But let us examine this question yet more fully §. 3. That the truth of Religion is to be confessed when wee are lawfully called thereunto and distinctly in what cases the truth is to be spoken or concealed and when the Glory of God and good of our neighbour or our owne good doth require the profession of it and when wee should conceale and hide it by silence or otherwise For the understanding whereof wee are to distinguish of truth namely that it is either religious or civill Religious truth is the truth of religion or the doctrine of Faith the which we are upon all occasions to professe being lawfully called thereunto when the Glory of God or good of our neighbour doth require it according to that of the Apostle Peter Sanctifie the Lord in your hearts and be 1 Pet. 3. 15. ready alwayes to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekenesse and feare Neither is it enough to beleeve the truth and keepe it to our selves but we must also openly professe it for as with the heart man beleeveth unto Rom. 10. 10. righteousnesse so with the mouth confession is made unto salvation as the Apostle Paul telleth us For if wee conceale the truth when wee are called to professe it we doe not onely deny the truth but also the Lord of Truth who is the Author and Patrone of it and whosoever shall deny him before Math. 10. 33. men him will he deny before his Father which is in Heaven But when are wee called lawfully to make this confession of truth surely at all times when by our confession wee may glorifie God or benefit our neighbours As when wee are called before a lawfull Magistrate and required an account of our faith then wee must in no case suppresse the truth though we confesse it with the danger of our lives for he standeth in Gods stead as his Deputy and to hide or deny the truth before him is as it were to deny or hide it in Gods sight and presence And then also God is glorified by our Christian apology when as wee will not shrinke from the truth whatsoever we suffer for it So also we are bound to professe the truth of our religion before private men when as wee conceive that thereby wee shall glorifie God by propagating his Truth and edifie them to whom wee confesse it Otherwise if there be no cause why we should conceive this hope because we know them to bee scorners and enemies of Gods true Religion who would but deride it and our profession wee may yea in Christian discretion wee ought to conceale it seeing we shall by our confession dishonor God by exposing his Truth to contempt and wrong our owne persons by laying our selves open to scorne and derision if not to the danger of their rage and violence For which wee have our Saviour Christs Word for our warrant Give not that which is Holy unto Dogs neither cast yee your Pearles Math. 7. 6. before Swine lest they trample them under their feete and turne againe and rent you Secondly there is a civill truth which is exercised §. 4. That civill truth is to bee confessed when Gods glory or our neighbours good doth require it about the affaires of this life the which also is to bee spoken and professed when the glory of God and our owne and neighbours good doth require it or to bee hid and concealed when by the profession of it God is dishonoured and our selves and neighbours endammaged Now if we further enquire when Gods glory and our owne and neighbours good doth require it to be spoken and when it ought to be concealed wee are to distinguish of it either as it is to be spoken publikely before the lawfull Magistrate sitting judicially upon the judgment seate or privately to ordinary men in our common course of conversation When wee are judicially called before the lawfull Magistrate and required according to law to speake the truth we ought not to conceale it whether it bee for us or against us And for this wee have the same reason that we have for speaking of religious truth for the Magistrate sitteth in the place of God as his Deputy to enquire and examine the truth and therfore to deny or dissemble it unto him in a legal maner inquiring after it is as it were to deny and dissemble it unto God himselfe the which in this respect is the more grievous sinne because in course of law men are examined upon oath and are bound thereby to speake not onely the truth but also the whole truth in which they call God as Witnesse to what they say and so grosly abuse his Majesty being the God of truth if they draw him as much as in them lyeth to countenance and confirme a lye Secondly hereby they transgresse in a high degree Gods expresse Commandement by which as he forbiddeth us to beare false witnesse in the negative part so in the affirmative hee requireth that we speake the truth to his glory and our neighbours good Finally wee sinne against the common wealth and against all good policy order and government which cannot stand if in these legall Uterque reus est qui veritatem occultat qui mendacium dicit quia ille prodesse non vult ille nocere desiderat Ad Casulanum proceedings the truth should bee denyed or suppressed In all which respects Saint Augustine speaketh fitly to our purpose either of these are guilty and faulty both hee that hideth the truth and he that telleth a lye because the one denyeth to profit and the other desireth to hurt Upon which grounds and reasons I conclude §. 