Punishment shall henceforth commit no more any such Evil. This will prevent it's spreading further and in the inflicting of this due Punishment God's Command to the Judges is this Thine Eye shall not Pity no mercy for such wicked and miserable Wretches who are the Plague of Church and State therefore both Church and State must set helping hand to root it out and put it away Life shall go for Life c. Here is a Divine Rule for all Judges and Juries against Perjured Persons who are the worst kind of wicked men as are [b] 1 Tim. 1 9 10. Vngodly unholy Prophane Murtherers of Fathers Murtherers of Mothers Men-slayers Whoremongers Sodomites and Lyars in the highest Degree among which all they are Reckoned Thus much as to the Punishment of this detestable Sin according to Divine Laws As to human Laws it appears how all Nations knew by the Light of Nature how much Perjury was abominable in the sight of God and unto men execrable therefore they enacted Laws severely and strictly to punish it as we may read in several prophane Authors This I say because I know how Men who so far corrupted themselves do not much think on or mind God's Wrath but are in fear only of Men for their Body but not at all for their Soul He who once hath forsworn himself Vbi Semel c. Cicero pro Rabirio saith one must never afterwards be believed though he would swear by many Gods The Civil and Canon Laws are larg◠and clear upon this Infamy is the first pain inflicted upon Perjured Men. Cod. lib. 2. Tit. 4. de Transactionibus l. 41. S◠quis major This Infamy and pain of Perjury is so heavy so foul and filthy that though God if he pleases may thorough Repentance forgive it as every other Sin yet before Men either in Civil or Ecclesiastical Courts it sticks so fast that it can never b◠washed off nor are they ever when convicted admitted to bear Witness in any Court of Judicature and in the decret c. 6. q. 1. can 17. infames Perjure◠Men are declared to be Infamous So it is c. 3. ◠5. Can. 9. constituimus and farther decret c. 6. q. 〈◊〉 Can. 18. quicumque we read of him that hath bee◠noted of Infamy that his Evidence is never to be received and de Testibus et attestationibus cap. 54. Test◠monium 't is ordered that a Man branded with Infamy is never any more to be believed eithe◠in h◠own cause or in any other Mans for Perjured Person are always to be rejected and in the same * Qui semel periuratus fuerit nec Testis sit post hac sed nec ad sacramentum accedat decret 〈◊〉 22. q. 5. Can. 14. parvuli He that once hath Fo◠sworn himself afterwards must be no Witness nor admitted to take an Oath or to swear in his own cause or any Man 's else Now so great a crime as Perjury deserves according to the Law of Retaliation the grievous though just penalty of Infamy for the Perjured Man as much as in him lays would make God Infamous seeing he brings him as Witness to confirm his lie wherefore 't is very just to make him Infamous indeed for that Man ought no more to be believed who was not ashamed to call upon God who is Truth it self to bear Witness unto his Lie and 't is to be observed how thorough Perjury Men not only do highly provoke God but thorough a just Judgment do also thereby forfeit their Credit with Men who will not believe them no not when they speak the Truth which always becomes suspected out of the Mouth of a Liar Hence it is that our most blessed Saviour often rebuked evil Spirits and would not suffer them to confess who he was the Son of the Living God for fear that great and important Truth should by his Enemies be suspected for a Lie because coming out of the Devils mouth who is the father of Lies and we know how wickedly the Jews were inclined to take advantage against him when they said c Mat. 12.24 He did cast out Devils by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils Besides Infamy there are other Penalties as to be deprived of Ecclesiastical Goods and Dignities if the Perjured Persons be possessed of any De rescriptis cap. 2. So may not have any Office in the Church as unworthy of having any hand in the Government thereof which Decree is de jure-jurando cap. 10. querelam also cap. 12. cum quidam and they are to be deprived not only of all Office and Benefice in the Church but also of every Dignity and place in the Civil so as never any more to be admitted to the same or any other wherefore if Doctors Magistrates Judges Jury-men and Witnesses be convicted of Perjury they may and ought to be removed out of their Places and Imployments so they should for matters of Bribery chiefly in Courts of Judicature for I am fully perswaded that he who takes a Bribe to sell or pervert Justice will not scruple to Swear a false Oath to receive Money and satisfy his Covetousness Withall I add that the false Witness may be Indited and sued for damages by him whom he wronged by his false Evidence Panormit in cap. 1. de crimine falsi Forsworn Men are also by several Human Laws adjudicated and condemned to Corporal Punishments as to Banishment Whipping the Pilory the Galleys Imprisonment branding in the Forehead boaring thorough in the Tongue and with Death in Capital Cases in conformity to God's Law by Moses as already mentioned So then such