take the Information of the said persons in writing And every Justice of the Peace who shall have any knowledge of any such Offence committed either by his own hearing or view or by any such Testimony or by Confession of the Party is hereby authorized and required to cause the said Offender to become bound to appear and answer for the same at the next general Gaol-delivery or Oyer and Terminer to be holden for that County and to be of Good Behaviour in in the mean time And likewise to cause the said Witness and witnesses to be bound over to prosecute and give Evidence against the said Offender who at the said next Gaol-delivery or Oyer and Terminer if it may be or otherwise as soon as may be shall be Indicted for his said Offence and upon the Tryall being found Guilty shall forfeit the sum of one moiety thereof to the King and Queen their Heirs and Successors and the other moiety thereof to the Prosecutor and shall by the Judge before whom such Tryal shall be had be committed to the Gaol there to remain till he or she shall have paid the said sum and shall become bound with two good Sureties to the Good Behaviour for the space of seven years then next ensuing in case it be the Parties first Offence of that kind but if it be the second Offence of which he is so convicted then to be of the Good Behaviour during Life And if it be a third Offence and Conviction then the Offendor shall be committed to the Gaol there to remain till he or she shall abjure the Realm And be it likewise enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and every Person and Persons who shall hereafter offend by PROPHANE SWEARING or CURSING shall forfeit and pay for every such Offence to the use of the Poor of the Parish where the same shall be committed or if it be out of any Parish to the use of the Poor of such next adjoyning Parish as the Justice or Justices hereafter mentioned shall appoint according to the Degree and Quality of the Person offending in Manner and Form following that is to say every Peer and Baron of this Realm or other the Kings Dominions residing here and every Person holding and enjoying any Barony the summ of twenty shillings every Baronet and Knight the summ of thirteen shillings and four pence every Esquire and every Person having and enjoying any Office Place Dignity Promotion or Employment Ecclesiastical or Civil of the value of one hundred pounds per Annum or more the summ of Ten shillings and every Gentleman and Person in Holy Orders every Graduate in either Vniversity and every Person having and enjoying any Office Place Dignity Promotion or Employment Ecclesiastical or Civil under one hundred pounds per annum the summ of six shillings and eight pence and every person keeping any Publick House of Entertainment and every other Person under the degree of a Gentleman except Labourers and poor people the summ of five shillings and every Labourer and other poor person the summ of two shillings and six-pence and every married Woman or Widow according to the Degree and Quality of her present or last Husband and in case she was never Married according to the degree and quality of a younger Son of her Father All which summs and forfeitures all and every person and persons in whose presence or hearing any such Offence shall be committed are hereby Authorized and required to demand for the use of the Poor of the said Parish and in case the same shall be paid to pay it over immediately to the Overseers of the Poor for the use aforesaid And in case the person so offending shall upon such demand refuse to pay the summ by him so forfeited then the said persons in whose presence or hearing the said Offence shall be committed shall and are hereby required presently thereupon to put the words expressing the Offence into Writing under his and their Hands and to give notice of the said Offence demand and refusal and to testifie his or their knowledge thereof upon Oath within the space of ten dayes unto some Justice of the Peace of the County or Place where the same Offence shall be committed who is hereby authorized and required to administer the said Oath and thereupon unless the Offendor be a Peer or such other great Man of this Realm as in this Act hereafter is mentioned to direct and send his Warrant to the Constable Tythingman Church-Wardens and Overseers of the poor of such Parish as aforesaid or of the Parish where the Offendor shall inhabit thereby commanding them or some one or more of them to levy the summ and summs so forfeited for the use of the poor of such parish as aforesaid and likewise the like summ to be paid to such Witness and Witnesses for his and their time travel and pains employed about any such Information by distress and sale of the Goods of such Offendor rendering unto him or her the overplus And in case no such Distress can be had to apprehend the said Offendor and him or her to bring before the said Justice or some other Justice of the Peace of the said County or place who is hereby required to commit the said Offendor to the common Gaol there to remain until the said Offendor shall have