Divine Rule Now I must come close to the Point Wherefore I State the Question thus There is a lawful and only cause of Divorce namely the Case of Adultery what God saith about this in the Old Testament we already Examined let us now hear what is his Pleasure under the Gospel Our Saviour (m) Matth. 5.32 and chapt 19. from 3 to 10. in two places of St. Matthew decides the matter the first is in his Sermon upon the Mount where he Condemns the common Practise of the Jews who upon any trivial Account used to turn away their Wives as when they did not please them and the like But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the Cause of Fornication causeth her to commit Adultery The other Text is in the same Gospel where our Saviour Argues the Case against the Pharisees who had put the Question to him Whether it is Lawful for a Man to put away his Wife for every Cause In this place he more at large speaks to the Point but to the same purpose he makes a Distinction between the Law of God which was from the beginning and the Toleration of Moses only for the Hardness of their Hearts to avoid greater Inconveniences as Abusing and Killing when they were weary of them Moses did after the manner of Egyptians only to prevent a greater Harm give the People leave to put away their Wives out of a Politick Reason but our Lord sends them to the first Institution for therein he Vindicates the Law from the Abuses crept in through ill Custom and Tradition Moses Tolerated not because it was not sin but only to avoid a greater sin as might be thorough the Perverseness of their Heart making them away as I said already and our Saviour declares why those Divorces were Sins except in the Case of Adultery because this made them commit Adultery for God's Law said Thou shalt not commit Adultery This I lay for a Foundation that Humane Laws when contrary to God's cannot make this Void And thô among Human Laws several Causes of Lawful Divorce be assigned yet as said before Divines and Civilians are agreed that Adultery is a just Cause of it Our Saviour decides it in an Emphatical way But I say unto you as if he had said Thô others assign other Causes yet I own but One the Case of Fornication and the Reason is Because ' â—â—s directly opposed to the Essence and Nature of Marriage whereby according to God's Order Husband and Wife are made One Flesh which Union is broken thorough Adultery for One cannot be One Flesh with Two or more she who is joyned to an Adulterer is One Body with him as he who is joyned to an Harlot is One Body with her for (n) 1 Cor. 6.16 Two shall be One Flesh However for the Woman's Credit the Bill was given as also to Secure her in the World for she was to be cleared from Guilt or else to be put to Death according to the Law Divorce upon such Grounds was contrary to the first Institution of Matrimony for thô it be a Voluntary Act yet after it once is Contracted they may not thorough Fancy and Lust break the Bond of it for what God hath joined together let no man put asunder Only Adultery doth it Moses complyed with that Humour of theirs and that Indulgence of his was not of a Moral Concernment only for a time Human Laws do condescend to the Abilities of Men according to what they can do but God's Law hath no such Regard it sheweth what they ought to do To come closer to the Point I say Our blessed Saviour could not have spoken more clearly than he doth that as no Man may put away his Wife except in the case of Adultery so in that case she might be put away with a good Conscience and this is the true Sense of the Words by the Rule of Contraries For Christ saith That whosoever puts away his Wife except for Fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery therefore he that puts her away for Fornication and marrieth another doth not commit Adultery Although it may not be Dissolved at the Pleasure of men for 't is not only of a Natural and Civil but also of a Divine Right being as already observed a Divine Institution yet 't is not so Indissoluble but it may be Dissolved for a Cause which God approves to be just for it's Dissolution and that is Adultery for that Indissolubility is not Absolute but only in some Respects and was not intended for a Punishment but for a Comfort to the Innocent Therefore Adultery and such Impurities are a lawful Cause of a Divorce and the Woman who hath Perfidiously broken the Conjugal Faith and Contract of Marriage is justly put away and Divorced and the Husband doth very well to prosecute her in Law for that End And let the Success be what it will Christ absolves the Husband whose wife is Convicted of Adultery from the Bond of Marriage It is also to be observed how in that of (a) chapt 5.27 28.32 Matthew our Saviour hath a regard to and explains the Seventh Commandment wherein is Forbidden not only an Outward but also an Inward Adultery for the Law requires Obedience in Thoughts and Heart as well as in the Outward Act of the Body so that Lust is in God's Sight Fornication and Adultery and in the Law Adultery both in Desire and Fact is Forbidden For whosoever looketh on a Woman to Lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his Heart And herein our Saviour opposes his True Interpretation of the Law to the False one of the Scribes and Pharisees and his Judgment he declares to be Antithesis or Opposition of an Exception forbidding Divorce upon Trivial Accounts but allowing it for a just Cause namely if the Wife hath committed Adultery We also must take notice how in that Exception made by our Saviour saving for the Cause of Fornication He saith not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Adultery but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fornication whereby every unlawful Communication is signifyed so that the Word Fornication being more General and of a larger Extent than that of Adultery in as much as every Adultery comprehends Fornication thô Fornication may be without Adultery which is between married Persons and is either Simple when only one of the two is marryed or Double when both are I say hereby we are taught how great a Restraint Christ puts upon Wives and how Close he would have them keep to Matrimonial Faith and Duty Out of what hath been said I hope 't is plain and clear That a man may justly and according to the Law of God put away his Wife in the Case of Adultery As to the Question Whether the Husband 's Fornication as well as the Wife 's doth break the Bond of Matrimony and whether in that Case a Wife may put away her Husband Guilty of Fornication I Answer That