5. That the Truth must bee confessed before the Magistrate when hee requireth it in a Legall manner that being convented before a lawfull Magistrate and by him examined we are bound in conscience to speake the truth and whole truth if he proceed legally and in judiciall manner and demand of us such things as we may answere unto piously without dishonouring God and justly without any prejudice to the Church and Common-wealth or wrong to any particular person For if such questions bee propounded as are not lawfully demanded nor we bound by the Law of God and of the Common-wealth to answere wee may in such a case refuse and conceale the truth So likewise when the discovery of it tendeth to Gods dishonour to the hindering or suppressing of his true religion to the hurt and dammage of the Common-wealth by betraying unto the enemy the secrets of State or the delivering of the innocent into the hands of impious and unjust men that are in authority and seeke their ruine and the taking away of their goods liberties and lives we are not bound to answere the truth of the things demanded yea wee ought in such cases to hide and conceale it though it bee with the extreame and imminent
the negative he forbiddeth all lyes and falshood in thought word and deede even as under the name of murther hee forbiddeth all the kindes and degrees of it as anger hatred rayling revenge and under the name of Adulterer all manner of filthinesse and uncleannesse And therefore raising of a false report by lying and bearing Exod. 23. â— of false witnesse against our Neighbours are both joyned together and forbidden in the three and twentieth of Exodus And that we may know that lyes in no kindes were ever tolerated God hath ever inhibited and condemned them both in the Law Prophets and in the Gospell In the Law yee shall not lye one to another So by the Prophet Levit. 19. 11. Zecharie Speake yee every man the Truth to his neighbour Zech. 8. â—â— and the Apostle Paul Lye not one to another seeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds And Col 3. 9. Eph. 4. 29. to the Ephesians Wherefore putting away lying speake every man truth with his neighbor So that if we have any respect either to Law or Gospell in yeelding obedience unto them wee must speake the Truth and abhorre lying Finally we sinne immediately against God by suppressing truth and telling lyes because thereby we hinder and impeach his Glory whilest we hide our vices and faults from comming to light and stoppe the course of Justice when it should deservedly proceede against us to inflict upon us deserved punishment in the execution whereof Gods glory is advanced as Iosuah implieth in his speech to Achan My sonne I pray thee Jos 7. 19. give Glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou hast done Secondly by lying we sinne hainously in many §. 5. That by lying we sin greatly against our neighbours by corrupting their mindes and judgements with errors and untruthes respects against our neighbours generally and particularly For first by lyes we corrupt and deprave their mindes and judgements in putting downe Truth which should raigne and rule in them to direct them rightly in all their courses and inthrone in the place of them false conceits and opinions which are fit guides to misleade them into all errours and sinnes Now if it bee a great wrong to blemish deface and defile the bodies of our neighbours then how much more to offer these injuries against their mindes whilest by our strong delusions wee make them to beleeve lyes Secondly Secondly lyes are pernicious to all humane societies in perverting order and overthrowing all contracts lyes are most pernicious to all humane Societies and Common-wealths by perverting that order which God hath appointed to bee amongst them which is that men conversing together should by their words and speeches impart and communicate their mindes and meanings one to another for the good of all whereas if lyes bee spoken in stead of Truth there can nothing follow but confusion like that of Babel whilest speaking one thing and thinking another they cannot understand one anothers language nor guesse at their meaning by their words whereby the building of the State and the worke and welfare of the Common-wealth is much hindred For hereby all contracts covenants and intercourse of dealings betweene man which is as it were the life of the CoÌ„mon-wealth the foode that nourisheth it and