Connection And therefore I conceive the antient Expositors of the Law contracted what Moses had said into this Motto Whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment 2. What is said here of Killing is meant of killing a Man and hath respect to the sixth Commandment Thou shalt do no Murder By which Law as the killing of Beasts for Man's use could not be intended nor destroying venomous and noxious Animals nor executing of Malefactors by order of the Magistrate nor depriving Men of their Lives in a just and lawful War but an unjust depriving a Man of his Life so there was a punishment suitable annex'd to the breach of that Law which Punishment was to be ordered and inflicted by the Magistrate and so far as the Law of God given by Moses went all was right and just and reasonable but here the Masters of Tradition had made a Distinction that if a Man had hired another to kill his Neighbour or had let loose a wild Beast upon him whereby he died the Magistrate was not to inflict the Punishment of Death upon him but he was to be left to the extraordinary Judgment of God but if he killed him in Person either by a Sword or by a Stone or by some other Weapon then the Magistrate was to execute the Penalty appointed by the Law of Moses upon him but this was not all for they taught moreover that though a Person who killed another was liable to capital Punishments yet the Wrath the Anger and the Malice that prompted him to it was a thing that deserved no Punishment and therefore this was not a thing to be feared and here came in Tradition which mis-interpreted the Law of Moses though it stands to Reason that he who forbids a Sin at the same time doth forbid the occasion of it and all such things as do naturally lead to the Commission of it 3. Our Saviour to shew that Wrath and Anger and Malice and reproachful Language were liable to Punishment as well as Murder and that God would certainly lash them as well as the greater Enormities takes notice of several degrees of unjust Wrath and Anger The first is a sudden Effervescence or Boyling up of the Blood or some violent Agitation and Commotion of the Passions upon a frivolous occasion and therefore adds 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without sufficient Cause which though it be not in some Copies yet must necessarily be understood here not denying but that Anger in some Cases may be lawful but shewing withal that if the occasion of the Anger be slight and trivial and the Anger even in a lawful Cause be excessive and going beyond its just Bounds it provokes God's heavy Displeasure But then if this secret Anger within or the first boyling over of the Blood proceeeds farther to contemptuous Words and that a Man in Wrath and Malice gives his Neighbour reproachful Language despising and undervaluing him by using Expressions and Names which wound his Reputation intimated by the Word Rakah i. e. vile and worthless Wretch though I am apt to believe that an angry and threatning noise and posture is chiefly meant by that Word in this Case the Sin rises higher and becomes greater and consequently deserves a severer Judgment but then if this Anger mounts higher yet and from an angry threatning Posture and Noise which betrays Wrath and Indignation it proceeds to the calling our Neighbour Fool i. e. wicked and reprobate Wretch deserving the eternal Anger both of God and all good Men which is the meaning of the Word Fool in the Proverbs of Solomon as the Sin becomes more heinous by this Aggravation so the Punishment of it in the other World will be greater yet 4. What our Saviour saith here of a certain Gradation of Punishments due to the several Lusts and degrees of Wrath and Anger Judgment Council Hell Fire must be understood of Penalties in the next World yet with allusion to the degrees of Punishment among the Jews in this Life Now among the Jews there were three degrees of publick Infamy according to the nature of the Punishment inflicted on Men for their Crimes and the more publick the Punishment was the greater was the Infamy If an Offender were brought before the Court of Three and twenty which was an inferiour Court of Judicature called here being guilty of the Judgment and there condemn'd he was infamous and a great Disgrace it was to him but in a lower degree If he were brought before the Sanedrin or the Great Council of the Nation consisting of LXX Elders in the nature of our Parliament and by them adjudged to Death the Infamy and Disgrace was greater Yet if lastly a Man were condemn'd to be burnt in the Valley of Hinnon or Tophet where all the Trash and Filth of the City of Jerusalem the Garbage and dead Carcasses were burnt and where antiently they offered their Children to Moloch and where a perpetual Fire was kept to consume all things that were offensive and nauseous and which by the Jews themselves was look'd upon as an Emblem of Hell Fire the Infamy was greatest of all According to these degrees of Infamy here on Earth Christ shews there will be degrees of Punishment for the several degrees of unjust and unlawful Anger in the other World for most certainly this Threatning cannot be understood with respect to this Life there being no such thing inflicted upon Men for Anger and reproachful Names on this side the Grave and whereas the Jews were generally afraid chiefly of Punishments in this Life Christ thought sit to acquaint them and us that we had far greater reason to be afraid of the Punishments in the next as more dreadful and more grievous than any