abominable Vermine were by the several Laws of different Nations stained in their Names and Honours punished in Goods and Fortunes whether Secular or Ecclesiastical in their Persons Liberties and Lives So they were also liable to Church Censures as Excommunication Fasting with Bread and Water only upon certain days and sometimes for seven years together to make publick Penances and such things as we read of in the Decretales Hence it most clearly appears how justly by the Divine Civil and Ecclesiastical Laws Perjured Men are judged worthy of all sorts of Pains This I shall add how to avoid the evil the occasion also that leads to it is to be avoided wherefore I think that every doubtful case is not always to be decided by an Oath but by the truth of things when it is found out though it had been betrayed by the Perjured Person therefore such forsworn people may be indited for Perjury and if convicted the wrong they had done the party ceaseth and the sufferer enters upon that Right and Possession which he thereby unjustly had been deprived of It were also very just that any and all that abet entice countenance and directly or indirectly promote and encourage Men to forswear themselves or already forsworn as they have an hand in the Crime so should also be made sensible of and have a share in the punishment for the
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
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
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
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)
Prov 8.11 Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do Evil. But let such unto themselves apply what the Apostle saith (r) 2 Pet. 2.3 Their Judgment Lingereth not and their Damnation Slumbereth not Thus we proved the Point with clear Evidence out of Scripture Human Laws and strength of Reason which might be more Enlarged upon if Occasion required it This I must add That 't is a sad Case a loud and crying Sin that must need reach up to Heaven when Justice cannot be obtained against neither Adulteress nor Adulterer as if there was a Combination against it to provoke God and Men to the utmost till God's time be come to render it who being most just never fails to do 't when he thinks fit but sometimes when he doth men take no notice of it thô I think it to be one of the chief Causes of the heaviest and most frequent Judgments inflicted upon the Nation for as it is one of if not the most common National Sin and none in Scripture more often nor more strictly Forbidden as most of any contrary to God's holy and pure Nature So those who commit and continue in it must look for the most dreadful and terrible Judgments which God's Justice Anger and Vengeance for the Contempt of his Authority and Breach of his Laws can in this World and in that which is to come pour upon wretched and presumptuous Sinners Besides I would have all Offenders in this kind to know That there is not in the World a Meaner Wretch than the Lewd and Vicious Man who doth the Devil's Drudgery and being a meer Slave to his Passion is thereby put upon the most Indecent Basest Vilest Shameful and most Dangerous Shifts that can be is ever Restless being continually Spurred on by his Lust which first in this World will (s) Hos 4.11 Take away his Heart for Whoredom and Wine do so and except God shews Mercy for want of that Purity which in Relation to Women the Apostle so (t) 1 Tim. 5 ◠carefully Commends to his young Disciple shall in the next hurry and deliver him into everlasting Burnings For the Truth and justice of God require that the Fire of Lust wherein they Burned here should hereafter be punished with Eternal Flames For saith the Apostle Them that walk after the Flesh 2 Pet. 2.9.10 in the Lust of Vncleanness God reserveth unto the Day of judgment to be Punished with a Pain Adequate to their Sin FINIS A CHARGE TO Judges Juries Witnesses CONCERNING OATHS HAVING of late been Summoned to give in upon Oath my Evidence in a weighty Business I was at first Amazed and at a stand then moved with just Indignation to hear several Men with a Brazen-face to Swear for Truth that which in my Conscience I knew certainly to be False for I speak only of those Things and Circumstances which come within the Sphere of my certain Knowledge and upon serious Thoughts such prostitute Wretches tho they speak but to one part of a Cause yet they give Men reasonable Grounds of entertaining an Ill Opinion of the whole For no good Cause may be supported by evil and unlawful Means which at last will Discredit Blast and Ruin it In the mean while such Practices of Swearing falsely do bring Dishonour upon God Scandal upon our holy Religion and are a Shame to a Nation and if not as much as 't is possible Suppressed and Prevented God the Judge of the whole Earth will in his due time require it at the Hands of those in whose Power it lieth and whose Duty it is to do 't Wherefore upon so just and necessary an Account I look upon my self as bound to give in my Evidence and I Wish Judges Jury-men and specially Witnesses may so take notice of and mind what I shall say as every one to do their Duty in their respective Stations for herein I shall bear