chiefe meanes whereby it is maintained and inriched are quite overthrowne when as men cannot give credit unto any thing that is spoken nor trust unto the performance of any promise nor bee assured of any bargaine seeing those with whom they deale make no conscience of lying nor have any care to keepe their word further than feare of losse or force of law compelleth them The which as it is pernicious unto States and Common-wealths in hindring their wealth and welfare their livelyhood and well being in time of peace so also it is no lesse hurtfull in time of warre when as Nations having experience of one anothers lyes and falsehood being at enmity can conclude of no firme peace or truce but take all advantages to worke one anothers ruine and utter destruction because they have little or no hope that any covenants betweene them wil be observed Thirdly these lyes are the causes of all jealousies §. 6. That lyes are the causes of jealousies and suspicions betweene man and man and suspicions amongst men when as there being found no fidelity and truthin the speaker there can bee no faith and beleefe in the hearer but having often found him faulty and faithlesse he dare no more trust him upon his word or promise and suspitioÌ„ interpreting al that is spoken to the worst hee will not beleeve what hee saith neither when he lyeth nor when he speaketh truth And whereas it is the nature of faith if it bee not abused to beleeve that which another speaketh because nature hath given men words that they may bee signes and significations expressions and interpreters of the minde when by lyes it is often frustrated it cannot assent to what is spoken but is turned to diffidence and unbeleefe In which respect one being Demetrius apud Stobaeum asked what evill befalleth them that tell lyes answered this that they were not beleeved when they speake the truth For we are apt to conceive that hee who hath often by lying deceived is a lyar and deceiver still and therefore shun all dealings familiarity and friendship with him because wee can have no assurance of his faith and truth So that as faith betweene man and man receiveth a deadly wound by usuall lying So is it the bane of all true friendship when we are jealous and distrustfull one of another and consequently pernicious to humane societies For not onely he that hath beene deceived distrusteth the lyar who hath falsified his faith but also he who usually lyeth distrusteth all others with whom he dealeth measuring every ones shooe by his owne Last and suspecting all others as guilty of the same vice whereof his owne conscience accuseth and condemneth himselfe to which purpose S. Chrysostome speaketh He that is a lyar saith he doth thinke Qui mendax est neminem putat dicere veritatem neque ipsum Deum In Math 6. §. 7. That lying depriveth men of the end and use of speach that no man speaketh the truth no not God himselfe Finally this vice of lying depriveth men of the use and end of that excellent gift and property of speech which was given to man above all other creatures that it might serve as a true interpreter to make knowne our mindes and the secret thoughts of our hearts one to another and not to lye and deceive seeing it were better to say nothing than to lye and to leave men to their owne uncertaine guesse then by our untruthes certainly to deceive them and mislead them into errours So Saint Augustine every one that lyeth doth speake Omnis qui mentitur contra id quod anima sentit loquitur
as much as wee hate death and destruction so much let us abhor lying which is the cause thereof and with as much care and endeavour let us shunne the one as well as the other And as God thus punisheth lyes in this life so §. 8. That God punisheth lyars with everlasting condemnation much more fearefully in the life to come For first it excludeth lyars out of the Kingdome of Heaven seeing none are admitted to dwell in Gods Holy Psal 15. 2. Hill but those that speake the Trueth from their hearts and the Gates of this Heavenly Citty are onely opened that the righteous Nation which keepeth Esa 26. 2. the Truth may enter in And as the Apostle Iohn telleth us there shall in no wise enter into it any thing Apoc. 21. 27. that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination or maketh a lye And that without the gates of the Citty Apoc. 22. 15. are dogges and sorcerers and whoremongers and murtherers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lye Yea not onely doth this sinne of lying exclude lyars out of the Kingdome of Heaven but also if they live and dye in it without repentance it will irrecoverably plunge them headlong into Hell For the same Apostle telleth us that the fearefull and unbeleeving and the abominable and murtherers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all lyars without any difference made of their divers kindes of lyes shall have their part in the Lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second Apoc. 21. 