they could fear here on Earth And this is the meaning of the Commination in the Text Whosoever c. From the Words thus explained arise these following Truths I. Antiquity is no warrant for erroneous Doctrines and Practices II. Murder is a Crime which the Magistrate must by no means suffer to go unpunish'd III. Wrath and Anger without a just Cause hath its degrees and according to the degrees of the Sin the Punishment in the next World will be proportionable 1. Antiquity is no warrant for erroenous Doctrines and Practices The Scribes and Pharisees here pretended that what they taught and practis'd concerning the sixth Commandment was deliver'd to them by them of old Time But our Saviour shews that this pretence could be of no use to them but rather betray'd than cover'd their Nakedness Error pleads Antiquity as well as Truth and though nothing be more antient than Truth for it is from Eternity and before ever Error appear'd in the World Truth had the universal Monarchy yet Error is as ancient as the Fall As soon as the Apostate Angels forsook their Habitation and Integrity together Error began to shew it self which soon spread it self through the habitable World when Man tempted by the Devil consented to his false
with greater Terrour they may fall a Sacrifice when they die to hellish Furies Nor can Duels and single Combats upon an Affront receiv'd and Challenging one another to fight be excused from sharing in the Heinousness of this Guilt for whatever fine Names and plausible Descriptions the Law of Honour may have made of such Actions he that kills another in a Duel though he gets a Pardon of his Prince will be Arraign'd in the last day among the Murtherers who shall have their Portion in the Lake which burns with Fire and Brimstone I do not deny but that in the dark Times of Popery such Combats have been allow'd of and publick Prayers have been said for success in such Duels but what Credit can a Cause receive from Ages in which to understand Greek was a Crime and Hebrew next to Heresie We need not wonder that Babylon the Mother of Harlots should permit such things whose Garments have been died Red with the Blood of the Saints of God and which hath Tricks and Ways to Canonize Assassins to consecrate Murther and to Christen Massacres Services of Religion To call upon you to take heed of having a hand in Blood were to discourage you from drowning or poisoning your selves or running a Sword into your own Bowels for indeed this is no better and whatever varnish may be put upon it it is precipitating your selves headlong into the Gulf of Perdition There is in this Sin all that can aggravate a Deed it is to raise a Hell in your Bosom and the thing it self speaks so much abomination that to name the Sin is to give you a thousand Arguments against it But then that ye may not be under any temptation to this Sin let bitterness and wrath and anger be put away from you with all Malice which leads me to the third Proposition III. That Wrath and Anger without a just Cause have their Degrees and according to them the Punishment in the next Life will be proportionable For whosoever shall be angry with his Brother without a cause shall be in danger of the Judgment and whosoever shall say to his Brother Raca shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say thou Fool shall be in danger of Hell-fire That some anger is lawful is evident from hence because Christ himself was angry and very angry sometimes and so were the Apostles and we are permitted to be so but with this Caution be angry and sin not i. e. so as not to Sin Eph. iv 26 So that all Anger is not a mark of Damnation But then when the Author and Captain of our Salvation Christ Jesus and his Holy Apostles were angry it was only against Sin and out of a Zeal to Vertue and when Men were obstinate and would not be perswaded to do their Duty and a Sense of God's Glory kindled the fire of their Passion in which Case to be angry is a Perfection and to be passionate a Christian accomplishment provided still that the bounds of that Anger be observed and it's heat do not turn into Wild-fire that it be not attended with unseemly Expressions nor accompanied with furious Gestures and Actions I do not deny but a Man may be angry with his Servant a Father with his Children and a Master with his Scholars and proceed even to Correction but then it must be because they neglect their Duty or will not hearken to wholsome Admonitions and when gentler Addresses will do no good and the Anger must be more upon the account of their Sin than out of any Desire to revenge and it must be an Anger mingled with Pity and Compassion and which ends in Prayer for the Offenders and it must be free from Fury and reviling Language And being kept within these Bounds I find no fault with this Anger But this is not the Anger my Text speaks of and against which Christ levels his Commination here for that 's Anger without sufficient Cause even Anger because our worldly Interest is not promoted as we expected or because our Honour and Reputation is touch'd or because something which gratifies our Lusts is with-held from us or because our vain Desires are not cocker'd and flatter'd or because such a Person hath not given us the Title and Respect we look'd for or because we cannot digest a Reproof or because we are cross'd in our Designs or because such a Man is not of our Opinion or because he will not conform to our Humour These are the things which commonly provoke to Passion and this Anger the farther it goes the