kingdomes by Gods merciful ordinance and sufferaunce to this ende that aboue all thynges they shoulde promote the glory of his name Howe are they lulled a sleepe in the cradle of securitie in the drowstnesse of theyr owne transitorie glory yf they forget that which most specially concerneth Gods glory Me thinketh al Princes shoulde reckon all them that vnreuerently vse Gods name neuer lyke to afforde theyr persons any reuerence or true obedience They that feare not God wyl they care for man No truely who so keepeth of God neyther feare nor loue wyl easily breake his fayth to any Prince A woorthy obseruaunce it is that good Kinges here in Englande haue made right good and holsome lawes to Gods glory agaynst common swearing We haue good cause to hope that as GOD hath geuen vs a moste gracious Queene aunsweryng in any good Title to any other kyng that hath been in this Realme So in this case also it wyll please hym to woorke by her Grace and her Graces most honourable Counsell that they shall most specially excell exceede and goe beyonde al others in studious care and prouision for the reuerence and honour due vnto Gods most glorious name In this number of good kynges in this respect are to be remembred 1 Kyng Iue 2 Kyng Alfride 3 Kyng Edwarde 4 Kyng Edmonde whose lawe was that whosoeuer was once proued periured shoulde for euer be separated from Gods congregation And of â—awes made in his tyme for this and other matters looke the collections of M. William Lambert whiche were imprinted by Iohn Day Anno. 1568. 5 Kyng Henry the first for example to the whole Realme beginning at his owne house first ordeyned that within his owne Pallace yf any dyd sweare he shoulde forfayte to the vse of the poore for euery othe If he were A Duke xl s. A Lorde xx s. A Knight Squire or Gentleman .x. s. A Yoman .iii. s .iiii. d. A Page o Lackie to be scourged There be lawes for meaner matters more duely obserued GOD graunt that his honour may be most specially regarded Amen In Fraunce Kynges that holde theyr Crowne in Homage to the kynges of England haue made these lawes to this purpose Fyrst Ludouic Kyng of Fraunce ordeyned that al periurers and common swearers shoulde haue theyr lyppes seared with an hot burnyng iron and this punyshment he caused to be put in execution openly at Paris vpon a Citizen there Philip an other of the kynges of Fraunce constituted this general lawe that who so euer were he Gentle or simple yea though he were for byrth ryght noble in what place so euer it were though it were in a common Tauerne where many wyse men forget themselues if he blasphemed Gods name he should strayght way be drowned Maximilian the Emperour made this Law that whosoeuer was iustly reprehended as a vayne swearer shoulde leese and pay xiii s. iiii d. but if after his reprehension he woulde not both be sorowful for his sinne and willingly pay the sayde money he shoulde lose his head Philip an Earle of Flaunders for the precinct of his dominion decreed that who so euer forsware hym selfe shoulde loose both his goodes and his lyfe Iosephus counsayleth that the blasphemer shoulde be stoned and then hanged vp one whole day afterwarde beyng taken downe that he should be throwen into a holl or pyt without any solemnitie of buryal Iustinian the good Emperour vnto his Citizens of Constantinople counsayleth and commaundeth thus Whereas many in woordes and othes execrably abuse the most reuerend name of God whereby Gods heauie wrath is procured we exhort you that you abstayne from cursing and bannyng and from swearyng eyther by your head or by your heare or by any other othes For if iniuries done vnto man be not vnreuenged much more he that dishalloweth Gods name is woorthy of great punishment for such faultes truely both hunger and earthquakes and the plague of Pestilence falleth vppon vs We therefore gently exhort you that you abstayne from suche greeuous crimes If any wyl not be warned by this our Counsayle fyrst as he shal procure Gods displeasure so shal he be sure not to escape vnpunished for we haue geuen vnto our most worthy gouernour of this our royal Citie this earnest commaundement that he shal apprehend the offenders herein cause them to die the death least God hym selfe should punishe both this Citie and the whole Realme for leauyng so great faultes vnpunyshed The lawe of the Egiptians was that no swearyng shoulde be vsed but in lawfull causes If any were prooued periured he lost his head The Sithians had a Lawe lykewyse that whosoeuer was prooued periured should lose his head and he that made proofe thereof shoulde haue his goodes The Romans had a Lawe that who so euer was prooued periured he should be throwen downe from the high Rocke Tarpeius and therefore when they dyd sweare they helde a Stone in their hand and protested If I lye or sweare ought but trueth cast me downe the Hyll violently as I flyng this stone from me But to goe beyonde men The Lorde hymselfe hath made a Lawe He that blasphemeth the name of the