8. death And therefore as we love to injoy eternall happinesse in Heaven so let us love to speake the Truth from our hearts which will assure us of it and as wee abhorre everlasting torments in Hell fire so let us hate and abhorre Lyes which are the meanes that will bring us to them CHAP. XIV Divers other motives to make us hate the Vice of Lying ANd thus have I shewed that lyes are §. 1. That lyes are odious because most opposite to truth accompanied with all manner of evils both of sinne and punishment and that both in this life and in the Life to come Unto which divers other motives might be added to bring us into a further detestation of this vice though none more effectuall than those already named if wee have any respect to Gods glory our Neighbours good our owne present comfort and well-being and the everlasting salvation of our body and soules As first that as lyes are friends and fanters of all vices causing and incouraging men to fall into them and to live in them without repentance so they are enemies and opposites to all Vertues and especially to Truth Justice and Charity First they stand in direct opposition to Truth so that where they are set up there Truth falleth and fayleth and where Truth is magnified and imbraced lyes are condemned and banished And this opposition betweene lyes and Truth the Apostle Iames noteth Jam. 3. 14. Lye not saith he against the Truth and the Apostle Iohn likewise where hee saith that hee who braggeth 1 John 2. 4. 21 27. that hee knoweth God and keepeth not his Commandements hee is a lyar and the Truth is not in him Yea they are such contraries as have no meane but the presence of the one argueth the absence of the other and the same heart at the same time cannot love and delight in both but if it loveth and delighteth in lyes it hateth and abhorreth the Truth And therefore seeing Truth is a most excellent Vertue and exceeding pleasing and acceptable unto God as being like unto him in his owne Nature It must needs follow by the rule of contraries that lying is a most base and dishonourable vice and most odious and abominable unto God as being opposite to his owne Nature Neither may wee qualifie and extenuate the sinne by our distinction of merry officious and pernicious lyes for howsoever these severall kindes may in other respects bee much more hainous and wicked one than another much more odious to God and men and will condemne lyars to greater or lesser punishments in Hell fire yet all of them are alike odious and abominable in this that they are all opposite to that excellent vertue of Truth and in every kinde of them contrary to Gods pure and perfect Nature who is essentially true and Truth it selfe In which regard even the best sort of officious lyes are evill and sinfull as namely when as men will tell them to confirme the Truth of Scripture and to perswade men more strongly and effectually to imbrace professe and practice the true religion by reporting fained miracles that have beene for merly wrought for the confirmation of this Truth which as also others of like nature are called pious lyes For first they are contrary to Truth an excellent Vertue and therefore must needes be vicious they are opposite to Gods Nature and dishonourable unto him as though hee were not able to maintaine his Truth unlesse wee helped him with our lyes neither do they so much grace and confirme the Truth of religion when they are kept secret as disgrace and weaken it when they are discovered and come to light nor so much strengthen mens faith in beleeving it being thus countenanced with lying wonders as weaken it when the deceit is knowne seeing these pious and officious lyes will make men when they are discerned jealous and suspicious of reall truths and take away from their teachers all power in perswading making their arguments and motives unto piety of no credit or efficacy seeing they that are moved and perswaded are ready to suspect that their speeches are all alike that seeing they have told them of false miracles therefore there are none true but all of one kinde although some more than other are more cūningly acted and that all the reasons and motives which they use to perswade men to a godly life are nothing but officious lyes which their teachers out of a pious affection and intention use to countenance religion and to make their exhortations and perswasions unto piety and honesty more forcible and efficacious And this was the reason which made Saint Augustine August lib. Epistol Epist 15. oppose Saint Ierome who maintained the lawfulnesse of such officious and pious lyes because if this were once permitted as lawfull or tolerable it would take away all authority in the teacher all faith and beliefe in the hearer yea make the Scriptures themselves to bee suspected so as no admonitions reproofes or counsells can bee given with any fruite because the hearers and readers will easily surmise that the things they heare and read are but pious and officious lyes to bring into and keepe men in the right way and not because they have in them any reallity of Trueth And therefore seeing these lyes are also unlawfull as being opposite to Truth I conclude that there are not any lawfull according to that of Saint