paid the several summs aforesaid and full Costs and Charges to be taxed by the said Justice for Apprehending and Conveying of such Offendors to the Gaol if it be the first Conviction for such Offence But if the said Offendor shall have been before convicted as aforesaid of the like Offence and obstinate Refusal then to remain there until the said Offendor shall moreover become bound before the Justices of the Peace at their General Quarter Sessions or the Judge of Assize General Gaol Delivery or Oyer and Terminer to be of the Good Behaviour for the space of then next ensuing But in case it shall appear to the said Justice by Confession of the party or otherwise that the Offendor so convicted is not able to pay the said severâ—l summs then the said Offender shall be set in the Stocks for three whole hours for his first Offence and shall be so set in the Stocks and moreover be publickly whip'd not exceeding ten lashes for the second and every other Offence afterward And because it is found by common Experience that Excess in Drinking doth besides other inconveniences very much dispose people to profane Swearing and that such Excesses are usually promoted by DRINKING HEALTHS Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid that every person who shall begin or pledge any Health shall forfeit and pay as is before enacted for prophane Swearing to be levyed in like manner and for the same Vses and all persons present required to demand the forfeiture and give Information of the Refusal if any be as in the said Case is appointed and the Justice thereupon to proceed accordingly Provided and
suit of such Person as will prosecute for the same to and for his or their own use in which no Essoyn Protection or Wager of Law shall be allowed And in default of such prosecution within six Months after each several Offence shall forfeit the like summ and summs being thereof Convicted by Presentment or Indictment before the Justices of the Peace at the Quarter Sessions to be held for such County Division or Place where any such Offence shall happen to be committed as aforesaid One moiâ—ty to the King and the other to the Poor of the Parish where the Offence shall be committed And moreover for such second Offence shall be set in the Pillory in the next Market-Town or open Place And for the third Offence upon Conviction shall abjure the Realm And be it further enacted for the end and purpose aforesaid that no Person whatsoever keeping or that keep any publick Tavern Ale-house Tipling-house or other House of common Entertainment within the Cities of London or Westminster or Burrough of Southwark or places adjacent shall keep any Organ or other Instrument or Instruments of Musick for the Entertainment of Guests on pain of forfeiting the summe of 20 l. being thereof lawfully convicted upon Presentment or Indictment at the Quarter-sessions of the Peace and upon the further penalty of being disabled to sell Ale Wine or other Liquors by Retail for the space of a twelve Month after such Conviction And every person so convicted and yet selling any such liquors contrary to this Act shall be punished as selling the same without License And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that if any Women or Woman shall at any time after Sun-set and before Sun-rising be entertain'd or received into any Tavern Ale-house or other publick House of Entertainment as Guest or Guests except in Case of Travellers received into their Inns then the Master Mistriss or Dame of such Tavern or House upon proof thereof made before one or more Justice or Justices of the Peace shall forfeit 40 s. Vnless the said Master Mistriss or Dame shall prove by good and sufficient Testimony that such Woman and Women are of good Behaviour and Reputation And if afterwards the said Master Mistress or Dame shall permit the like Offence the said Tavern or House shall be taken and deem'd a Bawdy-house and the said Master Mistriss and Dame shall be punished as Keeper thereof And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that if any Offender within this Act shall not be Convicted and Punished by the Justice of Peace nor prosecuted at the Suit of any Party as is by this Act directed within the space of Months after the Offence committed that then the said Offender shall and may be Prosecuted at the Quarter-Sessions of the Peace or at the Assizes holden for the County where the Offence is committed by Indictment or Information within one Year after the Offence committed And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that when and as often as any Person shall be Convicted upon Indictment for any Offence contrary to this Act the Judge Justice and Justices before whom the Conviction shall be shall immediately thereupon signifie the same to the Bishop of the Diocess where the Offence shall be committed to the end that he may thereupon proceed to EXCOMMUNICATION of the Offender who shall not be absolved but by special Order of the Bishop upon Certificate by the Parson or Vicar and Church-Wardens of the Parish where the Offender shall inhabit that the