Lorde shall dye for it al the multitude shal stone hym to death whether he be Citizen or Stranger yf he blaspheme the name of the Lord let him dye the death And this law God commaunded to be put in execution vpon the sonne of Salomith whiche was the daughter of Dibri where no doubt the Mothers name is remembred and the Grandmothers for their offence of yll education Lykewyse Iosue the Israelites made a faythful oth with the Gibeonites In the dayes of Saul that oth was broken which breache of fayth the Lorde punished with three yeeres continuall famine whiche famine was not taken away vntyl seuen of the sonnes or next of the kinred of Saul were hanged vp vnto the Lorde Lykewyse Mathathias whom the kyng of Babilon named Sedechias he contrary to his oth rebelled against the king of Babilon whiche periurie the Lorde thus punished Nabuchodonosor tooke Sedechias prisoner fyrst he flue his sonne in his owne sight after that he plucked out both his eyes he bounde him with Chaynes of Iron and caryed hym prisoner to Babilon where he kept hym in perpetual miserie What neede I remember that Troy and diuers other Cities were destroyed for periurie Eusebius telleth of three wicked disposed persoÌ„s that of mischiefe pretended agaynst Narcissus the good Bishop of Hierusalem layde vnto his charge an heauie haynous crime to make their false accusation the more probable they sware greeuously and desired GOD to shewe vengaunce vppon them on this wyse The fyrst wyshed to be destroyed with fyre yf it were not true The seconde wyshed to be consumed with a most greeuous sickenesse The thyrde to loose both his eyes Narcissus perceyuing their desperate intence vnto mischiefe and his weakenesse not able to resist three suche
alwayes by his fayth sweareth all away So a swearer may be beleeued his care is neuer after to perfourme his fayth If a common swearer dyd beleeue in God yf he dyd hope to he comforted by hym yf he dyd thynke that God woulde punishe his perturie surely he would not without reuerence and feare he woulde not without vrgent cause in cases required take once the most blessed name of Gods maiestie in his mouth Nowe when he beleeueth not hym selfe that whiche he affirmeth vnto another who shal beleeue hym Why do we not say vnto common swearers why do you lye Or yf you speake trueth why doo you sweare If you doo beleeue in God why do you so dishonour the glory of his name If you do not beleeue in God why woulde you haue me to beleeue you when you sweare by that God in whom you your selfe do not beleeue Solomon in the case of two women contendyng for one chyld to crye where true natural loue rested made a countenance as though he would haue cut the child in peeces The wicked blood thirsty woman of whom the child had no nature or substance cried with aloude voyce deuide it deuide it The true mother in whom nature rested made her humble request Not so my Lorde let the chylde lyue and prosper let no violence be done vnto it In the auncient recordes of the Romanes it is remembred of an adultres hauing three sonnes that vppon her death bed she told her husband that of three boyes one only was his This father when he shoulde dye entreated earnestly his executours that they would do theyr diligence by al wisedome to trye whiche of the three was his naturall sonne vnto hym by Wil he bequeathed his whole lande The faythful and trustie Executours thus made experience where nature rested They tooke the dead corpes of the father and set it agaynst a tree vnto euery of the three children they deliuered a bow and an arrow they tolde them that theyr fathers wyll was doubtful and the diuision of the land was harde the best way was to try by happy hazard he that coulde shoote nearest the fathers hart should haue al. The two bastardes in whom rested no sparke of natural loue shot with good wyl the third with reuerence refused so fylthy a fact Whereby if he were perceyued to be the truesonne What bastardes shal we know them to be that shoote at euery part of Christes most blessed person Common swearers truely beare no naturall loue to GOD but teare him in peeces shoote at his hart lyke bastardes and crye with that Strumpet Deuide hym deuide him cut him in peeces Whereof sayth Agustine They synne no lesse that blaspheme Christ nowe raygnyng in heauen then they whiche crucified hym here vpon the earth Thine enimies O Lorde take thy name in vayne Remember this O Lorde howe the enimie hath rebuked And howe the foolishe people hath blasphemed thy name God shal wounde the head of his enimies the heary scalpe of suche a one as goeth on stil in his wickednes Powre out thine indignation O lord vpon the Heathen that haue not knowen thee vpon the kingdomes that haue not called vpon thy name As for the blasphemie wherwith our neighbours haue blasphemed thee reward thou them O Lorde seuen fold into their boosomes Make their faces ashamed O Lorde that they may seeke thy name Let al good Christians say with hart and voyce in woord and lyfe