thô the Husband's Fornication be a Breach of the Faith promised and given his Wife yet God doth not Allow the man's but only the woman's Adultery to be the lawful Cause of a Divorce This was the Practise under the Law the Husband gave the Wife the Bill of Divorce but the Wife never to the Husband And herein our Saviour makes no Alteration thô he had a fair Occasion to have spoken of it and to the Purpose in case it had been his pleasure and mind to have admitted it but nothing is said in the way of Precept Approbation or Toleration in relation to 't the Reason of this Disparity on Man's behalf is shewed by St. Paul (b) 1 Cor. 11.7 8 9. Man is the Image and Glory of God but the Woman is the Glory of the Man for the Man is not of the Woman but the Woman of the Man neither was the man created for the woman but the woman for the man Now the Laws call it Adultery in as much as the Husband thereby Defiles his own Bed but not that of another But a Wife committing Adultery makes the Adulterer to defile another's Bed and bring in a spurious Seed into another man's Family therefore God's Law (c) Levitic 20.10 condemned both Adulterer and Adulteress to Death and so should the Laws of every Countrey That which made it a Capital Case Exod. 22.16 17. Deut. 22.28 29. was the Woman's being Married it was Death for any married or unmarried man to lay with a married Woman but 't was not so with the man for if a man thô married had enticed a Maid not betrothed lain with her he was to Marry her or give her Dowry in case the Father utterly refused to give her A Reason that may be assigned is this That a man was allowed to have many Wives but no Woman was allowed to have more than One Husband which gave men a great preference above Women and sheweth how the Woman's Bond was within a narrower Compass and shorter than the Husband 's which comes up to what we say how thô the Wives Fornication broke the Bond of Marriage yet the Husband 's did not It must be observed how strict the Law was against Women in this kind of Sin that if a Virgin was only Betrothed and not actually Married yet if she had suffered her self to be either Seduced or unvoluntarily Abused if she had not cryed for help in the City where she might have had it she was to be Stoned to Death as appeareth in the same Chapter 'T is observable Deuter. 22 24. that the Law which appointed Sacrifices to make Attonement for many and several sorts of Sins yet none therein was appointed for Expiation of Murther and Adultery nothing but Death could do 't God's Law doth Forbid Adultery as well as Murther and Theft so that Adultery is as much the Breach of the Law as are to Kill and to Steal and the Breakers in any Branch deserve Punishment but if there be any difference the Severity was greater against Adultery than against Theft the Adulteress was unpardonably Punished with Death but according to their Civil Laws the Thief was not punished with Death but Condemned only to make a Restitution sometimes Two for One sometimes Four and at other times Five for One Exod. 22. So that though in Relation to God both these were a Breach of the Law of an Infinite Majesty and so for both the Law required that Satisfaction which no Finite Creature is able to give to an Infinite Creator yet in relation to the Party wronged the Penalty made a great Difference in the Punishment the one being Capital the other not About this here the Laws of the Land have made a great alteration for Theft when it reaches to a very small Sum which may be called as little as Nothing is punished with Death when Adultery is not which is quite the contrary of what among the Jews was practised I know that the Ceremonial Law being Abolished doth not at all Oblige us but the Moral we are as much bound to as they were as to their Judicial Laws those which related to the Ceremonial indeed do not Tye us in the least but those which related to the Moral and are part and Explanation thereof do Now one would think it had been better in this kind of Laws to have followed the Pattern of those which God gave his People by the ministery of Moses but our Law-givers thought fit to do otherwise and we may suppose they had some Reasons for it if there be any in and for such things for indeed sometimes such Circumstances happen as do much Aggravate the Nature of Crimes as when they grow Epidemical too Common and too Frequent too Bold and Presumptuous then to prevent the Spreading and other dangerous Consequences thereof the Legislative Power doth well and wisely and God's Laws allow them so to do to put stronger Curbs and lay greater Penalties upon Offenders the Civil Power is allowed to Enforce the Observation of God's Laws but hath no Dispensing Power to Relax therefrom Wherefore if once the Legislative Power thought fit upon occasion to lay more Severe Penalties upon the Breach of One of God's Commandments than there was among the Jews much more may the same Power revive those Penalties which once were inflicted by God's Law and make Adultery a Capital Crime as it was among the Children of Israel Certainly nothing can be said thô never so much for changing the Penalty for Theft but there is more for renewing the Punishment which by God's special Precept was laid upon Adultery for now that filthy Sin is as Common Frequent and Brazen-faced and Odious as ever it was or at this time Theft can be wherefore the Penalty for Adultery should now be Death as it was in the beginning There is no Justice Equity nor Sound Reason to punish with Death one who Steals Half a Crown from me and let another who with bringing in Strange Blood into my Family Robs it of Thousands and Thousands to go Unpunished This with humble Submission I may say 't were too much for men with their Tradition to make God's Commands of None Effect Another Truth I must make out which is this After a Divorce is made upon the account of Adultery then the man is Free and at Liberty to marry another so that Uncleanness doth Intitle not only to a Separation a mensa thoro as by a new Unscriptural Name they call it of Board and Bed but also it breaks off the Bond of Matrimony and this Last is a necessary Consequence of the Former thô there are some men in the World who allow a Divorce but deny the Liberty to Marry another misgrounding their Opinion upon what is said Matth. 5.32 Whosoever shall marry her that is Divorced committeth Adultery But any heedful man to know the meaning of this latter part of the Verse will read the whole Whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the cause of
Fornication caâ—seth her to commit Adultery Then followeth and Whosoever shall marry her that is Divorced Saving for the cause of Fornication for this is Necessarily to be understood committeth Adultery Good if she be put away upon a Trivial account and not for the Cause of Adultery and in that case 't is not to commit Adultery or else our Saviour had Contradicted Himself It were most Unjust to make the Innocent to suffer the Penalty due to the Guilty which will be if either he be forc'd to keep the Adulteress or to run the Danger of committing Fornication And as once a Woman is found Guilty so let her Suffer Divorce be granted and that which necessarily follows leave be given the Husband to marry another that being the Remedy provided against Incontinency for as long as the Disease reigneth the Remedy ought not to be taken away Thorough Adultery is broken not only the Use but also the Essential part of the Contract and the Tye of it The Innocent must not suffer for 't is not he but the Guilty that breaks the Bond of Marriage so that 't is clear the Tye is broken because the Fundamental part of that Contract is thus it ceaseth then our Saviour's words admit of no Distinction Restriction or Limitation they absolutely approve of Divorce in case of Adultery and not only in part from Board and Bed as said before And every where in Scripture the Word Divorce implyes not only a Separation between Husband and Wife but also a Liberty to marry another This Point is so generally allowed by Protestants that 't is become a Controversy between the Protestant Churches and the Romish for