said Offender shall on some Lords-Day in the Morning immediately after the Creed appointed for the Communion Service in the body or greatest Ile of the said Parish Church have publickly confessed his or her Offence and solemnly declared his or her unfeigned Sorrow and Repentance for the same And be it also Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that no Person Excommunicated or bound to be of Good Behaviour or Convicted of any Crime or Offence by Virtue or in pursuance of this Act shall be admitted to Vote or sit in Parliament or be capable to be Elected to serve in Parliament or to Act as Judge Justice of the Peace or Minister of Justice or to perform any publick Ecclesiastical Office within the Kingdom of England or Dominion of Wales or to maintain any Action of the Case for Scandalous Words or upon the Statute de Scandalis Magnatum until he shall be duely discharged of his Scourity for the good Behaviour and be absolved from his Excommunication as aforesaid and shall have paid and performed all Forfeitures Pains Penalties Costs and Charges incurred forfeited taxed or imposed by Virtue of this Act any Priviledge of Parliament or other whatever in any wise notwithstanding Provided that no Person excommunicate by Vertue or in pursuance of this Act shall by reason of any such Excommunication incurr or suffer any other temporal Punishment Disability or Incommodity than is by this Act appointed or Ordained any Law Statute Canon Vsage or Custom to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And because the Effect of all Laws and the Honour of the Government in that respect doth depend upon the due Execution thereof to the end that this Act may be the more effectually put in Execution be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that the same shall be publickly read in all Cathedral Collegiate and Parish Churches and in all Chappels where the Common Prayers usually are or ought to be read immediately after the Creed appointed for the Communion Service on some Lords-Day before the 24th day of June next and afterwards once every Year upon the second Lords-Day in March and that for that purpose it shall be provided by the Church-Wardens of every Parish at the charge of their respective Parishes And that all Constables Tything-men Headboroughs and Church-wardens shall at the time of their Entrance upon their respective Offices be Sworn to put this Act in due Execution and to give Information of all Offences committed in their respective Parishes or by any person of the same Parish contrary to this Act or to the Statutes against Drunkenness unto some Justice of the Peace of the same County or Place within ten Dayes after the same shall come to their knowledge according to their best Skill and Vnderstanding And also that this Act shall be given in Charge to the Grand Jury by the Judges and Justices at their several Assizes and Quarter-Sessions to enquire and present the several Offences aforesaid and all Neglects of Justices Constables Church-Wardens and other Officers and Persons in the due Execution thereof And be it also Enacted that the Judge Justice and Justices before whom any Person shall be Convicted of any Offence by Vertue of this Act shall Order and cause to be paid unto such Prosecutor and Prosecutors as shall otherwise receive no benefit by this Act and to the several Witnesses such reasonable Costs and Charges and in such manner as he or they shall think fit And that in any Action brought against any Justice Constable or other Officer or Person for any thing done by Vertue or in pursuance of this Act the Defendant may Plead the General Issue and give the special matter in Evidence and upon Verdict for him or Non-suit of the Plaintiff shall recover his treble Costs The END
it is hereby further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Peer of the Realm Prelate or other person expressed in the Statute of 2 Ri. 2. entituled The Penalty for telling of slanderous Lyes of the great Men of the Realm or any Baron of the Exchequer upon committing any such Offence of Prophane Swearing or Cursing as aforesaid shall refuse to pay the Penalty thereby forfeited being demanded as aforesaid the Justice of the Peace before whom such Information shall be given shall cause a Copy of the said Information to be delivered to the said Offender his Lady or Steward and shall bind over the Witness and Witnesses to prosecute and give Evidence of the said Offence Demand and Refusal at the next Gaol-Delivery or Oyer and Terminer to be holden for the County or Division Where such Offendor having notice as aforesaid shall be obliged to appear and Travers his Endictment And in case he shall not appear or upon his Appearance and Travers shall be found Guilty he shall incurr the several Disabilities hereafter mentioned and forfeit the summ of twenty pounds one moity to the King and Queen and the other to the Prosecutor or Prosecutors And because it may be feared that Perjury is often committed in this Nation by the Neglect of Officers and persons sworn to the due performance of their Offices