worse it grows if from Thoughts and secret Grudges it proceeds to contumelious reproachful and reviling Language to calling the party ill Names Fool and Rogue and Villain and Rascal and Knave and Cheat and Hypocrite and such other Titles as Modesty will not suffer us to Name it becomes greater and if from Words and Expressions it goes farther yet even to Actions of Revenge and settles in Hatred in Rancour and inveterate Malice it then shuts out the Righteousness of God and lets in the Devil and invites evil Spirits to come and Lodge in that House and the last Estate of that Man grows worse than the first And is not this the Case of abundance of you Do not you see something in this Glass that 's very like you and resembles your Temper And do but consider what weakness what impotency of Reason and Spirit you betray and discover by such doings Is not this an inlet to confusion and every evil work Jam. iii. 16 Is this the Christian Spirit Is this to know what manner of Spirit you are of Is this treading in your Masters steps Is this following his Example Who when he was reviled reviled not again Dare you appear before the Son of Man in the last day with such a Disposition of Soul never yet seriously repented of Is this to resist the Devil Is this to purifie your Hearts Have you so learned Christ Is this to be Children in Malice as you are bound to be by your Profession Is this to crucifie the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts upon the least Provocation presently to be in a huff presently to let your Tongues loose and to break forth against your Brethren in Language fitter for Turks and Indians than for Christians Is this to be meek as Doves Is this to Love one another with a pure Heart fervently Is Hell-fire nothing but painted Flames Hath our great Master threatned it and do we make light of it Can you seriously reflect upon this Commination and be unconcerned And is not this threatning a Call to Repentance What a Mercy is it that God will accept of a sincere Repentance after such Provocations But how can you repent of your Passion if you do not mortifie it How can you mortifie it if you do not conquer it How can you conquer it if you do not strive How can you strive if you do not use the proper means and weapons
complain of Wrong is no just Offence given since the Law of Nature and Scripture doth not absolutely forbid it and the Common Good which the Law of Nature hath respect to sometime requires it so that if a Person Vitious and Brutish and Covetous and Illnatured Base and Selfish who is able to pay and will not and deals Fraudulently and Deceitfully be cast into Prison it is no Breach of Charity provided still that it is not Anger or Malice or Revenge or delight in Men's Misery or some other base sinister End and Design that is the cause of our taking this rougher Way but love to Justice intent to reform the Offender by Affliction and care to prevent his continuance in Sin and doing hurt to others c. And if there be no Breach of Charity there needs no Reconciliation It 's granted the Law of the Land allows you to Arrest any Man that is indebted to you whether he be able to pay or not But may it not be said in this Case as Christ to the Pharisees in the Law of Divorce for the hardness of your Hearts the Law permits it but still it doth not hinder you from shewing Mercy The Law of the Land contradicts not the Law of the Gospel nor was it ever intended to draw Men off from their Duty to God and to their Neighbour and since Charity is the great Gospel Duty we must think our selves obliged more by what the Gospel commands than by what the Law of the Land permits and though it be a kind of Charity to punish Malefactors yet every Debtor comes not into this Number nor must those to whom it is an Affliction not to be in a Condition to satisfy their Creditors be confounded with the Wicked that borrows and pays not again This being Premised I shall consider what Use we are to make of these Words of our Saviour and this will soon appear if you will attend to the following Observations I. While a Man keeps or maintains Hatred and Malice to his Neighbour in his Heart God is his Adversary II. To agree with God betimes is our wisest Course III. God deals very gently with us before he lets us feel the heaviest Stroak of his Vengeance He both calls to Repentance and gives time for it IV. Delay of true Repentance provokes God to proceed to very severe nay to the severest Courses of Vengeance V. Hell is a Prison from which there is no coming out till all the Debt be paid I begin with the First I. While a Man harbours Hatred and Malice in his Heart to his Neighbour God is his Enemy-or his Adversary So much is evident from the Similitude here used where what is said of an Adversary among Men is referr'd to God as such a Person deals with a perfidious Debtor here on Earth so God will deal with the Uncharitable and Persons who will not be Reconciled to their offended Brethren Till Affliction and Trouble comes very few People will believe that God is their Adversary Indeed when a great Loss befalls them or some painful Disease seizes upon them or a Distemper that very much discomposes and disturbs their Minds hangs about them or some other Disaster unforseen and unlook'd for happens then God from whom the Affliction comes is look'd upon as an Adversary and Men are apt to believe he is angry with them but while Prosperity lasts and that Sun continues to shine upon them and Ease and Plenty are their Companions and like officious