est quippe falsa significatio cum voluntate fallendi Aug. contr mendac ad Consent lib. 2. cap. 12. Qua propter ille mentitur qui aliud habet in animo aliud verbis vel quibuslibet significationibus enunciat lib. 1. cap. 3. it thus A Lye is a false signification with a will to deceive And that saith he is not a false signification when as though one thing is signified by another yet that is true which is signified if it bee rightly understood And this hee explaineth in another place where he saith that he lyeth who hath one thing in his minde and uttereth another thing in his words or any other way of signification more plainely as I take it wee may thus describe it A lye is a vicious speech in which the tongue disagreeth from the minde which is voluntarily uttered with a purpose and desire to deceive or thus a lye is a false expression or signification of the notions and conceptions of the mind by speaking writing or any other significant actions or gestures voluntarily uttered with a purpose and desire to deceive or when the Truth is suppressed and betrayed by silence when wee ought to declare and confesse it whereby it appeareth that these three things doe concurre in a lye First falsity or untruth uttered by speaking writing or any other meanes contrary to that Truth with which the minde is inlightned Secondly that it be voluntary the will resisting the minde and commanding expressions which are contrary to its notions and conceptions Thirdly that it bee done with a purpose and desire to deceive The two first doe containe the matter and forme the third the end at which he aymeth who telleth an untruth But for the better and more full clearing of the §. 2. Of the name or thing defined nature of this vice wee will first say something of the name or thing defined and then of the definition it selfe Our English name whereby wee expresse it is Lye the Etymology whereof we cannot easily guesse at It may seeme to bee derived or borrowed from the Belgicke word Lieghen or the German Lügen which signifie to lye and they to be derived from the Greeke word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to speake or talke because as Scaliger observeth in much speaking or talking is usually some lying The Latine expresseth it by a name which signifieth the disagreement that is in it betweene the tongue and the mind mentiri quasi contra mentem ire to lye is to goe against the minde or to say that which the mind gain-sayeth the tongue speaking contrary to that Truth which the minde conceiveth The Grecians call a lye 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to deceive because deceit is the maine end of lying And this some derive from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth to flye or avoyde because lying is such a vice as men naturally abhorring when it is spoken against themselves do shun and fly from it others derive 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Arist eth lib. 4. cap. 7. signifieth to reprehend disprayse or disgrace because 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a lye is reprehended and dispraysed amongst all as a thing vaine and wicked The Hebritians commonly call a lye Aven the same word also signifying iniquity and sinne because in all lyes though they seeme never so specious and excusable there is iniquity and sinne because the will and the tongue doe disagree from the minde and doe betray it by forcing it like a false interpreter to speake that which it doth not conceive and thinke And so I come from the name to speake of the §. 3. Of the falsity that is in a Lye nature of the thing described In which the first thing considerable is the falsity and untruth that is in every lye The which is twofold First when that is false which is spoken Secondly when as Men speake the Truth falsely that is with a purpose to deceive Now he speaketh false who doth not speake as the thing is whether hee thinketh it true or noe or whether he purposeth to deceive or not to deceive and he speaketh falselye who doth not speake as hee thinketh whether that hee speaketh bee true or false The one is a Logicall untruth when as the speech agreeth not with the thing the other a Morall lye or a lye against Morality when as the minde agreeth not with the speech He that speaketh that which is false but yet thinketh it to bee true cannot bee said to lye though he speaketh an untruth because his speech agreeth with his minde and as hee