Places and Employments or Duties Be it therefore Enacted by the Authority aforesaid for the preventing the like for the future that every wilful neglect after the 24th day of June next of any Officer or other person duly sworn to the performance of any Office Place Employment or Duty in the due performance thereof shall be deemed and adjudged Perjury and be prosecuted and punished as other Perjury by the Law of this Land And for the more effectual Execution of the Statutes heretofore made for the Reformation of sundry Abuses and better Observation of the LORDS DAY commanly called Sunday 3 Car. 1 c. 2 29 Car. 2. c 7. be it likewise Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and every Constable Tythingman Headborough Church Warden and Overseer of the poor and other Officers in their respective Parishes may and are hereby authorized and required upon notice of any Offence contrary to the said Statutes or either of them immediately to repair to the place where any such Offence is said to be committed and upon their own view thereof without any Warrant from any Justice of Peace to seize all such Goods as they shall at any time find exposed to sale contrary to the said Statutes or either of them and to dispose thereof as by the said Statutes or either of them is directed and likewise to stop apprehend and secure all persons offending against the said Statutes or either of them and them to carry before some Justice of the Peace to be dealt with according to the Law unless the said Offendor and Offenders shall forthwith pay the penalty forfeited by the said Statutes to such Officer or Officers And for suppressing of the brutish Sins of ADULTERY and FORNICATION Be it also enacted by the Authority aforesaid That if any Man after the tenth day of June in this present year of our Lord 1690. shall have the carnal knowledge of the Body of any Woman other than his Wife except in the case of a Rape or shall be found in Bed or in any such posture of Nakedness with any other Woman than his Wife from which it may be reasonably presum'd that any such Act of carnal Copulation was committed by the said parties either of the said parties being at the same time in the State of lawful Matrimony with any other person not absent beyond the Seas or otherwise unknown to the said party to be living by the space of seven years the same shall be taken reputed and adjudged lawful and sufficient Evidence of ADULTERY and the said parties being thereof convicted by Verdict upon Indictment or presentment before any Judge or Justices of Gaol Delivery or Oyer and Terminer shall suffer Death as in case of Felony without benefit of Clergy But if neither of the said parties be at the same time in such State of Matrimony the same shall be taken reputed and adjudged lawful and sufficient Evidence of Fornication only for which being thereof convicted as aforesaid each of the said parties shall for every such Offence be committed to the common Gaol without Bail or Mainprize there to continue for the space of and further until he or she respectively shall give Security to be taken by one or more Justice or Justices of the Peace of the said County or place to be of the Good Behaviour for the space of Year then next ensuing if it be the first Offence but if the second for the space of Years and if the third during life Provided that no Attainder by vertue hereof shall extend to Corruption of Blood or forfeiture of the Estate real or Personal of the person so attainted And for the better preventing of the said Sins for the time to come be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the Constable or Tythingman and the Church-Wardens of every parish for the time being shall once every Month at least or oftener if they see cause make diligent enquiry throughout their respective Parishes to discover all persons who shall prostitute themselves as common Strumpets and shall certifie the Names or reputed Names and the places of abode of all such persons as they shall find either by Information of Neighbours or other probable circumstances to be suspicious in that respect unto some Justice of the Peace residing in or near their respective Parishes who upon receipt of such Certificate shall direct his Warrant to the Constable or Officer of the Parish where any such suspected person shall be found to bring before him all or any such suspected person or persons And shall examine her or them and such Witnesses as shall appear in their behalf concerning their way and course of livelihood And that all such persons so suspected and not being able to give a good account of themselves shall be punished as Vagabonds and sturdy Beggars are liable to be punished by vertue of the Statute made in the 39th year of the Reign of the late Queen Elizabeth in that behalf And be it further Enacted that all such Persons as shall keep Houses of Bawdry or wittingly and knowingly admit lewd Persons Men and Women into their Houses to Commit Vncleanness or shall receive or continue to entertain in their Houses as Lodgers or otherwise any common Strumpet knowing that she continueth such her lewd Course of Life or shall wittingly and knowingly procure Meetings between Men and Women in order to their committing Adultery or Fornication together shall forfeit for the first Offence the summe of 5 l. and for the second the summe of 10 l. together with Costs of Suit to be recovered by Action of Debt Bill plaint or Information at the