Servants wait upon them then God is a Friend and they will have him to be so sometimes whether he will or not But as Gods Favour and Hatred are not to be measured by outward Accidents not by outward Want or Plenty so it is certain it may infallibly be known whether God be our Friend or Adversary by our Obedience or Disobedience to his Holy Commands let our outward Condition be what it will So that if you live in Disobedience to his express and peremptory Commands it is a never-failing Sign that God is your Adversary though you wash your Feet in Butter and the Rocks pour you out Rivers of Oyl though your Oxen be strong to labour and your Sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousand in your Streets and particularly if no Argument no Motive no enforcive drawn either from the Word of God or from your Spiritual and Eternal Interest or from the Examples of Holy Men or from the reason of the Thing can prevail with you to be Reconciled to your Brethren with whom you are fallen out it is as sure as any Oracle in the Bible that God is your Adversary Perhaps such an Adversary you like very well that Crowns you with temporal Blessings and lets you enjoy what your Flesh desires and fills your Bellies with hid Treasures These are the Things you are fond of and you desire to be punish'd with such outward Conveniencies and Accommodations And indeed if this Life were all you have to look after the Argumentation or Inference would not be amiss But did not Dives live as Calmly and as Plentifully as you can do and yet when his Body dropt from him and was Buried the Man the unhappy Man felt what it was to have God for his Adversary The very Plenty he formerly enjoy'd became now an Ingredient of his bitter Potion and he felt the Might of his Adversary's Hand his former Prosperity was so far from being a Sign that God was his Friend that it gave Evidence that he was his Enemy and he that had formerly look'd upon him as the Fountain of Mercy now found him to be a Spring indeed not flowing with Milk and Honey but with Fire and Brimstone so that upon the whole Matter it is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God Heb. x. 31 And therefore certainly to agree with him betimes must be our wisest Course which is the II. Proposition I am to speak to Agree with thine Adversary quickly Agree with God! Who would have any Difference with him Who can grapple with him Who can resist him Who can make his Party good against him Poor feeble Clay Shall it rise against the Porter who hath Power to make of it a Vessel of Honour and Vessel of Dishonour Agree with him The Greatness the Majesty the Excellency of God one would think should be Motive great enough to labour to be at Peace with him To be at Peace with him is to be at Peace with our Consciences and with him who hath promis'd to make all our Enemies to be at Peace with us and can make all the Elements to be at Peace with us so that the Sun shall not smite us by Day nor the Moon by Night so that the Air shall not infect us nor the Water drown us nor the Fire burn us nor the Earth swallow us up But then how can we agree with him except we walk with him Except we be of the same Mind with him Can we say
and if we may believe the Jews the Form of it was this I such a One the Son of such a One such a Day of the Week such a Day of the Month such a Year after the Creation of the World in such a Place or City or Town have freely voluntarily and without Compulsion dismissed rejected and repudiated such a Person the Daughter of such a One and have given a Bill of Divorcement into her Hand and given her Leave and Power and accordingly she hath leave to Marry with whom she thinks fit according to the Constitution of Moses and the Children of Israel The reason of giving this Bill of Divorcement in St. Austin's Opinion was 1. That in the Writing of this Bill the Husband's Anger might have time to cool and he consider what a Rashness it was to put her away and whether there was sufficient cause for this Severity 2. That things might be done according to Law and that he who had put away his Wife might not afterward be able to demand her again 3. That she might be empower'd to Marry again for which Power she had this Bill or Certificate to shew a Bill which declared that she was fully discharged from her former Husband So much I thought fit to observe concerning this Law of Moses But let 's go on and II. Enquire why our Saviour did forbid and abolish these Divorcements in the Jewish Sense But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife c. The Reasons are these following 1. These Divorces of the Jews were arbitrary Effects of a bruitish lawless Will meer actions of Revenge and though Moses had given them leave to put away their Wives for less Causes than Fornication or Adultery yet they were such Causes as were arguments of great Turpitude and Scandal and made the Man not only very uneasy but prejudiced him in his lawful Calling and reflected upon his Prudence and Reputation But the Jews ventured to do it for any Cause whatsoever and of that Cause themselves would be Judges and therefore Christ had reason to Abolish that Custom 2. What liberty God gave them by Moses as to these Divorcements it was not so much out of any respect to the intrinsick Goodness of the Thing as to prevent greater Evils And therefore our Saviour in plain Terms tells the Jews Matth. xix 8 Moses for the hardness of your Hearts suffered you to put away your Wives The Jews were a surly humorsome and ill-natur'd