no difficulty of creating a belief of what he says amongst any of his Friends without making any appeal to God Besides the Oath of a common Swearer gives indeed but very little assurance of the truth of what he says if I know a man to be afraid of an Oath his Oath shall satisfy me beyond any other testimony that he can give and upon the Oath of such a man a Court of Judicature may proceed with confidence but what regard can reasonably be had to his Oath above his simple and bare word as we use to say who is known to swear upon all occasions if he does not lie 't is well but of this I have no peculiar assurance by his Oath because it is as ordinary with him to swear as to speak and therefore in Athens a Common Swearer's Oath was not allowed nor accepted of in their Courts and sometimes the testimony of a man of known Probity and Honour was admitted without it this last seems to be imitated by the wisdom of our Laws which suppose the Asseveration of a Peer to be equivalent to the Oath of another man and therefore for another man to Swear needlesly is to disparage the Reputation of his Fidelity but for a man of Honour to do so is to renounce his Privilege and for any man to do thus is not only to bring the honesty of his Word but the truth of his Oath also into question 3. The most usual excuse framed for the extenuation of this Impiety is that of sudden Passion thus when some men are a little provoked or when they are surprized with some unexpected good Fortune or any unlook'd-for misadventure befals them either their Rage or their Joy bursts out presently into Oaths and they pretend they cannot help it for they have no other way to discharge their minds and give vent to their Passions but by Cursing and Swearing now is not this a plain confession that they have lost the government of themselves and have no rule over their own spirits So common it is for men while they are framing an excuse for one sin to betray themselves guilty of another what greater argument can lightly be given of an impotent mind than that every petty accident is able to bereave one of all consideration and make him cease to be his own man till the fit is over And the truth is though Passion be brought in to mitigate the business yet it is plain enough that any trifling occasion is able to set these men a swearing that make this excuse for themselves when provocation is alledged to mollify this Crime one would think it must arise from no less a cause than if he should find his house in flames or his friend attempting the honour of his bed but upon examination this same emotion and heat of spirit is pleaded for the begging of your pardon when a man swears upon the most trifling and inconsiderable occasions And what can excuse that childishness and impotency of mind to which these men have thus given themselves over But let never such extraordinary causes of joy or grief or anger happen it is an unmanly thing to set no bounds to these Passions and they are never less unbridled than when we make such undue expressions of them as Oaths and Curses are St. James gives us this Rule Above all things my brethren swear not neither by heaven neither by the earth nor by any other Oath James 5.12 But the particular Case wherein he thought this Rule was useful was that of Affliction for he had before exhorted them to whom he wrote to take the Prophets for an example of suffering affliction and of patience and particularly recommended to them the meekness and patience of Job for their imitation ver 10 11. But if they could not perfectly equal such great examples as those were yet at least he strictly enjoins them not to be transported so far into Anger and Impatience as to break forth into Oaths But above all things my brethren swear not but keep your selves within the bounds of modest and Christian Language and that they might see that he allowed them to have a sense of the good and evil of this World and was far from thinking it a Virtue to be stupid and dull and unconcerned about either the Comforts or the Calamities of human Life he directs them how they may convert the Passions which are thereby excited to an excellent and profitable use Is any man among you afflicted let him pray Is any merry let him sing Psalms ver 13 15. If any man be overtaken with worldly misery let him turn himself to more devout and earnest Prayer that God would either remove his burden or give him patience under it if he be surprized with some new blessing let him break forth into the Praises of God to whose Bounty and Goodness he stands obliged for it Thus to improve the excitations of joy and grief within us is a demonstration that our Passions have not overwhelmed our Reason and Understanding but left us the free use of our selves to do what becomes us as Men and Christians but in either case to lash out into Oaths is a plain token of an impotent mind that hath no rule over it self but is hurried away by intemperate Passions which is matter of so much shame to a reasonable Creature and much more to a Disciple of Christ that we should blush to confess so much evil against our selves as to make it the excuse of any other Sin 4. If Swearing be excused under the notion of a compliance with the custom of other men who are our Friends and Companions this pretence indeed carries a shew of civility and kind nature but for all that is the silliest that can readily be thought of and the making of it argues a mean and degenerate mind for although in things of an innocent and indifferent nature 't is commendable for men to remit of their own way and humour and to suit themselves to the customs and manners of those whom they converse with yet to be complaisant in all things