Reason and I confess do deserve to be well considered yet if we look no farther I am well satisfied will either never be effected or if they be will never of themselves produce the Effects expected from them The first is that the King who hath so far exposed his own Royal Person to danger for us and for the common Cause of the Confederates may not be longer deprived of the Service of such as are his sincere Friends and ready to do the like for him for it and for the whole Nation by a superfluous clause in the letter of the Law no way necessary to the declared scope of it I mean the Stat. 25. Car. 2. c. 2. which among other things enacts That all and every Person and Persons so to be admitted as aforesaid shall also receive the Sacrament of the Lords Supper according to the usage of the Church of England within three months after his or their Admittance in or receiving their said Authority and Employment in some publick Church upon some Lord's Day commonly called Sunday immediately after Divine Service and Sermon This Act was made for preventing Dangers which then might happen from Popish Recusants as appears by the Tiâ—â—e is declared in the very beginning of the Act and is emphatically expressed by the words Popish Recusants which restrain it to them alone of all Dissenters And though there be some words as according to the usage of the Church of England and in some Publick Church which restrain the admittance to Conformists only yet it is plain that that restraint neither was necessary nor was designed by the Act for that purpose or in order to that end and therefore considering the Practice of those Times it is not to be doubted but they were put in partly by the Papists to divide the Protestants in that as well as in matters of Religion that so they might have a party of Protestants in the same condition with themselves which was a very common Policy among them and partly by the Faction that they might ingross all And though at that time it might be thought fit to let it pass so rather than hazard the loss of the Bill yet now that we have a Prince whom we may safely trust and great Reason to unite our whole strength against the common Enemy not to remove that Obstacle by so easie an Expedient as instead of according to the usage of the Church of England in some Publick Church to make it in some solemn or Publick Assembly of Protestants and the Certificates to be by the Persons who administer and three or four credible Persons of the Assembly or something to the like effect may be thought in them who oppose it an argument of greater affection to the late King James than to the present King William and to the Papists or the Faction than to the true Protestant Interest since such an alteration doth not in the least impede the design of the Act so fully as before declared Another is That we do not intangle our selves in our own Policies by stooping to little Arts and pieces of vulgar Craft but proceeding steadily upon Principles of Justice Humanity and true Wisdom unnecessarily exasperate none give all fair and reasonable Terms Conditions and Benefits that can be desir'd to all but never expose a good Cause by so mean Compliance as to commit matters of great Trust and weight to such as are not entirely for it but whose declared Principles make such a Condescention as little honourable as safe To be plain the People of this Nation being divided in Opinion upon the late Revolution part holding that the Right of the late King James by his own Actions and the Declaration thereupon of the Lords and Commons by their Representatives fairly chosen is fully determined and that the Royal Authority is justly and effectually to all intents and purposes transferred to the present King and Queen but others being of opinion that King James is still King de Jure and King William only King de Facto These last are again divided among themselves into two or three parties one part being satisfied to live peaceably and quietly under the present Government but not to swear Allegiance to the present King nor act under him against the former another part being zealous for the restoring of King James And a third of such who though they declare their Opinion that King James is still King de Jure yet make no scruple to act under the present King not only in little matters but in such matters of State and War wherein they must either act directly against him whom they acknowledge to have the Right or else be false to him who entrusts ' em And this is the Party that I mean whom because I cannot see how in Conscience they can act as they do I cannot see how in prudence they can be trusted And therefore I should think it no hard or unreasonable matter to secure the Government against