sort of People and to prevent their Murthering Poisoning Beating or abusing their Wives he suffered these Divorcements and that 's it that all wise Lawgivers ordinarily do to prevent a greater they connive at a lesser Evil the Peace and Nature of the Government requiring so much Even among our selves and in the Land we live in several things are permitted which Authority doth not much approve of And accordingly these Divorces having been permitted during the Jewish Oeconomy when the People and the Dispensation were weak it was necessary when that Oeconomy came to cease those Divorces should cease too 3. Christ came to reduce all and Matrimony especially to the first Institution And therefore could do no less than Abolish all that contradicted the Primitve Rule And accordingly he tells the Pharisees Matth. xix 4 8. Moses for the hardness of your Hearts suffered you to put away your Wives but from the beginning it was not so Have ye not read thou he which made them in the beginning made them Male and Female and said for this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother and cleave to his Wife wherefore they are no more twain but one Flesh. What therefore God hath joined together let no Man put asunder The Divorces which were practised among the Jews and other Nations the Persians the Greeks the Romans though as to the Romans it must be confessed it came in very late among them for though there was no Law against Divorcing yet for 520 Years there was no Example of Divorce among them so undecent did they take it to be and therefore there are very few Writers but what condemn Cicero for putting away his Wife Terentia with whom he had lived many Years These Divorces I say practised by the Jewish and other Nations were great Violations of the Primitive Institution of Marriage and of the Innocence and Perfection of Paradise Christ's Province being to reintroduce that Perfection and Innocence and to establish it among his Followers could do no less than Abolish the abuses which corrupt Nature and a more corrupt Commonwealth had brought in And this very argument makes Polygamy or having more Wives than one Sinful because it contradicts the Primitive Institution which God indeed relaxed for a certain Time during the Infancy of the Church but Christ justly reduced to it's former Bounds and Limits under the Gospel which affords greater Helps and Motives to observe those Bounds and shews a better way how Men may be cured of the Hardness of their Hearts than any Discipline whatsoever And yet even under the Gospel there is something that makes a Divorce lawful and that is if one of the Married Parties proves guilty of Adultery which leads me to the III. Enquiry Why Adultery or Fornication is a just Cause of Divorce and whether this be the sole Cause that justifies such a Separation But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his Wife saving in the case of Fornication And though St. Luke and St. Mark do not mention this Exception yet we know that one Evangilist must be explained by the other The reason that makes Divorcement in case of Adultery lawful is this because by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony is broken What some say that the right or Bond of Cohabitation is broken but not the Bond of Matrimony seems to be of no weight for the Words of Christ are very Express and Emphatical Whosoever shall put away his Wife 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saving in the Cause of Fornication And therefore certainly in the Case of Fornication it is lawful to put her away which could not be lawful in that Sense the Jews understood Christ in i. e. so as to be permitted to Marry again except the Bond of Matrimony had been broke by the Fornication for as by Matrimony Man and Wife are one Flesh so by Fornication they are no more one but the Person who commits Lewdness becomes one Flesh with another and though it is said that what God hath joined together let no Man put asunder Matth. xix 6 And though we read that a Woman which hath a Husband is bound by the Law to her Husband so long as he lives yet this is to be understood of married Persons who live in conjugal Chastity and while this is done to be sure the Bond is not dissolved 2. Christ having restrained the Lawfulness of such Divorcements to Fornication and Adultery it cannot be safe to invent more Causes I will not deny but there
Adultery after that all Attemps of reforming the guilty Party prove ineffectual separate and are Divorced one from the other I say it 's fit it should be done before Persons Wise Judicious and in Power that they may judge of the Justice of the Divorce be satisfied in the Reasons of it and be able to give a good Account of it to others and that the Doctrin of our Saviour or our Religion be not Blasphemed or evil soken of And when among the Athenians the Woman who had a mind to be Divorced from her Husband was obliged to appear in Person before the Magistrates and cite the Husband before them we that are Christians ought not to be Inferiour to them in Prudence and Discretion VI. Whether after such Divorcements the innocent Party or both Parties may Marry again Concerning this Question there have been three Opinions for many Ages Some have thought that it is unlawful for either Party to Marry again Some that it is lawful for the Innocent others that it is lawful for both Parties to re-enter into the State of Matrimony It was look'd upon by many Christians as lawful to Marry again after Divorces In Tertullian's