the Council of Trent Sess 14. Can. 7. and Bellarmin de Matrim l. 1. c. 16. say That by Adultery Marriage is not wholly dissolved but the contrary we proved and Pual (e) 1 Cor. 7.27 28. saith Art thou loosed from a Wife if thou marry thou hast not sinned Marriage is a Remedy against Incontinency for saith the Apostle To avoid Fornication let every man have his own wife v. 2. and every woman her own husband And when there happens either a Voluntary Parting or a Legal Divorce a Brother or a Sister are free Certainly when the Bond of Marriage is loosed as 't is by Adultery 't is no sin to marry as the Apostle said but just now he who marries another as long as the Bond remains undissolved commits Adultery but if it be dissolved 't is no Adultery The Argument is this If for Whoredom the Man may put away his Wife then the Bond is dissolved but for Whoredom as our Saviour saith the Man may put away his Wife therefore for Whoredom the Bond is dissolved and so he may marry another except for Fornication that is without the Cause of Fornication is an Exception which happening to be the Case he is allowed to put her away Now Christ's Exception except it be for Fornication is jointly to be extended to both points of putting away and marrying another so if he may put away he may afterwards marry another In all places of the Old Testament where the Question is about Divorce it appears to be the Will of God that upon some certain Grounds it should be lawful for Persons lawfully Married to make such a Divorce as the Parties might marry others and the Jews never knew of any other kind of Divorce but that and this we have Instances of here among us In the New-Testament our Lord and Saviour and his Apostles never gave other Definition of a True Divorce than this when it is lawfully made it is lawful for the Innocent to marry again in Matth. 19. he speaks but of Two kinds of Divorce one Unlawful contrary to the first Institution of Matrimony when upon any unjust Ground a Man divorceth his Wife the other Lawful which is upon a lawful Cause namely Adultery he declares against the first and concludeth for the last whereby the Marriage is so dissolved that 't is lawful to marry another Wife And if as it ought to be by the Laws of Men as 't is by God's the Adulteress was put to Death there would be no ground left for the Question Whether the Man may marry another Wife And I think it a sufficient mitigation of God's Law here to spare her Life when in many other Countries the Adulteress is justly put to Death Now the Two matters of Right are proved 1st In Case of Adultery one may Lawfully put away his Wife 2ly Having Lawfully put her away he may marry another To this agree our famous Protestant Divines and Casuists as Calvin Beza Martyr Bucer Piscator Perkins Paraeus Riveâ—us Busanus Polanus Amesius So doth also the Civil Law but Dr. John Reynolds hath upon the matter written an Excellent Treatise which was Printed in 1609. called A Defence of the Judgment of the Reformed Churches c. Wherein he proves the Lawfulness of a Marriage upon a Lawful Divorce What the Romish Church saith and doth to the contrary is to satify her Covetousness and get Money for granting Dispenses Thus the Court of Heaven and of Conscience having declared it concerns the Ecclesiastical and Civil Courts to follow When I speak of the Ecclesiastical Court I do not intend to make it a different one from that of Conscience for of all sorts of men Divines and Clergymen are tyed to the Rules of God's Word and in a special manner bound to promote his holy Will therein contained when occasion is offered They ought to have a watchful Eye over their respective Flocks when they hear of or observe any Scandalous Practice in this kind 't is their Duty first to Admonish and if this cannot prevail to Prosecute as far as their Station will allow If they were pleased to take notice of and endeavour to reform the Abuses that lead into this filthy Sin which now we Write against they with God's Blessing might sometimes happen to prevent abundance of Evil committed in this Kind with representing how marryed women ought to avoid not only the Act of Adultery but all Inticements to and Occasions of Uncleanness as are Evil Companies unlawful Sports Dangerous Recreations too Gaudy Cloathes for their Apparel ought to be Modest so to avoid Lascivious Gestures and Obscenous Words for as in the 7th Precept Chastity is commanded so whatsoever is contrary to 't is therein Forbidden as Lust in the Heart the Eyes or any part of the Body Filthiness in Discourse Gluttony Drunkenness or any thing else apt to inflame Lust And as Matrimony is of a mixed that is Divine and Human Right so the Clergy-men especially the Heads ought in this matter to act in both Capacities to Censure Reform Punish and appear to be Enemies to Abuses and Abusers in this kind But 't is a very sad case to hear any of that Character in a solemn Assembly impiously to say how some Expressions in Scripture relating to the
after the manner of Adulteresses How so I will bring up a Company upon them and will give them to be Removed and Spoiled and the Company shall Stone them with Stones and dispatch them with Swords they shall slay their Sons and their Daughters and burn up their Houses with Fire When that Sin is not Punished with private Judgment at last God doth it with publick The Concealers the Denyers of Justice become Accessory and this bringeth publick Judgments upon Cities and whole Kingdoms And Thus saith God will I cause Lewdness to cease out of the Land that all Women may be taught not to do after your Lewdness The Lord not only maketh Adulteresses Examples of his Judgments but also makes them Examples to others as a Buoy to take Warning by When God hath been as it seemed only looking upon for a while then he sitteth upon the Judgment-seat and judgeth (m) ch 16.38 I will judge thee as Women that break Wedlock As indeed Punishment is ty'd to the Tail of Sin when un-repented (n) Rev. 2 20 21 22. I gave her Jezabel space to repent of her Fornication and she repented not behold I will cast her into a Bed and them that commit Adultery with her into great Tribulation But to return close to our Point and which is our main Design to ground it upon the Truth of God's Word which we lay our chief stress upon Before I conclude I desire the Reader to remember what our blessed Saviour the great and supream Judge said upon the matter and to make him take the more notice of it in few words I shall make a kind of Recapitulation of the Substance of it out of which it doth clearly appear that in this point of Divorce Two things occur to be Discussed which our blessed Lord doth by his Authority decide in the two places of Matthew's Gospel already Quoted in the first Occasionally when he purges of and refutes several false Glosses which the Scribes and Pharisees had put upon the Law but in the last he speaks to 't as being the matter in hand and directly to answer the Question put to him Whether for every Cause a Man might lawfully Divorce his Wife Which he denyed and gave reason for it out of Gen. 1 27. and 2.24 But because as the Evangelist Observes they came unto him Tempting him and this design was if possible to make him Contradict Moses (o) John ◠as at another time they would have done in the Case of the Woman taken in Adultery that they might