all the Dangers which may arise from Men of those Principles for if they may freely enjoy not only their own private Rights but also all such publick Employments and Preferments as are confirment with their Principles for them to execute which is as much as in Honesty and Conscience they can desire or in Honour and Prudence can be committed to them they have no reason to complain but rest satisfied therewith and thankful to God for his Deliverance from a worse condition and those who professing these Principles are yet not satisfied with all that may justly be suspected as Persons either of vain and ambitious minds or of turbulent and ill Designs and therefore not to be admitted to any publick Employment at all or to be discharged if already in any such For these are the Men whom I apprehend to have been the most effectual Remora's in our Proceedings and chief Occasions or Instruments in all our Disappointments And indeed I have all along from the beginning look'd upon a certain Condescention to a Compliance with some of this Party to be one of the first false Steps which have been made since the beginning of the Revolution and a Daubing into which we were Betrayed by the pedantick Policies of some who had special reason to have made better use of a good Caution against it a thing of so pernicious Consequence to his Majesty that I look upon the Miscarriage of Torrington to be but a Trifle in comparison to it and as inconsistent with true Divinity as with true Policy Poor Prince how did my Heart ake for him about that time though I knew not what was the matter But Princes are Men and subject to the like Infirmities with other Men and to such Oversights as bring many times much Trouble and Disturbance after them But what Error in Divinity was here committed I will leave to the Consideration of those whose Office it was to have discerned and given faithful Notice of it rather than prove a
and an Advocate for us with him in Heaven and by him and in his Name all who are Seal'd with and Partakers of his Spirit have Access and certain Acceptance with the Father But that you may be one of these here is again as before something to be done by you You must ruminate much upon the admirable Clemency and Goodness of God to his poor Creatures for the recovery of them out of a most miserable Slavery to the Powers of Darkness and how admirable a Person this Christ Jesus is who having performed a perfect Obedience to the Father in our Nature and by his Passion consecrated it and exalted it to Heaven to be there as a Magnet to attract all who receive him and give up themselves to obey him And how great a new Obligation this is upon us to do so How great and admirable the Benefit and Advantage is to our selves And therefore how much common Prudence and Gratitude should prevail with you for that purpose And never cease musing and thinking thereupon and lifting up your Heart to God in earnest Desires and Prayers in the Name of Christ Jesus and for his Sake that he will be pleased to enlighten your Mind with a clear understanding of these admirable Truths and fill your Heart with such Love and Admiration of his Goodness so demonstrated in this admirable Person that all things in this World your Temporal Life in the Flesh and all that you are or have may appear to you as in truth they are very mean and despicable and nothing valuable and desirable but Christ Jesus and an inseparable Union with him till you find your Heart so affected with these things that you become intirely resigned in all things to the Will of God be willing and even desirous to be Partaker of the Sufferings of that Holy and Innocent Person which you have justly deserved and with full purpose of Heart give up your self to an entire Subjection Obedience and Service of the Holy Trinity to whom you have been dedicated in your Baptism to all Eternity This is a great Work indeed but God is able to do this and more than we can ask or think in less time than you have to prepare for it And if he will be so gracious to you you will be a happy Creature and have reason to admire and bless his Holy Providence and abundant Grace which by so admirable Means hath brought you to it and then you will have nothing more to do but to perform some other Works of true Repentance which I shall presently shew you and wait upon God and stand ready for what-ever he shall call you to These remaining Works of Repentance respect either the particular Persons you have wronged or the State and your Country in general To the particular Persons you must make Restitution as far as you are able pray to God to make up what is wanting by his Grace and Blessing to them and send to them and desire their Pardon and heartily forgive all who have injured you acknowledging them what-ever they intended to have been God's Instruments for your just Punishment and Correction and pray heartily to God to pardon them And to the State and your Country you must do what you can to make Satisfaction and Restitution by these means You must do what you can to break those wicked Combinations Confederations and