Witness for God as for men And my great Motive why I now commit to Paper these few Lines and Serious Thoughts of mine 't is only to bear Record unto the Truth For (a) 2 Cor. 13.8 I can do nothing against but for the Truth which I think I am called to thorough the Occasion which is the Ground of all this Which to Prosecute I shall make use of both Law and Gospel I Thank God when I appeared in this Business I never but once before had been Summoned to bear Witness upon Oath for I own it I fear an Oath the fewer the better and the least Account one is to give God about these matters for therein Men thô unwillingly and Ignorantly yet thorough want of Memory or some Mistakes are in danger of Failing Wherefore I shall ever avoid as much as I may being brought under an Oath without a just and necessary Cause rashly and hastily to venture upon 't is usually attended with bitter Effects and is the cause of much Evil of Sin as of Punishment from both God and men He that easily and hastily doth Swear will as easily and hastily Forswear for when he makes no Conscience to take an Oath he will make none to break it Neither would I multiply Oaths for many Oaths many Snares To go upon sure Grounds and Explain the matter we must first see upon what Occasion an Oath is taken and what it is because too often thorough the Unrighteousness Malice and Craftiness of False and Self-ended Men Truth is driven into Corners which yet God in his due time and sometimes in an Extraordinary manner will bring to light to the Confusion of the Wicked that would have suppressed it Therefore because one man will not Trust another and that men do suspect the Sincerity and are in the Dark about the Thoughts one of another upon such an account God who alone knows and is the Searcher of the Heart (b) Heb. 4.13 For all things are naked and opened unto the Eyes of him with whom we have to do is called upon to be a Witness of the Truth of that which is in Question and Sworn for (c) chap. 6.16 An Oath for Confirmation to men is saith the Apostle an end of all Strife Not to sow foment and promote it and shelter Villanies under God's most holy and sacred Name for this overthrows the good Ends for which an Oath was intended and perverts Justice and Equity over-turns the whole World and tends to Disorder Confusion and Ruin all Effects of Perjury Now an Oath is a calling of God to Witness for the Confirmation of what we Say or Promise 'T is a Religious and Necessary Confirmation of Things doubtful by calling on God to be a Witness of Truth and a Revenger of Falsehood which last part is much to be taken notice of though many who Swear mind it not and there is a great Reason why God should avenge the Abuse of his Name for if
In Judgment 3ly In Righteousness To these Three Conditions are opposed False Rash and unjust Oaths It is a Duty incumbent upon every one that takes an Oath to Swear in Truth that is truly and nothing but what is according to Truth not abusing Godâ—â— Name to attest an Untruth the words of our Oaths if minded are full and comprehensive to swear the Truth nothing but the Truth and the whole Truth that is to the best of my Remembrance Now Truth is a Divine Thing which is asserted by Oath wheâ— in the Dark There is a Truth of the thing spokeâ— of when we speak according as the thing is indeed or as near as possibly it can be and herein sometimes by reason of human weakness the whole Truth doth not come out for we do not always know things aâ— they are But there is also the Truth of the Mind that is one Swears as in his Mind and Conscienceâ— he is perswaded of the thing this must always Necessarily be in the Oath or else there is Perjury in the Case Now Truth relateth either to Divine things or to Human To the former when we entertain and have right Notions and Thoughts due and reverend Expressions of things immediately belonging to God as his Nature Attributes Works and Word The Truth required in regard to Human Things is either in common Society and Dealings between Man and Man or else in publick Judgments in Courts of Judicature which concerns the Judges upon the Bench fairly to Sum up Evidences and impartially to direct the Jury 2ly This Concerns the Jury-men not to receive any Prejudices or suffer themselves to be Byassed or Bribed nor to stand too much upon this that any of them will agree with the rest rather then to be Pinch'd or Suffer in being lock'd up very long when in their Conscience they are Convinced that most of the rest are in the Wrong an Honest Man will say I have rather to be Starved though there be hardly once in Seven Years any such Dilemma than to go against my own judgment and Conscience which when thus wounded will at one time or other rise and fly in their Faces 3ly This regard's the Plaintiff who is to promote his just Cause by Fair and Lawful Ways without False Accusations Subornation or such unwarrantable Practises 4thly The Defendant who in his own Defence must forbear using any malicious and unjust Means and make use of none but such as are according to Truth Law and Reason 5ly The Evidences are concerned whose Duty 't is with bearing true Witness to help and relieve their Neighbour in his just Cause when 't is in danger of being Oppressed And here I would have all Parties from the Judges to the Witnesses to mind that there is a great Day of Judgment a coming when all indifferently shall stand at the Bar to give God an Account of every Idle Word much more of every False and Unjust Judgment Evidence or other Sinful Dealing when the Secrets of all Men shall be made manifest and Mens own Consciences shall be Witnesses against themselves their own Judges and Tormentors and let them know how God ever is among them though in an invisible way and sees hears and sets down upon Record their false and unjust Dealings for (a) Prov. 15 3. the Eyes of the Lord for whom they judge and bear Witness are in every place beholding the Evil and the Good and (b) Zechar. 