have something wherewith to Accuse him here to Intangle him they brought in Moses's Authority who had commanded to give a Writing of Divorcement but of it he gave a Reason namely their Hardness of Heart whereat they could not be pleased And in the following Verse he Magisterially and by his Legislative Authority thus Decided it But I say c. These Words to be compared with those of Chap 5. which are Parallel and about the same Subject as quoted before and both do plainly affirm the self same thing which hath two parts the first about Divorce the Second about Marrying again after it As to the First there are Two Things one Expressed the other Implyed and this last as well as the first coutained in the Text Our Saviour affirm that no man may Divorce his Wife for every Cause vain and trivial as the Jews used to do but at the same time he declares there is one Cause and only that which he names Fornication for which a Man may lawfully put away his Wife For when he denies that any man may Divorce his Wife except for the Cause of Fornication at the same time he implieth that Fornication is a lawful Cause to put her away and every Divorce Grounded upon that Cause and none else Is Lawful or else why should he make that Exception If his Intention had been to Teach that there is no just cause in the World for a Husband to Divorce his Wife he would absolutely have spoken it thus for no Cause whatsoever and not have assigned one with an Exception Saving for the Cause of Fornication he must be Blind who cannot or Obstinate that will not see this Truth out of both these places But they both do also afford another Truth as a just and right Consequence of the former if the Divorce be unlawful then a second Marriage is unlawful which by the Rules of Contraries implies that if the Divorce be Lawful then a Second Marriage is also lawful so any man who hath put away his Wife for the cause of Fornication may marry another for there is no middle either make the Divorce Unlawful and the second Marriage Unlawful or the Divorce Lawful and a second Marriage so These two things are so depending one upon another and so much the Consequence one of another that we see our Saviour doth injoyn them together that having spoken of the Divorce he presently and immediately mentions a Marriage of both Parties in the 5th chapt of the Woman and in the 19th of both Man and Woman 'T is said Whosoever shall put away his Wife saving for the Cause of Fornication causeth her to commit Adultery How doth he cause her to commit Adultery Because she Marrieth another if she would continue Single there would be no Adultery committed but she marrying another Husband and the Marriage with the first holding still and not being dissolved because Fornication which is the true Cause of Divorce did not intervene then such Marriages are meer Adulteries So then the Husband who hath unlawfully Divorced his Wife if he marrieth another committeth Adultery and the Wife that is thus unlawfully Divorced if she marrieth another Husband doth also commit Adultery but neither Husband nor Wife if lawfully Divorced though he marries another Wife and she another Husband do commit Adultery as observed before by the Rule of Contraries A second Marriage is an Effect of a Divorce so if the Cause be Good and Lawful or Unjust and Unlawful the Effect must be such It is well known how by the Jewish Law and Custom a Woman Divorced might and did marry another and our Saviour finds no Fault with this nor with marrying again but with their Divorce without just Ground and Cause for if they were lawfully Divorced they might Marry again For as observed before Marriage is the Remedy which God hath appointed against Incontinency so that those who are lawfully Divorced if they have not the Gift of Chastity as the Apostle saith to avoid Fornication must Marry 1 Cor. 7. What must a Man do after he hath put away his Wife and she after she hath been put away and they cannot Contain must he turn an Whore-monger and she an Harlot How can this be justified after a lawful Divorce With Paul I may say (p) Heb. 13.4 Marriage is Honourable with all but Whore-mongers and Adulterers God will Judge Heb. 13.4 In his due time thô often (q)
Point in hand were Additions posterior to the Original without naming any Author for it An Adulteress doth quite destroy the End of Marriage for God said (a) Gen. 2.18 It is not Good for Man to be alone I will make him a Help-meet for him Thus a Wife is given a Man to be a Help unto him but an Adulteress is a Scourge and not a Help vers 23 And Adam said in the Spirit of God This is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh The Husband cannot say of an Adulteress she is Bone of my Bones but she is Bone of another man's Bones and Flesh of other man's Flesh And what shall we say to what is contained in the latter end of the following Verse vers 24 They shall be One Flesh seeing she makes her self One Flesh with another or others than her Husband whereby we plainly see the Ends of the Institution of Matrimony are wholly destroyed And as Man is to leave Father and Mother so near Natural Relations and cleave unto his Wife and they Two to be One Flesh so is the Wife to leave Father and Mother and every other Relation whatsoever and cleave unto her Husband that she may become One Flesh with him as he with her otherwise the End of the Matrimonial Bond is not Answered but made Void In Scripture Four Things are required as necessary in Marriage of those who are under the Bond of it First That Husband and Wife should Love One another to the height of Dearness which is represented by the Love (b) Ephes 5.22.23 23.25 between Christ and his Church Secondly They ought to Live together unless the Calling of God requireth otherwise for a time Now a Wife that runneth after other Flesh c 1 Cor. 7 5. may not be said to Live with her Husband but rather to depart from him in which Case she is not Divorced but goes away her self and in some Cases happeneth sometime a Circumstance material to the Point of Divorce namely when the Unbelieving Wife doth depart from the Believing Husband and breaks thus the Matrimonial Bond in such cases saith St. Paul (d) v. 15. A Brother or Sister is not under bondage Thirdly They ought not to Defraud one another of Conjugal Benevolence for neither Husband or Wife have Power of their own Body but mutually each of other's as (e) v. 3 4 5. expressed in the same Chapter therefore they may not Dispose of their Body upon others Fourthly That the Husband doth behave him self as the Head and Preserver of the Body and the Wife must submit and be subject unto her own Husband as her Head as the Church is subject unto Christ as in the fore-quoted (f) Ephes 15. place These Duties married people must observe as being the revealed Will of God and when they are Broken the Conjugal Bond is thereby much shaken but wholly Dissolved only in the case of Adultery and the offended Party hath cause if he pleaseth to Sue for a Divorce which may not justly be deny'd at least a suitable Punishment which though the Party desired not yet I think the Laws should Condemn the Offender to Indeed 't is the Duty of the Supream Power and Magistrates under them to consider of how great Consequence this matter is for a well-regulated Government as 't is certainly the Ground of all Government For what is a