Time Origin affirms it was permitted by some Bishops in his Days It was somewhat late indeed before the Councils of Eliberis Arles Orleans and Venice gave way to it but till the Council of Trent there was no considerable body of Men who determin'd against it The Greek Church at this Day consents to the Practice of it I am sensible that all those who are of Opinion that by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony is not dissolved will be against either Parties Marrying again after such a publick Separation and I cannot but say that is better and an argument of Self-Denial Mortification Continence and true Repentance especially for the guilty Party to abstain not only from all unlawful Lusts but from Marriage too and spend the remainder of his Life in Afflicting his Soul for his Scandalous Offences if perhaps he may escape the Damnation of Hell Nor would it be less acceptable to God for the innocent Party to decede from her or his Right and to Consecrate themselves intirely to God and his Service But if the Question be whether in point of Conscience it be not lawful to Marry again I cannot but say that it is for any thing I yet see to the contrary Especially 1. For the innocent Party for this is but the necessary Consequence of what I asserted before that by Adultery the Bond of Matrimony was dissolved and if dissolved and a lawful Divorce follow thereupon the innocent Party at least must be supposed to be at liberty to Marry again for though Christ makes no express mention of it yet since it 's certain he allows of a Divorce in case of Adultery or Fornication and doth not change the notion of Divorce from what the Jews understood by it it must necessarily follow that by it we are to understand such a Divorce as was usual in those Days or in the Days of Moses with the necessary Circumstances and Consequences of it Now a lawful Divorce among the Jews included or imported liberty to Marry again as is evident from the Law of Moses Deut. xxiv 1 2. which I explained in the Premises where it is expressly said that the Woman sent out of the House of her Husband with a Writing of Divorcement may Marry another Man Nor is it just the Guiltless should suffer for the Guilty if the Guilty have been the cause of this Misfortune why should the Innocent be punished for it It 's true our Saviour suffered the just for the unjust and we are to imitate him in the greatest Instances of his Charity but Christ's Suffering the just for the unjust was a thing of another Nature very different from the Case before us and therefore is not applicable to it Besides Christ's Suffering the Innocent for the Guilty was for an universal Good and in this Case a Christian may and ought to follow him and suffer the same Way if it may be for the Good of Mankind but this cannot be said of a forbearance to Marry after Divorce especially if there be danger of burning as the Apostle calls it 1 Cor. vii 9 In this Case the Forbearance seems rather to tend to the hurt and scandal of the Church than to the Glory or Benefit of it Fabiola a Person of Quality at Rome a Lady of noble Extraction being young Married a Gallant of the Times who proving Vicious and living in Adultery by the persuasion of her Friends she sends him a Bill of Separation and Divorces her self from him and soon after Marries another The Second Husband dying and it being her Fortune to converse with some Persons who had a very mean Opinion of second Marriages and took occasion to aggravate to her the Crime of Marrying again while her first though Adulterous Husband was living frighted with the danger they told her she was in she doth Publick Penance for it in the publick Church in the Commendation of which St. Jerom is very Copious and Rhetorical and according to his Account none that ever underwent a publick Penance for Adultery used greater Rigor and Severity upon themselves than she But though I am a great admirer of due Rigours and Severities in Matters of Religion yet to make a Sin of that which the Gospel hath made none and to do Penance for that which the Scripture hath not declared to be against the Will of God provided there were no other Sins mingled with the Action seems to be part of that overmuch Righteousness which Solomon finds fault with Eccles. vii 16 St. Jerom himself who with great Flourishes relates the Story though he was no great Friend to second Marriages yet in this case of Fabiola dares not say that she ought to have left her second Husband after she was divorced from her first because of his notorious Adulteries and though he doth not approve of her second Marriage yet he doth in some Measure excuse it because there was some colour for venturing upon it from the Gospel 2. In the case of Desertion the Apostle gives the Party deserted leave to Marry again 1 Cor. vii 15 But if the Vnbelieving depart let him depart a Brother or a Sister is not under Bondage in such Cases The Dispute was Whether a Woman that was a Christian having a Husband who was a Heathen or Infidel might live with him if she could not convert him The Apostle answers v. 10 11. Let not the Wife depart from her Husband but and if she depart because of some heats betwixt them let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her Husband so far the Apostle gives his Advice if Quarrels did arise betwixt the unbelieving Husband and the believing Wife about Religion if he did abuse or heather or led her an unquiet Life but then if the difference rose higher and the Husband should totally forsake her