­fended. Deity upon Oaths, that their Number discredits that Truth it self would persuade.

Since then 'tis your habitude of swearing needlesly, that alone en­gages you to a necessity (as you call it) of swearing to be belie­ved, let your discontinuance re­move that obligation Custom on­ly has contracted; and believe me, that the most persuading asseveration of all, is so to live as not to need to swear. That so­ciableness which you alledge to extenuate your fault, but aggra­vates [Page 41] the heinousness of the crime; by confessing Customary Oaths to be like jealous Tyrants, whom we cannot entertain, without gi­ving admittance to their Retinue and their Guard, since in this Vice you acknowledge the act an en­gagement to a repetition; and Heb. 6. 16. that Oaths which are the ultimate and highest Confirmations of Truth in their nature, must yet (by this fine Policy) themselves derive an Authority from their Multitude; which is very unne­cessary where the Assertor is be­lieved, and usually does but create distrusts where the Veracity is not credited.

PLEA IX.

Of kin to this is their Apology who plead, That if they do not swear, their words shall neither [Page 42] be fear'd nor obey'd by their very Servants; mens ears being of late so accustomed unto Oaths, that they are necessary to make them think we are in earnest. This is the usual Objection of the French, amongst whom this Vice is grown so Epidemical (as of Blackness amongst the Ethiopians) its com­monness has removed all the de­formities they would otherwise find in it.

Answ. But sure there are ways enough to make your servants obey your Commands, without your breaking God's. Gravity and Severity, not using them to hear you swear, are courses like­lier far than Oaths to reach that end: Which if they yet should fail of, they would turn this fan­cied inconvenience into an advan­tage [Page 43] of necessitating you to the election of Religious Servants. Certainly, since the sole universa­lity of Vice has drawn upon us this suppos'd necessity, a general and unanimous desertion of it must needs be the properest ex­pedient for its removal. And, believe me, 'tis but an extravagant way of teaching our Inferiors to pay us their duties, to teach them to disobey the Commands of their Superiors by our own example, and to lead them the way to de­spise the Injunctions of the most Ador'd Powers, to whom we confess to owe an exquisite Obe­dience, upon the highest Conside­rations.

But admitting (as the disper­sedness of this Vice too often for­ces us) the supposal of this Plea to be true, yet will the Inference [Page 44] prove consequent? For by the same reason the Thief might ju­stify the unreclaimedness in his Robberies, by alledging if he for­sake that Trade, his Purse must soon grow empty: Or the Buona Roba excuse her Prostitutions, by saying, That unless she continue her former Profession of Wanton­ness, she shall no more be present­ed with New Gowns, and Linnen richly lac'd, nor be able any lon­ger to maintain her wonted Riots; her Conversion (by forbidding her to be the Cherisher of her Gal­lants loose Excesses) depriving her of the only fewel of her Bra­very. Upon how few could we with justice press Religious Du­ties, if such petty Inconveniences attending their performance, were a warrantable dispensation or dis­engagement from it? Surely he [Page 45] that requires that we should pull Mat. 5. 29, 3 [...]. out our right eyes, and cut off our right hands, if they oppose our entrance in at the streight Gate, will scarce give them admittance, that will not purchase it by the parting with such trivial Conveniences. It is much less unreasonable that you should be neither believed nor obeyed with readiness, than that God should either not be believed when he speaks, or not obeyed when he commands. For take this for a Truth, to which Oracles are Fables, That never any man commits a sin to shun an inconve­nience, but one way or other, soon or late, he plunges himself by that act into a far worse inconve­niency, than that he would de­cline.

PLEA X.

Others there are that use to re­present, That they swear not but when they are angry; and then (for all our Clamours and Exag­gerations) they mean no harm at all.