Kingdom but a Collection of several Shires or Provinces and these Shires of Cities and Towns and these Towns consist of Houses inhabited by Families and these Families composed of Husbands and Wives of Parents and Children Masters and Servants whereof Husband and Wife are the Spring and Foundation So that whosoever will have a well-regulated Nation he must begin with Families whereof Husbands and Wives are the Heads which is to Build upon a sure and good Foundation or else 't is in vain to look for pure Streams when the Spring is corrupt Adulterers and Adulteresses will Propagate a Spurious Brood stained with Vices derived from the corrupt Blood of their Parents for too often on the Bad Side the Proverb proves true Like Father like Son Like Mother like Daughter in some Families we see such Stains as the Ill Names and Bad Courses of Parents do hinder and ruin the Fortune of Children 'T is then palpable how Superiour Powers are concerned to make good Laws and Rules and to see they are Observed whereby the Disorders which happen in Families to the Prejudice of Conjugal Duties be Restrained and Punished Such good Orders will bring out at least in some good measure Men and Women good in every Relation better Parents better Children better Husbands better Wives better Masters better Servants better Princes and better Subjects The Importance of this Truth hath been so well known by Popes that where Popery is Predominant they have Ingrossed unto themselves almost the whole Power relating to Matrimony with their Dispensing with Forbidden Degrees of Consanguinity and Affinity and with starting new ones of their own Invention still reserving for themselves a Dispensing Power for Money wherein Princes of their Perswasion suffered themselves to be Fooled by them having first by Fraudulent Suggestions gotten the Imperial Power into their own Hands and afterwards by Force drawn to themselves the whole Authority of Judging and Determining in Matrimonial Causes as in most other matters Somewhat before we said how the Civil Law is for us now we must briefly shew it Some of the first Christian Emperours as well as some Heathen before to Justinian and after being sensible of the Necessity of Preventing Abuses in this matter by the Advice of able and wise Judges made Laws to grant Divorces for certain Causes Such among others * Cod. Theod Tom. 1 â—it 16. De repudi fol. 310. were Theodosius and Valentinian Only Three Causes are given for which a Wife may Sue for a Divorce and are therein named If her Husband be a Murtherer a Poisoner or a Destroyer of Sepulchres but she might not Sue tho he were a Drunkard a Gamester or Adulterer but the Husband might if she were an Adulteress a Poysoner or a Baud Si maecham vel medicamentariam vel Conciliatricem Fol. 313. are the words Further Sané si Divorâ—ium prior maritus c. If the Husband first hath desired a Divorce and Accused the Wife of a great Crime as Adultery let him Prosecute her according to Law and obtain Vengeance that is Divorce and enjoy the Portion and Downy for so I take it to be the meaning of suam recipiat largitionem and preseÌ„ntly must be free to marry another He upon that account not only may Sue for a Divorce which ought to be Granted but also to retain the Portion and Dowry and so leave her to the wide World without Maintainance and also marry another Nay if 't was only upon the Account of Ill Nature and Manners and not for Crimes Two Years after he may marry another Si vero
morum est Culpa non Criminum c. etiam post biennium ducturus Vxorem Which seems hard Let it be taken notice of how Adultery is a just Cause of Divorce in the Wife but not in the Husband In the same Code 't is said Quamvis Adulterij crimen inter publica referatur quorum delatio in communi omnibus sine aliqua Legis interpretatione conceditur Tom. 3. Lib. 9. T it 7. ad leg Juliam de Adulteris ad Evagrium fol. 57. c. This Crime of Adultery was so Odious that any one might be an Accuser but much more is the Husband concerned for in the said Law it is added Imprimis maritum genialis thori vindicem esse oportet cui quidem ex suspicione ream Conjugem facere nec intra certa tempora Inscriptionis vinculi contineri veteres retro Principes annuerunt Here by this Law a Husband must first Vindicate and Avenge the Honour of his Bed And former Princes allowed him to accuse his Wife upon Suspicion without Prescription of Time and tho she proved Innocent there was nothing of Punishment inflicted upon the Husband 't is wished here was in Case of Adultery no prescription of Time as there is for can any rational man say That a Woman upon Oath of two or three Evidences Convicted of Adultery to be less or no Adulteress because she is proved so a Year or two beyond the time of Prescription Is not a Murtherer a Murtherer indeed and as such to be Punished because he is Tryed and Convicted 10 or 20 Yeers after the Murther was Committed 'T is not a longer or a shorter time that can make that not to be a Crime which is a Crime indeed In my poor Judgment I must say any Human Law which presumes to Dispense with God's is very Unreasonable God hath said Thou shalt not commit Adultery absolutely without any Restriction so that to commit it is with every Person at all times and in all places without Distinction a Breach of the Law and a Sin and every Sin deserveth Punishment Again the Romans were so strict and severe or rather just that if a Woman had had her Servants Company she was put to Death and he Burned as â—t appears by the Law (h) Tit. 9. Si qua cum servo rem hahere detegitur capitali sententia subjugatur tradendo igâ—ibus verberone With them amongst several other Causes of Divorce were the following If the Husband can prove his Wife to be desirous of Feasting with Strangers he not knowing or not willing if The lays out one Night against his will or without just cause and if she doth frequent Plays or publick Shews the Husband forbidding it also for Adultery which none that hath any regard to God's Law can deny to be a just Cause of Divorce in which case Christian Emperours favoured much the Husband For if a man had wrongfully Divorced his Wife they â—aid no other Punishment upon him than that he should give back her Portion or that called Donatio propter Nuptias or Dowry or if there were none of these the Fourth part of his Goods Thus the Emperour M. Aurelius answered those who advised him to put away his Wife Faustina a very Debauched woman If I put her away then I must give back her Portion that is the Empire So he kept one for the sake of the other He tho otherwise a VVise man had not the Spirit of Julius Cesar who as I said before gave no other Reason for Divorcing his VVife than this My House must be as free from Suspicion as from Guilt Indeed the Honour and Prosperity of Families doth sometimes so much depend upon the Good Behaviour or Miscarriage of a Wife that no Husband may be Blamed for looking narrowly into it and upon this Consideration Antient Laws allowed Husband 's such a Latitude in those matters tho some were apt enough to abuse it wherefore Christian Laws have fixed narrower Bounds The Cause of Adultery Justinian in his (a) Lib. V. in Authent 22. ad con 117. Cod Lib. 5. tit 17. leg consensu fol. 162. Code from the beginning of his Fifth Book thorough Twenty-four Titles and in his Authentick 22. and some others