without exception is the way to grow as profligate and vile as the Devil would wish any man to be for what wickedness could want Authority if this pretence were once admitted What is this but to proclaim that a man hath lost all sense of difference between good and evil And that he hath left off to judge all things according to their own nature that he hath no more use left for his Reason that his Conscience is no longer in his own keeping and that he is now fit to herd with the Beasts that follow the foremost without discretion The Laws of Truth and Goodness are immutable and another man's violation of them gives me no dispensation to do so too I may not prostitute my Conscience to the Lusts of other men who are to be governed by the Laws of God as well as I if they call my resolution not to provoke my Maker an humour in this matter I were a Fool not to be tenacious of my own humour in this case there can be no reason why he that is in the right should go over to him that is wrong unless he that sets the evil example could change the nature of things and make evil not to be evil and sin and punishment to be other things than what they are Lastly The common way of excusing rash Oaths by pleading an habit implieth the greatest evil of this nature that can be for this is but to confess that a man is guilty of this sin in the highest degree an evil custom being the heighth of wickedness Thus both by shewing what those dispositions are which lead to common Swearing and by considering the excuses that are usually framed in the behalf of it I have discovered the Immorality thereof and that it cometh of evil I might here add the Authority of Wise men who had no particular Revelation to guide themselves by and yet condemned this practice and disswaded all men from it for these Persons could discover the evil of it only by the light of Natural Reason which they could not have done if it had not been evil in its own nature Plato wrote smartly against Swearing upon light causes Hierocles tells us It is a dishonour to truth to confirm it lightly with an Oath Epictetus gives this advice Avoid Swearing altogether if thou canst if not as much as thou canst In a word The wise and sober Heathens were generally of this mind That an Oath was to be reserved for Cases of necessity and the practice of common Swearing was not in use amongst any but Stage-players and Slaves nor do we ordinarily meet with Oaths in any of their Writers excepting the Comedians and some of their dissolute Poets but the grave men and Philosophers took not the liberty themselves and dehorted others from it And this may serve to confirm us in the belief of its Immorality for what so many wise men agreed in condemning seems to be condemn'd as evil by reasons common to all men and possibly such as I have offered to your consideration so great a shame and ignominy it is to Christians to allow themselves in a Custom so easy avoidable that is condemned by the light of Nature however by the Authority of the Son of God whose Disciples we profess our selves to be Thus have I finished what I had to say upon this subject having been willing to say all that was any way proper to oppose a custom tending so manifestly to the dishonour of our Nation and the discredit of our Church and the scandal of Christian Society and finally to the ruin of Mens souls for ever for without universal obedience to the Laws of Christ whereof this is one which I have been preaching to you we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven for which reason if I had chosen any other Command of our Lord and Saviour to discourse upon I had been as vehement in urging you to the obedience of that as I have been in pressing this Now the God of mercy grant that we may walk before him blameless and be holy in all manner of Conversation as becomes the followers of Jesus To Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all honour praise and glory now and for ever Amen FINIS
this be the sense of the Precept that the Prohibition doth not extend to Cases which belong not to the common and ordinary Conversation of Men such as the deciding of Controversies for the security of the publick peace the assuring of fidelity to the Government and the ratifying of Leagues c. which are cases properly excepted from this Rule of an usual and ordinary communication with each other because they are no part thereof But I confess I do not lay the stress of the proof upon this Argument only but on this together with the second which is founded upon comparing the general Rule with the particular instances whereby the use of it is explained neither by Heaven for it is God's Throne c. Our Saviour's design in these words cannot be better understood than by considering what those corrupt Principles concerning the matter of Swearing were which had crept in among the Jews and first as their own Authors tell us it was generally held amongst them that they ought not to Swear by the Name of God in light and trivial Cases but they believed it was no Sin to Swear upon any occasion by a Creature that was a remarkable instance of God's Favour and Providence as by Heaven or by the Earth or by Jerusalem or by their Head which are the Instances here noted by our Saviour Secondly some of them and particularly the Pharisees taught that the Guilt of Perjury was not incurr'd when a falshood was attested by these kind of Oaths excepting only in the Cases of Swearing by the Gold of the Temple and the Gift upon the Altar by which Oaths they acknowledged themselves to be bound as we find Mat. 23. i.e. either to speak the Truth or to the Penalty of False-Swearing Hence I say that our Saviour's words Swear not all neither by