A. But would you take it for a justification of your Wife's Adulte­ries, if she should tell you, That she never prostitutes her self, but when her Fits of Lust tempt her to give that satisfaction to her appetite? Besides, this is but to excuse one fault with another; and with no greater justice, than his that should defend a Bastard's Crimes, by alledging that his Mo­ther was a Whore; since the Na­ture as well as the Duty of Virtue being the Moderation of our Pas­sions, [Page 47] it is evident that their ex­cesses degenerate into sins; and therefore how that can be a good excuse that needs one, and how that anger which in it self is sin­ful, can impart an innocence to productions in their own nature culpable, let those that are con­cerned determine.

For my part, when I consider the Apostle's Command, Be ye Eph. 4. 26. angry, and sin not; I cannot but ap­prehend, that when our Passions swell into excess, they are indeed contaminated by the Guiltiness of their Productions, but confer not upon them a meritoriousness which themselves want. But why, I pray, in every passionate mood, must you be transported to commit Sins that are as unprofi­table as impious; and to deserve your Crosses, by a sawcy Provo­cation [Page 48] of your God, whom you then endeavour to make your Ene­my, when you most need his fa­vour to protect you from disqui­ets? Why must your Tongue fly in your Maker's face, and vilify his Sacred Name, because your Dice turn up Size-ace rather than Quatre-trey? For either he is the Guider of those seeming Chances, or meddles not with their disposal: In, this last case you are palpably injurious, to make God the Object of your Choler, when he is not the Cause of it; and in the former case your folly is not inferior, in­stead of propitiating, to incense that Deity, who is the sole Dispo­ser of those Fortunes we either wish or fear.

But take heed he give you not too much pretence to be so, by displeasing you, (as discreet Mo­thers [Page 49] whip their froward Children that cry without cause) and pu­nish in his anger these rash and culpable expressions of yours. As for the other branch of the ex­cuse, I mean the harmlessness of your intent; to that I must reply, That our Actions may as well of­fend as our Intents, if they be sub­sequent to our knowledge of God's aversion to what we do. And usually men take it for a sufficient offence, to do what we are sure will disoblige them, tho with a differing design. Nor do we think our selves less injured by Rob­bers when they strip us, because they offer us that violence, not with intent to anger us, but only to make a Booty of our Purses. 'Tis a received Maxim in Divini­ty which Moralists prop with their full concurrence, That no Good­ness [Page 50] (much less bare Innocence) of the Intent can justify a formal sinful evil. If then the commit­ting of this sin against the know­ledge of the ill you act, be not crime enough to condemn you, you must not be deny'd my Abso­lution. But withal, I must ac­quit most sinners in the world up­on the self-same score; and be­lieve the threatned Flames of Hell as uninhabited as insupportable; since certainly such sinners (if any such there be) must be pro­digious no less for their unequal'd rarity, than devilish perverseness, that are such Monsters as to offend their Maker, merely to offend him. For in Philosophy our Ma­sters teach us, That Ill under that notion cannot be the object of our choice; (that being ever a real, or at least a seeming good); [Page 51] and tho in our misguided electi­ons we oftentimes embrace it, yet that is ever under a contrary notion, and rather by mistake than by design.

But oh! how industrious are sinners to deceive themselves; and how strangely does the Devil fascinate and blind deluded Mor­tals, when (by such silly and im­pertinent Excuses) he persuades them rather to expose their judg­ments to a certain discredit, than let their Souls be ransom'd from an Ignoble Slavery, into a Glori­ous Freedom; and rather suffer their Abilities to be believed weak, than permit their Lives to be made virtuous. Certainly, such people would make me as much astonish'd as themselves are faulty, if I did not consider this gallant property, of rather ma­king [Page 52] bad Apologies to defend their Sins, than good Resolutions to forsake them, as intail'd upon them by a kind of traduction from our first Parents, who hoped with Fig-leave Aprons, and the faint Shade of Trees, to hide both their Nakedness and their Disobedience from the Omniscient Eye of God himself.