in Constit but especially God 'T is thus Sicut enim sine justà causà dissolvi Matrimonium justo limite prohibemus ita adversà necessiâ—â—te pressum vel pressam quamvis infausto attamen necessario auxilio cupimus liberari For as we forbid to Dissolve Matrimony otherwise than upon just Causes so upon urging Necessity we desire to afford the wronged Party a necessary though unhappy Help and Relief and one of the Causes for the Man is always Adultery b Authent ut lic Mat. aviae causas Col. 8. Tit. ult nec ullo modo expellant nisi Adulteram Let him not turn her away except in the case of Adultery universally owned to be a Just Cause Elsewhere many other things to this purpose are to be seen All this we quote not that these Authorities be Laws for us but only to shew the Sense which former Ages had of these matters But though we have our Municipal Laws Statutes and Acts of Parliament yet the Authority of the Civil Law is not to be despised for it containeth much of Reason Justice and Equity and was compiled upon mature Deliberation and as I said before by the advice and help of wise and knowing men and here we are so far sensible of it as therein to yield much to our Civilians and Drs. Commons is a place well known for such matters Now to enforce this the more as we already observed by God's Law Adulterers and Adulteresses were put to Death whereby the Bond of Marriage was quite Dissolved and so at this time it should be here as in other places then there would be no occasion to Sue for a Divorce nor for leave to marry another Now an Adulteress ought at least morally to be Dead being covered with Extreme Infamy which is directly opposed to the Covenant of Marriage which is (c) Heb. 13.4 Honourable in All and the Bed Vndefiled Surely God would not have any one to live in VVedlock with those whom he would not have to live at all And indeed it is neither just fit nor expedient that an honest man should be coupled with an infamous woman The wise Roman Emperours had so great a Regard to the equal Honour of both married Farties that they lookt upon those Marriages to be of no force that were contracted between one of a good Name and another of Bad Reputation I shall not say how an Incurable Impotency of Body Madness and Leprosie are accounted just Causes of Divorce much more Adultery is so under both Old and and New Testaments and Christian Princes ought now to be as Careful as ever others were to preserve Honesty in Families which are to give a Seed unto the Church to the Glory of God hinder their being Tainted
the sight of God whose Law makes no Distinction of Sexes the Sin be equally Damnable yet as to Penalties Laws are made to put a Difference a greater Curb ought to lye upon the Woman as the weakest Vessel and so sometimes more apt to miscarry in Matrimonial Duties but chiefly because that greater Inconveniences are brought into Families thorough Woman's Failing in this then of Man's As to Men there is a great Difference and this Sin is attended with more dangerous Consequences on the Wife 's than on the Husband's side if a man gets a Child by an Harlot that Child shall not succeed in the Estate but if the Wife hath a Child by a stranger then strange Blood is brought into the Family to Defraud and Rob the true Heirs of their Right This Corruption of Blood appears too much in some great Families when the Pure Blood is stained with Base and Vile Hence it may be that we see many who go for Sons of Great and Wise Men who want common Sense and Reason either out of some Natural Cause or of some Particular Judgment of God to Punish the Unfaithfulness of some Wives or Neglect and want of Care in Husbands to prevent their Wives miscarriages in that kind We see our Laws have in the Case of Life and Death made a Difference in the Punishment to be inflicted If the Husband kills his Wife he is to be Hanged when if the Wife killeth her Husband she is to be Burned the Husband is the Head and the Offence against the Head is more severely to be Punished and as 't is so in matter of Life so it ought to be in point of Honour And the common Opinion and Experience of the World teaches how let the Husband be as Naught Debauched and Profligate as can be if the Wife be but Honest and Vertuous her Husband's miscarriage will not Reflect upon her but the miscarriages of the Wife are imputed to the Husband because 't is his Duty and Interest and hath Right by all Lawful and Reasonable Courses to hinder it Now what this Lawful Course is here I say it After a Husband hath given his Wife gentle and repeated Warnings to mind her of her Duty as to avoid the Company of such Persons as he hath cause to suspect and which he doth not like and the Wife doth not mend but goes on in her way and contrary to that which every honest woman will do she holds Corespondence with such as her Husband dislikes she having so far forgotten her Honour and Duty he ought to mind his and Remedies to reclaim her proving useless he may Sue for a Divorce which was the Antient way yet not upon so slight Grounds as practised of Old but upon such as God's Word allows of namely the the case of Adultery Julius Caesar upon putting away his Wife would say Caesar's House must be free from Suspicion as from Guilt So a man ought to provide for both his Capacities the one according to the Rank and Station he is in which he is to keep up and not to neglect else he will make himself Contemptible and lay Stains upon his Family the other is as a Christian he ought to purge his House of Wickedness to remove Evil out of it the Head of a Family is in Honour and Conscience bound to restrain in 't all Evil Courses whether of Servants Children or Wife or else he Sinneth in suffering that Evil which he can and 't is his Duty to prevent and will pass for a Man void of all sense of Honour and who cares not a Straw for his Reputation Such a Man ought to be ashamed to live thô I am not for making good Solomon's Saying (h) Prov. 6.34 Jealousie is the Rage of a Man in the day of Vengeance he will not spare Yet I would have him to avoid the other Extreme Insensibleness when he is so nearly concerned and this agreeth with what saith the Wise Man (i) chap. 5.15 16 17 18. Drink Waters out of thine own Cistern and running Waters out of thine own Well c. Let them be only thine own and not the Stranger 's with thee And that this is spoken of Husband and Wife who without Roving abroad ought to be only one for another In the next Verse he addeth Let thy Fountain be Blessed and Rejoice with the Wife of thy Youth This matter is so Copious and out of Scripture and Reason so much can be said of it that 't is almost unexhaustible therefore I intend as much as I am able to restrain it within Bounds and in Order thereunto I say after a Husband hath try'd all Fair Means to no Purpose and he seeth the Disease is beyond Remedy and finds how nothing can Prevail then they who will not do Just Things out of Love to Virtue must feel Punishment inflicted upon them a Divorce Sued for and obtained Some Divines assign several just Causes as they think to break a Marriage and others do Differ from them about it but only Two I will bring which generally are agreed upon The First When Matrimony is Unlawfully Contracted that is within Degrees forbidden by the Law of God as may be between Brother and Sister or the like then indeed such a