Blessed be the Lorde our GOD euen the Lorde GOD of Israel yea blessed be the name of his Maiestie for euermore They that in profession sometymes graunt this reuerence and honour vnto the Maiestie of Gods name and yet by the vnreuerent abuse of his name practyse the contrary are very welresembled vnto those Iewes that put vppon Christ a purple Robe platted a crowne of thornes vpon his head and put a Reede in his hand like a Septer mocking him in deede after the moste despytefull maner that they could deuyse but yet in woordes they saluted hym courteously and sayde Hayle king of the Iewes They are a lyke vnto those people whom the Lorde by his prophet Ieremi reprehended They say the Lord lyueth this is theyr spech in wordes they say so but examine theyr religion in deede they sweare falsly Gods name is not honored but dishalowed as much as in them lieth They take the Lordes name in testimonie that it is ful true when yet notwithstandyng it is ful false what greater dishonour can they do vnto the Lord Do they beleeue that God knoweth it not which were agaynst his omnipotencie or do they thynke that God wyl leaue so great a sinne vnpunished which were agaynst his promise The greatnesse of this sinne the Prophete thus describeth They haue made their faces harder then a stone Right terrible is that whiche GOD threatneth by Zacharie Behold a flying booke of xx cubites long and .x. cubites brode conteyning a curse of GOD agaynst theeues and swearers I wil bring this curse foorth sayth the Lord of Hostes it shall come foorth vpon the house of the theefe and vpon the house of the swearer that sweareth falsly by my name This curse shal remayne in the middest of their howses and shal consume them tymber stones and al. And this good counsayle from the Lord we haue by the wyse Kyng Solomon Let not thy mouth be accustomed with swearing for in it there are many falles Let not the namyng of GOD be continually in thy mouth For lyke as a seruant that is much beaten cannot be without some spots So he that sweareth and hath the name of GOD continually in his mouth cannot be free from sinne A man that vseth much swearing shal be fylled with iniquitie and the plague shal neuer go from his house He that sweareth in vayne shal not be founde righteous Much swearing bryngeth suche horrour that it maketh a mans heare to stande vpryght and the irreuerence thereof would make a man stoppe his eares Though the proud blaspheme and are scorneful yet vengance lurketh for them as a Lion. The woordes of the swearer bring death God graunt it be not founde in the house of Israel If there were in all the worlde no more faultes but this alone it were enough to prouoke more vengeance then the whole masse of mankynde were able to beare God graunt that England may once throughly be purged from this execrable cryme The Lorde hath promised that he shal be pronounced gyltie that taketh his name in vayne A greater threatnyng is not added vnto any of the commaundementes among them al but vaynely in vayne for euery vayne trifling matter as though GOD were of no power to reuenge as though he were woorthy of no woorshyp Fye fie it is to fylthy to to abhominable Woulde to GOD al kynges Queenes and Princes would with more earnestnesse tender chiefly Gods honour deepely consyder that they liue enioy theyr states and
gentleman swearer spurced his Horse in such sort as he sprang cleane ouer the Brydge with the man on his backe Who as he was going cryed aloude Horse and man and all to the Deuyll WYddowe Barnes beyng rebuked for swearing to the entent she myght defeate an Orphant of her ryght not regardyng good admonishmentes within foure dayes after cast her selfe out at a window in Cornehil and brake her necke Arthure Myller a fylthy talker of rybaldrie a common swearer and blasphemer of Gods name in his sickenesse the yeere of our Lorde 1573. refused all comfortable doctrine of fayth in Christe and cryed out The Deuyl the Deuyl Confessing in deede gods omnipotent power for he sayd he felt it but he coulde not pray for grace the cause he hym selfe knewe but he woulde not vtter it So that kyssyng his hande often in which he sayd he helde the Deuyll crying for helpe onely vpon the Deuyl he most miserably ended his most wretched lyfe An Aueris 1575. II. Februarie AN Aueris wyddowe which at that tyme dwelt in Ducke Lane without Aldersgate in London in the Parish of S. Bartholome we the litle by Smythfielde iudged to be .lxx. yeeres of age or thereabout came the day and yeere aboue dated to the house or shop of Richarde Wylliamson in Woodstreete whose wyfe exerciseth the sorting dressing of Flaxe and Towe to buye there as heretofore she had been accustomed some course Towe and hauing cheapened and agreed for vi pounde of course Towe a very small value but marke whyther customable vse dooth bryng one She perceiuing the seruauntes in the shop busie about other Customers secretly slypt away imagining by lykelyhood that because of their great businesse they nothyng