Heaven c. being spoken to Persons who well enough understood the Doctrines and Practises of their Countreymen in this matter could not reasonably be thought to have any other meaning than this That they ought not to Swear by the Creatures of God in any of those Cases wherein it is unlawful to Swear by the Almighty himself i.e. in their usual Communication with one another For it seems the Jews themselves were not arrived to that insolence which it is so dreadful to think that Christians now-a-days should not scruple of profaning the Name of the Most High God by calling him at every turn to be Witness of their talk And therefore our Saviour found it needless to forbid them Swearing by his Name for they already believed that to be an impious thing but he tells them they must neither Swear by Heaven nor by any thing else as if he had said You have been allowed to liberty of Swearing as oft as you please provided you do not use the Name of God himself it is ordinary with you to Swear by Heaven and Earth and by the Temple and your Lives and Souls and that in those Cases wherein you rightly believe it would be a profane rudeness to invoke the Majesty of God directly But I say unto you Swear not at all you shall not henceforth take the liberty of using any kind of Oaths in those Cases wherein you are not to appeal to God himself but upon all these occasions whatever you assert or whatever you promise use the simplicity and plainness of some affirmation or denial And thus our Saviour restrained the licentiousness of those common Swearers that thought they might safely Swear by Heaven and use the like Oaths at any time and upon any occasion and withal corrected that abuse which the Doctrine of the Pharisees had brought into this Practice viz. That Men were not liable to the guilt of Perjury by such Oaths as these were which I shall more distinctly shew under the third Head The meaning then of our Saviour's Prohibition is not this That it is unlawful at any time to Swear by the Name of God but that it is unlawful to Swear by any Creature in any Case wherein it would be so to appeal directly to the Knowledge and Justice of God himself 2. As to those Instances by which the general Rule is explained it is observeable 1. That Swearing by any of the Creatures is forbidden not only by Heaven and Earth which with the rest are particularly mentioned by our Saviour because these forms of Swearing were most in use amongst the Jews 2. We are to note that our Saviour calls it Swearing to use these forms of Speech in attesting what we say they are not so many words lost as we may be inclined to think but we bring upon our selves the obligation of an Oath by the using of them as shall presently appear If indeed any ways of speaking have obtained amongst us which look like Swearing but are not being altogether unapt to excite any Thought of Divine Justice I do not question but they are to be laid aside too because surely the Prohibition of Swearing at all excludes not only all real but all broken apish and insignificant Oaths but if it were not so one would think that a small measure of Sobriety and Wisdom should keep a man from debasing and vilifying the acknowledged forms of speaking that are peculiar to Oaths by applying them to such sensless sounds as make them to signify nothing 'T is a good Rule which a wise man hath given That all forms besides those wherein there is an immediate appeal to God are better avoided when there is need of Swearing and when there is no need we should not Swear at all neither by Heaven nor by any thing else Let us now consider 3. The Reasons why the Prohibition extends to these instances and the like Not by Heaven for it is God's Throne and he that sweareth by Heaven sweareth by the Throne of God and him that sitteth thereon Matth. 23. Not by the Earth for it is his footstool it is a remarkable subject of his Providence and to Swear hereby is in effect all one as to appeal to God that upholds it by his Power Not by Jerusalem nor any holy place that hath a peculiar relation to God for the same reason nor by thy head for thou canst not make one hair white or black i. e. thou hast no power over thy life and art so unable to subsist independently upon God that thou canst not so much as alter the colour of thine Hair Now since thy Head thy Life and Safety depends upon the Divine Providence to Swear by thy Head and by thy Life and consequently by thy hope of Life and Salvation is indeed to Swear by him upon whom thou dependest for thy life and who only hath all power to save and to destroy so that the general reason why these Oaths are to be avoided is because they are equivalent to formal Swearing by the Creator of all things and contrary to the Opinion of the Pharisees brought an equal Obligation upon him that used them with
not liable to mistake or misinformation in the case and many other things which are often necessary to come under consideration with that man that trembles at the thought of Perjury but the light is not more clear at mid-day than that common Swearers trouble themselves with none of these Thoughts what they say at a venture they boldly Swear what they rashly utter they as rashly add Oaths and Curses to their habit of Swearing makes them not one jot the more wary in their talk and the slipperiness of their Tongues not at all the more afraid of an Oath which is a plain Argument that they have little apprehension of Perjury and are not afraid to be Forsworn for I say Did we ever find that those who are given to Swearing are more deliberate and slow to speak than other men Do they weigh their words with more exactness Do they refrain from loosness of talk and dissoluteness of Mirth