Marriage is ipso facto void and null But here I intend not to speak of such a kind of Marriage concerning which the Church of Rome hath often and doth commit gross and intolerable Abuses in a Dispensing way with that which God hath Forbidden but my Design is to speak of a Marriage Lawfully Contracted whether there be any just Grounds out of God's Word to break it off For Marriage hath a Relation to 't and to the Good of Conscience in as much as it is a Divine Institution from the Beginning of the World Also it hath a Prospect towards the Laws of the Land wherein the Parties do live as Members of the Politick Body and the warrant from the Word is what I intend chiefly if not only to insist upon for all Municipal Laws are good only as they agree with and are not contrary to that Infallible Rule of Justice and Equity which when they Deviate from are not to be Valued There is indeed upon some Accounts a great Difference as St. Paul expresses (k) 1 Cor. 11.7 8 9. it between the Man and the Woman whereof the Excellency is on Man's side however that Prerogative of the Husband over the Wife hath sometimes been abused as by the Jews so by other Nations who would not suffer their Wives to recede specially in publick from that Obedience they owed the Husband for fear the Husband's Prerogative should thereby be Wounded upon this Ground Queen Vashti (l) Esther 1. for refusing to come to King Ahasuerus when Commanded by reason of the ill Example given thereby to the Ladies of Persia and Media by the Counsel of Memucan was Divorced but this was done by a Reason of State and not according to any
with Ignominy and restrain Wickedness and Infamy No Wise and Good Man will deny it to be the Duty as it ought to be the necessary Care of Magistrates first with Severity to Punish Whoredom and Adultery as well as Theft and Robbery for to Rob me of my Honour and of my Wife is to Rob me of my own Goods Next they are to see that Marriages be Lawfully contracted then that they be faithfully kept And lastly That upon Just Cause they be Lawfully Dissolved and leave granted again to Marry at least to the Injured Party For God never intended in Marriage to give a man a perpetual Torment instead of a Meet Help neither doth God approve that to the Breach and Violation of this Holy Contract which happeneth when Love ceaseth Murther should be added which is when Hatred doth succeed Love for (c) 1 John 3.15 Whosoever Hateth his Brother is a murtherer I think it unnecessary for me to bring any more Evidences upon this matter out of the Civil Law â—or out of the Writings of our Protestant Divines They that have a mind to be more at large Informed concerning the Point of Divorce let them peâ—use what that Famous Divine Bucer hath Written â—n his Second Book of the Kingdom of Christ Dediâ—ated to Edward the 6th and therein they may find Cause of Satisfaction as ground of Information Good Counsel he gave that Young Prince so Zealâ—us for the Glory of God that well he might have â—een compared to good King Josiah if God had â—een pleased to continue him a longer Life And â—ere again I must say that which cannot too often â—e Inculcated how certainly 't is every Prince's Duty â—ithin all his Dominions to Discourage Discountetenance Restrain and Punish all Vices especially the Sins of Uncleanness in general and of Adultery in particular to prevent the sad Effects thereof which so much Dishonour God and cause Disorders and Confusions in Families On the contrary nothing maketh us so like unto God as Holiness wherein chiefly his Image in us doth consist which that filthy Sin is so contrary to Holiness saith David becomes thine House Psal 93.5 O Lord for ever To come nearer our Constitutions I shall add out of the Book of the Reformation of Ecclesiastical Laws first began by Order of Henry 8th and continued under Edward 6th In the Chapter of Adultery and Divorce we find these Words in the Original Turpitudo tam horribilis adulteriorum est uâ— aperte decalogi praecepto confossa sit c. Whereof the Sense in English is thus Cap. 1 fol. 47. The filthiness of Adulterie is so horrible as to be plainly condemned in one of the ten Commandments and according the Old Mosaical Lawsâ— the Guilty was Punished with being publickly Stoned 〈◊〉 Death by the People and also according to the Civil Law was put to death Wherefore our Ecclesiastical Judgeâ— ought most grievously and severely to Punish a thing sâ— odious unto God and on which our holy Ancestors inflicted special Pains and Punishments Hence it is plain how according unto the Laws of God given by the Ministery of Moses by the Practice of our forme good and just Kings even before the time of Reformation and since the Beginning of it in the day of Henry 8th and Edward 6th according to our Ecclesiastical Laws the abominable Sin of Adultery may not be spared which would prove an Encouragement to commit it but ought smartly and without mercy here among us to be Punished Now to go on we come to matters of Fact aâ— of Right before the Civil Power When Magstrates know the Transgression of Divine and Humaâ— Laws in relation to Adultery they are bound 〈◊〉 take notice of and use a course to prevent stoâ—â— and punish it Death was and still in some place is inflicted on the Adulteress but 't is a great miâ—igation to reduce it only to a Divorce By 〈◊〉 general Consent of all Nations which by the Law 〈◊〉 Nature might know how Sacred a thing Marriaâ—â— is not to be broken upon every slight Ground however in some certain Cases of which Adultery ever was one they all allowed of itâ— Romulus made a Law that it should never be Lawful for a Wife to leave her Husband but to him permitted to leave his Wife in some cases as of Adultery Witchcraft c. So that our Christian Magistrates if they will not make themselves worse than Heathens when a Husband is a Sufferer by the Injustice done him by his Wife and becomes a Plaintiff there ought to be a readiness in those concerned to hear his Cause to examine the Grounds and at last to do him Justice And this regardeth not only that sort of Magistrates that are intrusted only with the Executive part to see it done but also those in whom resides the Legislative Power to see that Laws be executed and also if Occasion and the Necessity of the Case requires it to make new ones Would to God Magistrates would take such effectual Care to Punish the Guilty in this kind according to Divine and Human Laws that no place might be left for Disputes and Questions The Adulteress is not worthy of Compassion only of Torments and Pains chiefly when she hath made unto her self an habit of that Sin and no man may have the Charity for the Guilty as to wish her not to be Accused for Adultery is a publick Crime which for it self and Terrour to others ought publickly to be Punished and Discountenanced And herein after private Admonitions proved useless to Dissemble is not praise worthy as some do fancy for this Vice introduceth Disorders into Families Scandals into the Church and Confusions into the State 'T is easy out of Antient and Modern History to Evidence how Fornication and Adultery have been the cause of the Overthrow of great Empires of Calamities to Potent Nations of the Ruin of great Persons and of very considerable Families Abimelech King of Gerar a Philistine who having nothing to do with the Covenant wanted the true fear of God yet how doâ—â— he reprove Isaac as if in this kind he had laid a Snare against him and his People for saying his Wife was his Sister (a) Gen. 26 9 10 11. What is this thou hast done unto us One of the People might lightly have lien with thy Wife and thou shouldest have brought Guiltiness upon us And Abimelech charged all his People saying he that toucheth this Man or his Wife shall surely be put to Death This was to secure both Isaac's Life and Rebeckah's Honour which last they would hardly have attempted upon but after the destruction of the first In Egypt Pharoah's words (b) Gen. 12. to Abram were to the same purpose upon the like Occasion So sensible they were how they ought not to meddle with another man's Wife as long as her Husband is alive and this was the Ground of Israel's fear for his Life thô thereby his Wife's Honour was the more