4.10 these Eyes of the Lord do run to and fro through the whole Earth So that he leaves not himself without Witness And the Qualification of those who are to judge the People whether under the Name of Judge or Jury are plainly set down in God's Word they must be (c) Exod. 18.21 Able Men such as fear God men of Truth hating Covetousness But we must return to Truth and somewhat longer insist upon it the Importance thereof is made out First By the many positive and reiterated Commands of God for us to Practise it in every thing we say or do Secondly Because God doth so often and so expresly Forbid us the Practise of the Vice contrary unto that heavenly Vertue namely to Lie for as Truth is the Daughter of God so a Lie is the Child of the Devil and often God in one and the same place doth Command one and Forbid the other God's great Commandment is that we should speak the Truth Love Follow and (d) 2 John 4. 3 John 3. 1 John 2.21 Walk in the Truth God is the God of Truth nay Truth it self and no Lie is of the Truth (e) John 1.17 Truth came by Jesus Christ and he himself (f) ch 14.6 is the Truth and (g) ch 18.37 For this cause he came into the World that he should bear witness unto the Truth The necessary Qualification for one to â—e admitted and abide in his Tabernacle is (h) Psal. 15.2 3. To speak the Truth in his Heart not to back-bite with his Tongue nor to take up a Reproach against his Neighbour See how Heart and Tongue are concern'd in matter of Truth to the same purpose the Psalmist says 24.3 4. Who shall stand in the Lord 's holy place he that hath not Sworn Deceitfully c. So that by the Rule of Contraries he that speaketh not the Truth in his Heart shall not abide in his Tabernacle nor he that hath Sworn deceitfully in his holy place This is the Mark by David given of an upright Man but the Character of the Wicked is that he speaks Lies For the Wicked are Estranged from the Womb they go astray assoon as they be Born speaking Lyes Psalm 58.3 but (i) Psal. 96.13 God shall Judge the World with Righteousness and the People with his Truth Here is the Pattern for men to Judge by as God doth with Righteousness and with Truth 'T is said of the Messiah the Lord Jesus (k) Isa. 42.3 He shall bring forth Judgement unto Truth Here is a Precedent for you O ye Judges of the Earth Judges Jury-men and Witnesses lay hand upon your Conscience and see whether there be not a just Cause to renew the Prophet's Complaint (l) Jerem. 9.5 They will deceive every one his Neighbour and will not speak the Truth they have taught their Tongue to speak Lies and they delight in Lies Psal 62.4 Another Prophet saith (m) Isa 59.15.4 Truth faileth and have we not a most just cause to complain of it and None calleth for Justice yea some call for 't but cannot obtain it Nor any pleadeth for Truth and though they do 't is to little or no purpose for they Trust in Vanity and speak Lies at least they Believe it I am much afraid that (n) 2 Thess 2.11 God hath sent a strong Delusion that men should Believe a Lie and many too Hear of a glorious Promise (o) Zacha. 8.3 Jerusalem shall be called a City of Truth Would to God we could say
Effects of Oppression for thereby man's right and just Cause are oppressed and we know what the wise King saith in the Case (o) Eccles 7.7 Surely Oppression makes a Wise Man Mad. He that loseth his own loseth his Wits with a surely therefore will he endeavour to see himself Righted and if Lawful ways because they be Corrupted and Abused do fail then God knows what the next Step will be Right oppressed is sometimes turned into Fury and this is the ready way to set Men together by the Ears and to make them to Cut one another's Throats the Mine and Thine is the ground of Discord in the World and therefore 't is but just that every one should enjoy his own whereupon God the Sovereign Judge saith (p) Ezekiel 21.27 I will overturn overturn overturn it and it shall be no more until he come whose Right it is and I will give it him Though Men will not I will Therefore when Perjury is found to be in a Cause which appears by Contradictory Depositions for 't is not possible for a Thing to be and not to be a man cannot at the same time be in Two several Places so in the same Circumstance of a Matter one to Swear for the other against is a palpable Contradiction for two contrary Oaths about the same thing cannot be True but if one be the other necessarily must be False as if one