regarded her Howbeit as GOD woulde the Mayden that in her Mistres absence vsed to delyuer Ware and receiue money remembryng redyly that no money was receiued for the sayd vt pound of Towe sent one of them that best myght be spared from the shop home to the house of this An Aueris in Ducke Lane to require eyther the Towe agayne or els money for it This vngodly woman in whose mouth a wicked oth was the rediest thyng Sware by and by that she payed the money whyle she was yet in the shop But beyng earnestly desyred that she would agayne returne to the sayd shop there to affirme the same As one that would put on a countenaunce of honestie she refused not so to doo lashyng out by the way bytter curses and terrible othes that she had alredy payed the money neyther ceassed she when she came backe agayne to the shop But beyng gently reprehended for her vngentle and vngodly deede with terrible othes periuriously she forsware the fact Vidz that she departed without payment And yf she payed not the money before her departure out of the shop she desyred vengeance at the Lordes handes and that he woulde openly shewe vppon her in his iust iudgement that yf she departed out of the shop without payment of the money for the sayd .vi. pounde of Towe that she myght presently sincke or fall sodenly downe and neuer haue power after to styrre or go out of that place thynkyng perchaunce as Atheistes doo that there is no GOD or els that GOD heareth not the prayers of the people eyther to rewarde the godly or to punyshe the wycked Howbeit as GOD is a swyft GOD to reuenge when his mercie is refused so in the deapth of his iudgement he heard her prayer and stroke her so immediatly vnto the grounde that staggeryng to and fro the strength of her legges faylyng her and ceassing to doo theyr duetie in vpholdyng the body downe she fell in the shop and became speachlesse neuer able to ryse without helpe neuer able to vtter any more blasphemous othes agaynst the Lorde Onely a woonderfull thyng to tell as yf GOD would playuely shewe the cause of his procured wrath she helde out in her left hand .xiii. d. with which she should haue payed for the Towe and that sayd money she tossed and tumbled vp and downe vpon her Apron so as al the standers by might beholde the same As she fell downe in the deuylles name so to stande vp agayne no helpe coulde support her that she myght be able agayne to goe Her mouth also was put to a most vyle office as yf GOD woulde shewe that in his iustice he would punishe the place from whence and the instrument wherewith his most holy name was so vnreuerently blasphemed So as that which nature woulde haue cast downewarde at the bostome of the bellie in some secrete place when she had withdrawen her selfe from all companie that selfe same fylthynesse she was forced to voyde at her mouth in the open streete in open day iyght as many men women and chyldren as came by gazyng woonderyng thereat from thence beyng carried home her dwellyng house denyed to receyue so vyle a person so as of force she was fayne to be lodged in a stinkyng Stable a Parlour sweete yenough for so vnsauery a wretche from whence she was afterwarde carried to her lodging and from thence a fewe dayes after to her graue The examination of this fact was taken before Sir Lyonel Ducket Knyght Alderman and Iustice of Peace within the Citie of London and as witnesses are set downe M. Doctour Fulke M. Newstubbes M. Crake M. Edmundes M. Robert Pistor M. Robert Aske Who so listeth may see this storie at large imprinted by Iohn Alde 1576. Of whose printyng you may also see another strange story of Father Lea. dated the. 28 of Ianuary 1577. Father Lea a man almost of .lxxx. yeeres whose whyte hoary heares wan credite to his tale was hyred for a small summe of money to forsweare hymselfe God in his mercy deferryng his iudgement full two yeeres and more he bare about hym the heauy burden of a wounded conscience a priuie payne yet in deede a more irksome griefe then it woulde haue been to haue endured publique punyshment for the same He needed none other eyther Iayler or Hangman to torment him that fyndeth that inward woo But euen lyke as an Arrow set in a Bow redy to be shot dooth fray a man more then an Arrow that alredy hath hyt his leg or his arme Or lyke as the feare of death or punyshment where grace hath ben wanting hath made many to murder them selues wilfully Euen so the inward festeryng wound of a gylty conscience voyd of hope full of dispayre is more greeuous and more intolierable then any outward correction Two long fastyng yeeres Father Lea hearyng this importable burden at the last the force of the fyre brake through the ashes that so long had couered it In foster lane in London this Lea met that partie agaynst whom or to whose hynderaunce he had forsworne hym selfe and holdyng vp his handes after the manner of our askyng of forgeuenesse he desyred hym to forgeue hym his former offence agaynst hym committed confessyng that agaynst hym he had