I will not waste Ink upon their successless and impudent defence, that make their Drunkenness an Apology for their Swearing, and make that an excuse for their sin, which is it self a sin above excuse; but with as little justice, as the Keeper of the Lions in the Tower could excuse any particular Tra­gedy they had acted, by alledg­ing that he had voluntarily let them loose. But since the Tem­pers that most dispose men to a [Page 53] flux of Oaths, are Drunkenness and Choler, give me leave by the by, to take notice of the chief Midwives that are usually assistant to the birth of Oaths; and to observe, That as the Thunder falls not, but when Heaven is over-cast, so we are pronest to swear, when the Beastliness of our Passions hath either blinded or deposed our Reason.

PLEA XI.

'Tis confest, you may alledge, that Swearing is a most heinous Sin, but I do never swear my self, but only to repeat those Oaths of another (which are therefore his Sins not mine) whose omission would spoil the Jest.

Answ. This brings into my mind the known Story of that [Page 54] merry Gentleman, who to shew the sullen Justice how the Ma­stiff he had kill'd, had first assault­ed him and overthrown him, runs full butt at the formal Sir's breast, and sends both him and his Chair to salute the ground: For when a Sin cannot be imitated, without being committed, then that you but repeat it only, is as sorry an excuse, as his must be, who to il­lustrate the relation of a Murder, should Pistol the first man he meets withal. Besides, when did Transgression by President turn In­nocence? and what was unlaw­ful in the Act, become legitimate in the Repetition? It is acknow­ledged, that the relating of ano­ther's Oaths may sometimes be not only lawful but necessary; but then it must be either to discover or convert the Swearer; or else [Page 55] when the Oath is some material Circumstance of a serious Narra­tive. But here the very End adds guiltiness to the Action, it being only to make another's Vice ap­plauded, and render his Sin both infectious and immortal. But how will you justify this introdu­cing of God's Name only (like a Fool in a Play) to make the Com­pany laugh, and to bring it into contempt, from the disobedience to the Prohibition of taking God's Name in vain? Unless (perhaps) the consequents of your sin teach you a construction that may re­solve this difficulty; and the Judg­ments your swearing will pro­voke, shew you in what sense you have taken your Maker's Name in vain. Remember how sad a Reckoning was presented to Bel­shazzar Dan. 5. 5. by the Hand-writing upon [Page 56] the Wall, for having turn'd the Ves­sels of the Temple into Implements and Furtherers of Mirth, at his sum­ptuous Entertainment; and con­sider betimes, that God may pos­sibly less resent the making merry in his Holy Cups, than the making merry with his most Holy Name.

To this may well be added, That in this sinning at the second hand, the Copied Sin is held more criminal in the Transcript than in the Original; for besides that this Swearer by Imitation acknow­ledges himself so delighted with the other's sin, that he becomes the Devil's Mountebank (or his Zany) to have it admired by all that hear him (and we know that Appro­bation is but an after-Consent); besides this, I say, the Leading Swearer has the excuse of an im­mediate Applause; whereas the [Page 57] Apish Repeater wrongs and dis­credits his own Piety, only to ce­lebrate and proclaim another's Wit; if that be not too partially term'd Wit, that appears such only to our Corruptions: Since when the Oath must make the Jest, 'tis only the Devil in us that is pleas'd with it. Handsome Replies are good without Oaths, and dull ones will not be made good by them: To the one they are need­less, to the other they are useless; that being justly enough appliable to Oaths in Apothegms, which is usually believ'd in painting of Faces, That Beauties need it not, and deformed Women look but ridiculously for it.

Fools (says the Wise-man) make a mock of sin; they can take Prov. 14. 9. pleasure to hear him affronted, in whose Communion consists hap­piness; [Page 58] and make that the fewel of their jollity, that should be the object of their detestation. For my part I do not like this doing in jest, what a man may be damn'd for in earnest; and I much won­der that we frail Mortals, whose faults are more numerous than the very minutes we have liv'd, should think our own sins too few to condemn us, without adopting those of others too! and to our crimes (too numerous already) adding these sins of Supereroga­tion! But to resume our Theme.