â—ractices by making all the Discovery you can both of Robberies and such like Practices and of the Persons who either use such Practices or harbor or are any way Partners with them therein Only thus much I shall advise you that you do it in Charity not only to your Country but even to the Malefactors themselves so as that they may be reclaimed if possible and therefore do it not to any one but to such as you think most like to use your Discoveries wisely and charitably with due care and respect even to them And if you desire my Assistance therein I will endeavour to come to you on purpose rather than you shall want Assistance I have no more now but my Prayers for you to Almighty God that he will bless these Instructions make them effectual upon you and by his powerful Grace perfect this great and good Work in your Soul POSTSCRIPT IT is a common Opinion among Malefactors that it is a dishonourable thing and therefore odious and detestable to discover which they call betraying their Companions or Partners in their Crimes But this is plainly a mere vulgar Error and a gross Mistake and no less pernicious to themselves and to their Partners than to their Country and Mankind in General The Fallacy lies in the Misapplication of a true Principle For the true reason why Breach of Faith and Betraying of Trust is so odious a thing among all Men is because it is not only injurious to the Person but tends to the disturbance of Humane Society So that if it was generelly practis'd Men would not know how to deal one with another and would be deprived of mutual Assistance in many cases and of one of the greatest Comforts of Humane Life But yet as in many other Cases that which in the General is unlawful dishonourable and odious as the taking away the Life of a Man may in a particular case under some certain Circumstances become a necessary and commendable Duty as the Condemnation and Execution of a Murderer which is an Act both of Justice upon the Malefactor and of Charity to the rest of Mankind by preventing and discouraging other Murders so it is in this To discover a Secret committed to ones Trust which may lawfully be concealed but especially to do it for ones own advantage and to the prejudice of his Consident is commonly reputed and very justly a very base unmanly dishonest and dishonourable thing But when the Secret or Considence is in a thing wicked and unjust injurious to other Persons and to the Society whereof a Man is a Member as to his Country this is no such Secret as can honestly be concealed because it is a Breach of Charity to the injured Persons and a Violation of that Faith which by an antecedent and greater Obligation is due to the whole Society whereof he is a Member Such mutual Confidences therefore are not properly Human Societies but a kind of Confederacies of Enemies and Disturbers of the proper Society Peace and Welfare of Men tending to the Destruction thereof And the Hypothesis upon which they are built is for the same reason plainly a Delusion and probably a Stratagem of the Apostate Spirits and Enemies of Mankind to strengthen their Party and Interest among Men so that as on the one hand this is no such Trust as it is dishonourable to any Person to break it because it is a wicked thing to engage in it so on the other hand it is a Breach of Faith and Duty to the Society not to break but conceal it and thereby support a Confederacy of Enemies
and Disturbers of the Peace of his Country so that the Person who conceals what he knows of that nature becomes accessary even after his Death to all the Evils which are afterward committed and might have been prevented by his Discovery Bendes an obstinate and wilful Concealment even to the Death is not only a Confirmation of that particular wicked Confederacy wherein the Person is engaged or any way concerned or acquainted but tends mightily to harden others and so to support all such wicked Confederacies in general Whereas did such Persons at least when apprehended in their Affliction become serious and not suffer themselves to be longer abused and imposed upon by such a vulgar Error and Diabolical Delusion but consider well judge rightly and act accordingly such wicked Confederacies could not subsist for want of mutual Confidence Nor is such Concealment only injurious to divers other particular Persons and a Violation of that Faith and Love which all Men owe to their Country but very pernicious and of evil consequence to the Partners and all other such Criminals because it encourageth them to venture upon and persist in such Courses as involve them more and more in Sin whereby they treasure up Wrath against the Day of Wrath and expose them to all those temporal Evils which usually first or last over-take them Whereas by such a Discovery as I have recommended the Persons discovered might possibly be reclaimed and brought to Repentance at least might be hindered from so much increasing their Score which were better for them though by an unnatural and otherwise untimely Death than that they should longer protract a miserable Life here to the increase of