Swears that such a man at such a time was in the Countrey and I Swear that same Person at that same time was in the City because for several Days together I met with Saw Discoursed had Meetings Walk'd Managed Businesses with and visited him in his own House and I cannot believe that a Spirit had assumed that Man's Body to act all that part with me nor that I saw a Vision or was in a Dream all that while Hence it clearly appears that there is a Perjury in the Case for as some have Sworn the Truth so others have that which is False Wherefore the matter is very well worth strictly and narrowly Inquiring into to find out the Truth and see at whose Door the Perjury lyes there to Punish it that hereafter Men be not exposed to the Mercy of such Wretches and Villains And what I say is for one side as well as for the other for I am Partial for neither only for the Truth the justice of the Cause is what I stand for and am no ways Byassed by the Merits of Persons Upon such Accounts Men ought to Swear for no other End than to bear Record unto the Truth which I pray God to Discover as he is the most True and Faithful Witness and as he is the Great and Supream Judge to cause an Exemplary Punishment to be made of this loud and crying Wickedness as they that are concerned to do it shall answer to God at the last Day for Judges Juries Witnesses Parties and every Man shall some time before the Iudge of the whole Earth stand to be Tryed and Judged when there shall be no Dissembling nor Concealing of the Truth but all things shall then be manifest and be seen even just as they are In the mean time what Laws are in being against the Crime ought exactly to be put in Execution and wherein they are Defective and Wanting it may easily be Supplyed by the Legislative Power when those in whose Hands is the Executive part who have so many Occasions to observe where 't is Wanting and where not do according to their Duty represent it to them Thus all will unanimously concur to set up the Glory of God the Good and Welfare of the Nation and to the Immortal Praise of all those that will be Instrumental therein or to their Eternal Confusion if they neglect it (q) Psalm 94.2 Psalm 63.11 Then lift up thy self thou Judge of the Earth and the Mouth of them that speak Lies shall be stopped FINIS A DISCOURSE ABOUT INFANT BAPTISM THE Doctrine of the Sacraments is of so high a Concernment in the great Mystery of our Salvation that the Enemy thereof Satan hath raised many of his strongest Batteries against it They are the Seals of God's Pardon which he doth what he can to Tear or at least to Deface thereby to Deprive us of the Assurance of God's Love in Christ As to the First which is Baptism how many Disputes and Questions hath he started against it With Papists we have no less than Seven about it whereof the Two First relate also to the Lord's Supper As first to the number There are but Two Sacraments and they would have Seven 2ly The Vertue of the Sacrament doth not depend upon the Intention of him who administers it 3ly It is not lawful for Lay-men or Women to Baptise 4ly The Baptism of John had the same Vertue and was as Effectual as that afterwards Administred by the Apostles 5ly Baptism ought to be administred according to Christ's Institution without any Addition Diminution or Alteration whatsoever 6ly Every Child Baptised is not thereby Regenerated and every one that hath the Sign hath not the Thing Signified 7ly Baptism is not absolutely necessary to Salvation for some are Saved without it but it ought not to be neglected or delayed See how sometimes God suffereth men from one Error to fall into another and to maintain one they multiply others Thus Anabaptists to Assert that Infants ought not to be Baptised hold the Quintessence of the Damnable Pelagian Heresy 1st That they have no Sin 2ly That there is no Original Sin at all 3ly That no Sin comes by Nature but is Learned only by Example and Imitation of others 4ly That all that dye in Infancy shall certainly go to Heaven for none is Damned but for Actual Sins Against what Scripture saith First All Infants are Sinners (a) Psal 51.5 Behold I was shapen in Iniquity and in Sin did my Mother conceive me 'T is the case not only of David but of every one else (b) Isai 48.8 For we are called Transgressors from the Womb and (c) Ephess 2 3. by Nature we are children of Wrath even as others Then Secondly Many Infants have been made Vessels of Wrath and the Effects of God's Wrath for Sin are fallen upon them as in the Flood in the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah God's Order to Saul (d) 1 Sam. 15.3 was to Destroy utterly the Infants and Sucklings of the Amalekites And the Psalmist (e) Psalm 147.9 declareth him Happy that dasheth the little ones of the Babylonians against the Stones But Thirdly All Sin is not Learned by Example as we see in the Case Cain who had no Example of any Murther Committed before him Their Fourth Assertion is Rash and without Ground in Scripture But now to the Point The Word Baptism in Scripture hath several Significations It is first taken for the whole Holy Sacrament instituted by our Lord sometimes for the Sign (f) Matth. 3.11 Water and other times