PLEA XII.

There remains yet a prejudice to remove, which though very rarely the pretence of Swearers, is very often a prevalent motive to swearing, and is an evil by so much the more obstructive to these [Page 59] sinners reclaiming, by how much the more silently it opposes it. This is a foolish fancy that many Swearers cherish, that their Oaths make them look'd upon with a kind of admiration, as Gentleman­like sins; and witness in them so bold and daring a courage, that it extends to a fearlessness of God himself.

Answ. But though their blush­ing to own so childish a pretence, be a sufficient disproval of it; yet since, as in War, so in disputes, we consider not so much the per­sonal strength of the adversary we attempt, as the rank he holds among those that employ him; 'twill not be amiss to remove an obstacle, made considerable by being so great a Vice's motive, and so great a motive to that Vice: [Page 60] Though of this sort of Swearers (as of some Savages that lurk in Rocks and Woods) it be much more difficult to obtain a Battel, than to get a Victory; and to draw them to the Field, than to give them a Defeat.

Doubtless these needy Gentle­men will never tempt the admira­tion of Wise men upon any other score, than that of the greatness of their folly. They must be thought strangely necessitous of meriting qualities that do so meanly by their bad ones implore and court men's good opinion: And I know not whether be the greater, their impu­dence to expect it for the recom­pence of vice, or their profuse­ness that should squander it away on those who have no juster title to our esteem, than that by which the miserablest of Beggars pre­tend [Page 61] to our Charity, the multitude of their imperfections and wants. Wise men will make these poor and empty projects, the objects solely of their scorn and laughter; and only those that want esteem for themselves, will reward you with it; and for such peoples praises, they will but discom­mend you: So that that empty applause you are ambitious of, will either be impossible to be pur­chas'd, or not deserve to be pur­sued. But what, your Oaths will make men take you for a Gentle­man! you are deceived, there is too little Epicurism and Charge­ableness in your vice, to be affect­ed to that Quality. 'Twas still so cheap, and now grown so com­mon, that I wonder our Grandees, though they desist not for the sins sake, renounce it not, at least, for [Page 62] the Company's. Must then Vices be arguments of the possessi­on of that dignity, that Ver­tue is the sole true means to purchase? I'm sure it should not be so; but grant it were, Will you pretend to Nobility, by that alone which is not the pro­perty, but the vice of Gentle­men? and entitle your self to that illustrious Quality, by that which, in God's Eye, makes them un­worthy (if not divests them) of it? At that rate your pretensions would parallel his mirth, who boasted a descent from the first Caesars, barely upon his being (like most of them) almost de­formedly Hawk Nos'd; deriving his interest in their blood, only from his sympathy with their de­fects.

[Page 63]For my part, I must confess, I am not ambitious of those badges of Gentility, that Christianity de­livers for the symptoms of Repro­bation: Nor do I find men desi­rous of the Gout, though the Pro­verb have appropriated that dis­ease to Rich men.

But then (you think) your courage will be unquestionable: And indeed it may seem that you want not probability to prop up your hopes, since you desperately hazard the incurring of Immor­tal Torments, for that, for which no Wise man would venture the stretching of his little Finger. But since the kindred betwixt vertues is not so remote, that the want of any one should conclude the pos­session of any other, and your impiety convince us of your cou­rage; Experience teaches us, That [Page 64] no men more fear what they should contemn, than those that contemn most what they should fear. And Martyrs have embrac'd those Flames with joy, that im­pious persons durst not so much as think of without horror.