their Misery hereafter Nor is it less pernicious to the Malefactor himself For as without true Repentance no Pardon can be expected with God So whoever doth not all he can to make Restitution and repair all the Evil and Damage he hath done and to prevent all he can for the future can be no true Penitent holding still an implicit Confederacy at least with wickedness And as he can expect no Favour from God so is he to be looked upon by Men not as a Man of Honor in any respect but as a reprobate deluded and hardned Wretch an Enemy to Man-kind and a Confederate with Death and Hell and the Kingdom of Darkness an odious and detestable Creature insted of being in the least honourable as he vainly fancied That which only is Honourable or Commendable in such Case and the only true Wisdom is 1. To consider seriously the unreasonableness and wickedness of the Crime till such consideration hath produced a just Indignation and Abhorrence of it 2. To acknowledge ingenuously his own Folly and Impotence to yield to and be overcome by such a Temptation what-ever it was which induced him to it and not rather more manly to have born any hardships of a transitory human Life than so basely to have violated the Order of the Divine Providence which assigned those hardships for his Exercise and the Laws of his Country 3. To give Glory to God acknowledging the Justice of his Punishment and the special Providence of God who hath brought him to it not only in Justice but in Mercy too to cut off his Sin for Correction of his Miscarriages and that he may not be condemned with the World if he truly and effectually repent as is before directed 4. To endeavour as far as possible he can to break all such Confederacies and prevent all the Mischief which might otherwise be committed by a plain Discovery of all he knoweth This indeed would be an Evidence of such a Change and Disposition of Mind as is really valuable in the Judgment of all Good and Wise Men and acceptable in the sight of Almighty God and therefore truly Honourable with others and the truest wisdom for himself What I have here said to Criminals is fit to be considered by all who have any knowledge of any such Crimes That which they may fancy to be Faithfulness or Charity or Pity to Criminals is a great Mistake and Delusion and in truth Unfaithfulness and want of due regard to their Country That Malefactors be brought to condign Punishment both Justice and Charity to our Country require which is to be preferred before the Consideration of any particular Person And therefore to hinder or resuse ones Assistance to it is to prefer a Malefactor and desert the Duty he ows his Country But in other respects Chatity and Humanity requires more to be done for them than usually is with us THE END AN ACT FOR The more effectual Restraining and Suppressing of divers notorious Sins and Reformation of the Manners of the People of this Nation WHereas the Advancement of the Honour and Service of Almighty God and of the Protestant Religion which by his wonderful Providence hath been Established and Preserved in these Nations ought at all times to be the Chief Part of the Care as well of the Legistative as Executive Power of this Kingdom but more especially at this time after so admirable a Deliverance from so great and apparent Danger as lately threatned us And for that End a General Reformation of the Lives and Manners of all degrees of People of this Nation is earnestly desired by all good men and by all Means to be endeavoured as that which must Establish both the Church and State and secure to all their Religion Happiness and Peace All which seem to be in great Danger at this time by reason of the Overflowing of Vice which is too notorious in this as well as other neighbouring Nations and more particularly the Sins of Blasphemy Prophane Swearing and Cursing Perjury Prophanation of the Lords Day Adultery Fornication and Drunkenness Therefore for the better carrying on of so good a Work and for the more effectual preventing correcting and suppressing of the Horrid and Hellish sins of BLASPHEMIE and prophane Swearing and Cursing Be it Enacted by the King and Queens Majesty the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That if any Person not disturbed in Brain by Sickness or otherwise shall at any time hereafter presume in word or writing to Blaspheme or speak or write contemptuously or scoffingly of God blessed for ever his Providence our Blessed Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus the Holy Spirit the Sacred Scriptures the Christian Religion or any of them the Person and persons in whose presence or hearing such Offence shall be committed shall and are hereby required presently to set down the Words expressing the said â—â—sence or so much thereof as he or they can remember and the manner thereof in writing and to give notice and testifie his and their Knowledge thereof upon Oath within the space of ten dayes unto some Justice of the Peace of the County or Place where the same shall be committed who is hereby authorized and required to administer the said Oath and to