and Jollity more than those who are content to speak upon their honest word No but on the contrary they are usually more free and prodigal of their discourse their words are guided with less consideration and judgment and their Tongues hang more loosly in their Heads than is observable in other men nay it is well known that they are then most plentiful of their Oaths when they are least able to govern their talk with discretion i. e. when they are drunk either with Wine or Passion and what numerous Perjuries then in all likelihood are these men guilty of nay it is not improbable but some of them may be Forsworn every day they rise for though men may please themselves with thinking that they do but swear in jest yet the obligation of an Oath is not to be laughed away when men swear they will do this or that which it may be they intend not at all or that such a thing is true which they know is false they are nevertheless guilty of Perjury for not minding that they are so since a Sin ceaseth not to be what it is meerly by the stupidity of a man's Confcience but all that can be said in this case is That they are not apprehensive of the guilt nor afraid of the crime of Perjury which is that Immorality that I charge the common Swearer withal and this St. Austin was so sensible of that the reason which he assigns why our Saviour prohibited unnecessary Oaths was this ne perjuri smus lest we should be forsworn which every man is in apparent danger of who promiscuously adds Oaths to his Talk as I have already noted And doubtless he that refuseth to secure himself from Perjury that way which our Saviour hath prescribed declares plainly enough that he is not so careful against it as a due sense of the foulness of that Sin would make him That in the busness of an Oath men are obliged to proceed with great care and deliberation is a thing so plain that I should be ashamed to go about the proving of it And I am confident if men would tye themselves to weigh the Truth of every thing they affirmed before they would venture to Swear to it they would spare a great many of their Oaths and if they found it were exactly true they would be immediately sensible that it deserved not so solemn a confirmation and be ashamed of the vanity of doing so great a thing to no purpose which is a consideration that I shall by and by more particularly offer In the mean time 3. Needless Swearing argues Immodesty and Pride and an arrogant spirit Few things are more unseemly in a man than to affirm every thing with confidence and to be peremptory in all his talk for this is to impose upon his Company and leave no room for any body to be of another mind and such Companions are shunned by all wise Persons as being void of that modesty and sobriety which make men sociable and conversible but what shall we say to those who are not only positive and dogmatical in their common discourse but assert every thing almost which they say upon Oath Certainly in this kind of Behaviour there is as much ill Manners towards men as there is rudeness towards God for what greater instance can be given of an imperious and a peremptory temper than to seal our talk with Oaths and leave no room for another to doubt of what we say under the pain of accusing us of Perjury A modest and wise man when he delivers his judgment in many things where possibly he might without fear of being accused of Arrogance be peremptory and conclusive yet chuseth to declare himself with that reservedness as may invite another man to shew all his reasons to the contrary without fear of displeasing him and this we all know is a great Ornament to any man's Conversation and of excellent use to maintain peace and good will and good correspondence in all Societies But light is not more contrary to darkness than the custom of Swearing is to this human and gentle temper wherefore it betrays immodesty and arrogance Lastly it proceeds also from great vanity and lightness of spirit which appears in these two plain instances of it The first is in making no difference between matters of serious importance and consideration and such as are frivolous and of little consequence in treating those with the same spirit and behaviour that are suitable only to these which is an undoubted argument of childishness and a frothy mind this is that which the Swearer is apparently chargeable with for otherwise how could he in the same light humour wherein he is delivering something to make the Company laugh presume to prophane so sacred a thing as an Oath is by accompanying a poor silly Jest with it Does the taking of an Oath require no more seriousness than is necessary to the telling of a Tale Or can it be fit to tye so grave a thing to a sentence which if it were written down would within an hour after perhaps appear hatefully ridiculous And yet nothing is more common with those that allow themselves in this Sin Secondly It is an Argument of vanity to take more pains for the confirming of what we say than the thing doth at all deserve It is plain that the greatest part of our Conversation with one another by discourse and correspondence doth not require any solemn confirmation of the truth of our words much less the Testimony of an Oath which being the greatest security we can give he must be a very light-headed Companion that will throw it away at every turn who cannot tell what was done yesterday or make a Promise to his Friend or Acquaintance about the ordinariest matter but out comes an Oath or a Curse to bind his words withal Methinks I could convince any man of ordinary sense that there is that levity and madness implied in this custom which if it were but seen in other things would bring a man within the