That boldness that men perso­nate against their Maker (were it real) would not be the effect of their resolution, but either of their inconsiderateness, or their unbe­lief. The wicked flee (says Solo­mon) Prov. 28. 1. when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a Lyon. And indeed it is no great encourage­ment to despise this life, to want either hope, or at least confidence of a better. Nor will all men so easily conclude, that he that fears not to venture his Soul, dares free­ly venture his Body. For since it is not the essential worth of things, [Page 65] but the proprietary's value of them, that their dearness to us is to be measured by: That stan­dard, and most mens actions, will present us the soul and body in a very inverted order of preceden­cy; the greater part of men li­ving for the Body as if they were all Body, and slighting their Souls as if they had no Souls, or had them but to lose. It being but too true of the very greatest of those people, that in themselves as in their stables, the Employment of the Man is but to serve the Beast. And truly he that considers that the neglect of the Soul proceeds from the former dotage on the Body, will think that a very un­likely consequence, that infers a readiness to hazard the latter, from the carelessness of what be­comes of the former. He that [Page 66] shakes off the emboldening Fear of God, betrays himself to as nu­merous apprehensions, as did the weak-ey'd Frantick, who to be se­cur'd from the offensiveness of the Sun's brighter Beams, by pulling out his eyes, expos'd himself to all those dangers and those horrors that attend on blindness.

PLEA XIII.

But, say some Swearers, if I renounce this Vice, my Repen­tance will procure me a derision I shall be asham'd of.

Ans. Must then that Bashfulness which is both the Livery and Guard of Virtue, oppose our ad­dresses to it? Like Ditches when the Draw-bridge is cut down; which tho their use be to secure the Fortress from Enemies, forbid [Page 67] access to them that once have sal­ley'd, when they are meditating a Retreat. But yours is an excuse as receivable as the Whores, who pretended Bashfulness for their turning honest. I was much taken with an Italian Gentleman, who spying a Friend of his peep out his head from behind the door of a Bordello, to see if he might retire undiscover'd; Come forth, come forth, cries he, you need not be asha­med to leave that sluttish place; but you should have been asham'd to have entred it.

Have Innocence and Vice then so chang'd natures, that he that did not blush to commit sin, should blush to forsake it? And he that hath once fram'd mishapen Characters, be ashamed after­wards to write a Neater Hand? The blushes that do wait on our [Page 68] Repentance, proceed from an implicite confession it imports of some former faultiness; and so if it have been shameful to have committed a fault, how much more should we be ashamed to conti­nue; and how little can it discre­dit us to forsake it? And truly, he that thinks a fault a just engage­ment to a relapse, lest his Con­version should make him laugh'd at, deserves the Censure men would pass upon that fool, who having slipt one foot into a Quag­mire, should rather proceed to be entirely bogg'd, than by timely stepping back, to confess a mis­chance that may provoke mens laughter. I had much rather men should laugh at my retracting, than God frown upon my relap­ses; and care not so much who smiles at any action that makes my [Page 69] Conscience do so, (not by way of derision, but of applause.)

How contradicting are the de­sires of mortals! We are angry if we are not thought virtuous, and yet we are ashamed to appear so, and think it a just ground of quarrel, to be reported the con­trary of what we blush to seem! Like Ladies, who tho they long to live till they grow old, fret to appear what they desire to be. The sinner that is overmuch con­cerned in bad mens opinions of good mens actions, does as it were swear Allegiance to the De­vil, and let him bore his Ear Exod. 21. 6. through with an Awl against the Door-Post, sealing an engagement to perpetual bondage; for (as the same men that crucified our Saviour, derided him) as long as the greatest part of men are wick­ed [Page 70] enough to injure Piety, there will be found men impudent enough to mock it.

For Sinners knowing that in the world's esteem, the extent of a Deformity makes it vanish, and that the Generality of a Crime does so divest it of that name, that every body's sins are thought no body's, are by the cheapness of the expedient easily sway'd to in­trust the protection of their Re­putation rather to common Guilt than to a private Virtue; and to seek an innocence rather by ad­ding to the number of the wicked, by their Calumnies and Derision, than by increasing the number of the godly by their Conversion. Thus being brib'd by their own interests to discredit such actions as they are tied to, and yet will not practice; 'tis no wonder if by [Page 71] scoffingly condemning what close­ly condemns them (tho therein their Consciences give their Tongues the lye) they cunningly endeavour to father their faults, not upon their want of Piety, but store of Wit, and to make their slavery to their Passions pass for the superiority of their Judg­ments.