and Daughters of Whoredom and Adultery Therefore all imaginable Care must be had to put a Restraint upon such Evil Courses as lead into such Dangers Now as to Adultery if as we ought we have a regard to the Law of God the same Severity should be used to punish it as Treason and Murther for God who saith Thou shalt not Kill hath also said Thou shalt not commit Adultery Hence it is as I said before that by God's Law the Adulterer and Adulteress were put to death as well as the Murtherer A Thief for stealing from me the Value of Eighteen-pence shall be Hanged and he or she that Robbeth me of my Reputation and my own Blood of my Estate and Succession shall go free and be unpunished This indeed is very strange and un-equal As to the Laws of men I shall allow a Disproportion how with some Treason is a greater Crime than Adultery though with others both are Capital so let the Punishment be less not to reach to Life for Adultery as for Treason Murther and Theft However when we come to prove matter of Fact there is in some Cases for Adultery to fill up the Disproportion Shall not actual Attempts be Equivalent to prove a Fact as well as bare Words If Treasonable Words be proved against one he is thereby Convict of Treason and if a man be found alone in a suspected place with another man's Wife lockt up in a Room and upon Oath in such a dishonest and unbecoming Posture with such other Circumstances not fit here to be named which though they prove not rem in re yet are not only strong Presumptions but also clear Evidences of a Design and actual Attempt to commit Adultery much more when Fruits of such Meetings appear it may reasonably be concluded specially after a publick Noise in the World of such Intreagues that this is not the first meeting they had upon such an account When once Affections are Debauched and both Parties willing to meet they shall not want Occasion at one time or other though never so strictly observed to indulge their Lust much more if both Parties be free from any Watch set upon them After such Evidences doth not this cerrainly and justly deserve the Penalty of the Law namely a Divorce 'T is a sad and shameful thing that among such Christians as make a Profession of owning the Word or God's Laws especially those that are of a mixed Nature and regard in part Religion and in part Order and Preservation of Society should not as much as may be according to the Pattern of God's Law the Rule of all Equity but the Accident must be minded more than the Substance and the Shadow be preferred before the Body for want of one Circumstance And because such a Crime was committed within a Year or two before such a Time that is before the Offender was Prosecuted for it though proved Guilty yet must escape Is not an Adultery committed Seven Years ago an Adultery as well as that committed within these Four or Five Can that Circumstance alter the Nature of the Thing and make that not to be Adultery which is so indeed Shall we find Justice no where on the Right or Left-hand Above nor Below After this one may say 't is not to be found among us which way soever we turn ourselves to have it Then we must look up to God who in his due time will for certain render it and may be with a Witness against the Guilty and all that are Accessory to 't as are of all the Evil committed since those that spared and justified the Wicked The Law hath so well provided in Cases of another kind If a man hath spoken Threatning Words he is bound to his Good Behaviour An Attempt of Rape though not Executed deserveth Death though this may be as Unvoluntary as Adultery is Voluntary That party which giveth and exposeth that which is not her own ought to be Punished as well as he who taketh that which is not his own Now we know that (a) 1 Cor. 7.4 The Wife hath not Power of her own Body but the Husband Must the Husband be Betrayed and know that to be given to others which is his own and take great Care and Pains to get and preserve an Estate for a Stranger 's Blood and have his Bed daily Defiled without Help and Remedy 't is very sad indeed chiefly in a well governed State (b) Jerem. 2.24 A wild Ass used to the Wilderness that Snuffeth up the Wind at her Pleasure in her Occasion who can turn her away All they that seek her will not weary themselves in her Month they shall find her No wonder because she is Wild if during Rutting time and Madness none will take pains in vain to reclaim her yet there is a time when she comes to her self in her Month and shall there be no Time nor Way to Tame an Adulteress Must she run as far and as long as she pleaseth without Restraint in her Wickedness And must she be Indulged and Incouraged in her evil Courses Few such Examples can soon Infect a whole Countrey for Evil Ones are followed rather than Good If we have good Laws why are they not put in Execution If in this kind we want them or they be defective why should we not have them (c) Gal. 3â— 19. The Law must be added because of Transgressions When Transgressors are increased if Laws in being are not sufficient to Restrain them they must be Multiply'd if Old Ones be Dormant let them be Revived and put in Execution This doth depend upon the Prudence of Law-givers who from time to time as they see Cause for do Enact New ones yet this may be said none can be made more Necessary for the Glory of God and the Good of Civil Society than to prevent and punish Adulteries whereby Order Interest and Peace of Families are over turned Base and corrupt Blood being mixt with Noble it peopleth the Countrey with a Spurious Brood and makes the Nation to Degenerate from Vertue to Vice If this Evil ariseth out of Remissness in the Executive part there it ought to be Remedied and Punishment inflicted as well as upon Adulterers and Adulteresses who thorough Perjury and Breach of the Matrimonial Bond and by such abominable ways do what they can to Confound and Ruin Families which should deserve no less than Death so that Divorce is a great Mercy and thorough this gentle Punishment they have time allowed if God be pleased to give them Grace to Repent of their Lewdness But to some may be applyed what God saith (d) Jerem. 3.3 Thou hast a Whores Forehead thou refusest to be ashamed Here I suppose a Case A Husband upon Information given him and out of his own Observation findeth he hath Cause to Question his Wife's Honesty and that she is Unfaithful to him he knows the Person and is acquainted with several Circumstances of time and place and after