But sure he is very unfit to be Christ's Soldier, that blushes to wear his Heavenly Leader's Co­lours, and wants the Courage to disobey Example. He that will take the Canaan above by violence, must imitate the Conqueror of the Canaan below, who profest to the world, If it seem evil unto you to Josh. 24. 15. serve the Lord, chuse you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods, &c. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Our Saviour (who [Page 72] for us endured the cross, despising the shame) apportions Felicity to the being reviled for his sake: And Mat. 5. 11. congruously his Apostles being causlesly misused by the Chief-Priests, departed from the presence of Acts 5 41. the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to endure shame for his name. Derision for Virtue is a grievance as old as Job; who in his time complained, that the just Job 12. 4. and upright man is laughed to scorn: And 'twas even Christ's own case; of whom one of the Evangelists in some place records, That they laughed him to scorn. But we may Mat 9. 23. say of the Resolute Christian what the Wise-man says of his Maker, That he scorneth the scorners: And Prov. 3. 34. surely, since God is said to laugh divers Transgressors of his Law to scorn, 'tis not improbable that he will not fail to laugh them to [Page 73] scorn, that for his Glory scorn not to be laugh'd at: Especially, since such persons are deeply acces­sary to their own and Piety's Disgrace, by a sneakingness which so implies a Guilt, that where it proceeds not from a fault, it is one: And themselves highly counte­nance the discountenancers of the Profession of Religion, by being asham'd to own it. Whereas the loss of the blind world's applause should prove as little dissuasive in the point of Conversion, as its acquisition should be a motive. The man that dares be good with­out a President, looks like the no­blest President of good: Tho to say truth, as Horses are not much priz'd, only for not refusing to set forth unless others lead the way, and for not leaving the track they once are in, because none but [Page 74] resty Horses are guilty of the con­trary faults; so is not the Gallan­try of contemning the opinions and smiles of sinners so meritori­ous as it is thought; since none but Children (and they too laugh'd at for it) will let them­selves be frighted from what they love, by others making mouths and faces at it. Could singu­larity in goodness consist with the innocence of others, a Gallant Spirit would look upon that Solitude rather as a delight than a determent; since 'tis not a greater Affliction to his Charity, than 'tis a Complement to his Ge­nerosity, by assuring his Devotion of the highest extraction, and re­straining the acts of it to the no­blest ends.

He is the welcomest to Paradise who ventures tho alone, and comes [Page 75] unattended thither: I mean, who by so resolute a Bravery, as setting forward to Heaven, without stay­ing for Company, gives so good Example, that he arrives there with much difficulty. To all this I must add, That when once 'tis noted that the apprehension of being derided for retracting, is the sole obstacle that stands be­tween your Reason and so impor­tant a change as your Conversion, they will justly esteem your par­vanimity so great, that you de­serve derision for so poorly fearing it; and so you will fall into that Contempt you would decline, by your very shunning of it. If then Laughter in this case cannot abso­lutely on both sides be avoided, sure it's much better to endure that of Fools at your Repentance, than that of Wise Men at your Time­rousness. [Page 76] Did not Martyrs, tho­rough Frowns, Infamy, and Tor­ments, force themselves a Passage to the same Heaven you aim at, and will you with Smiles be fright­ed from your Happiness? I am asham'd on't; and if you be not so of your self, Christ will be so of you: For, Whosoever (says our Saviour, who before Pontius Pilate Mark 8. 33. witnessed a good confession) shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father, with the holy Angels. And truly, for my part, I had rather be laugh'd at by men on earth, than howl with the Devils in Hell.