thinketh hee speaketh onely it is his errour either through the weakenesse of his reason and understanding and defect in judgement or else through rashnesse incogitancie and negligence because he doth not duely consider and examine what he saith before hee speaketh it If the former it is not so much a sinne as the punishment of sinne or if a sinne in the strictest censure yet but onely as it is a branch of the corruption of nature or originall sin The other must bee acknowledged and bewayled as a sinne of infirmity if it be done seldome and at unawares though nothing so haynous and odious unto God as a lye But he that speaketh willingly that which he knoweth to be false or doth speake the Truth falsely that is either when through errour and mistake hee thinketh it to bee false or knowing it to be true that he may deceive or may be better beleeved when he lyeth he is a lyer and herein resembleth the Devill who either lyeth in speaking that which hee knoweth to be false or else when hee speaketh Truth doth it with a purpose to deceive or that hee may gaine the more credit to his lyes And thus he called our Saviour Christ the Holy one of God and his Apostles Paul Mar. 1. 26. Act. 16. 17. and Silas the servants of the most high God either because he would deceive the people and make them to suspect them the more because of his testimony and approbation as though they were friends to his kingdome of darkenesse or that he might bee the rather beleeved when hee should afterwards slander and reproach them as seducers and false teachers Now which of those two he that speaketh that which is false with a purpose to deceive or he that speaketh the Truth to the same end bee in greater fault it is not easie to determine because how much the lesse the one hath of Truth in his speech who speaketh that which is false so much the more the other hath of craft and deceit who can cunningly force Truth even against its nature to advance his false ends Whereby it appeareth that there is great difference §. 4. Of the difference between lying and speaking an untruth betweene lying and telling or speaking a lye or untruth for in a lye the
tongue disagreeth from the minde and falsely speaketh contrary to that which the minde thinketh and therefore lyeth though that bee true which is spoken because it is conceived and thought to be otherwise but when a Man speaketh that which is a lye or untruth being perswaded that it is true hee lyeth not because his minde and tongue agree together and he thinketh what he speaketh but hee onely erreth and would not willingly deceive but that himselfe is first deceived so that such an one cannot be said to be a lyer seeing he mindeth affecteth and loveth Truth but is onely mistaken in what hee saith through ignorance rashnesse or incogitancie And of this judgement are the ancients So Bernard there is Est qui dubiè profert mendacium nec mentitur est qui veritatem quam nescit affirmat mentitur c. Bern. in Cant. Serm. 17 saith hee that telleth a lye doubtingly and lyeth not and there is that affirmeth the Truth which he knoweth not and lyeth for he indeed saith not that to be which is not but yet affirmeth that hee beleeveth that which in Truth he beleeveth and he saith Truth although that be not true which he beleeveth But the other when he saith that he is Non est judicandus mendax qui dicit falsum quod putat verum quiaquantum in se est non fallit sed fallitur c. Anselm in 2 Cor. 1. certaine of that whereof he is not certaine speakeeth not the Truth although that be true which he affirmeth So Saint Anselme Hee is not to bee judged a lyer who speaketh false thinking it true because as much as in him lieth hee deceiveth not but is deceived and contrariwise hee lyeth who speaketh Truth thinking it to be false For hee is not free from a lye who speaketh true things with his mouth not knowing them to be so but knowingly he lyeth in his will Saint Augustine also speaketh Quisquis autem hoc enunciat quod vel creditum animo vel opinatum tenet etiamsi falsum fit non mentitur c. August contra mendac ad Consentium cap. 3. much to the same purpose whosoever saith hee speaketh that which either hee beleeveth or thinketh in his minde doth not lye although it be false For this hee oweth to the declaring of this faith that hee uttereth by it that which is in his minde and so conceiveth it as he uttereth it But hee cannot bee said to be in no fault although hee doth not lye if hee either beleeveth things not to be beleeved or thinketh that he knoweth what he knoweth not although it be true for hee taketh things unknowne as knowne wherefore he lyeth who conceiveth one thing in his minde and uttereth another thing by his words or any other significations From whence hee that lyeth is said to have a double heart a double cogitation one is of the thing which hee knoweth or thinketh true and doth not speake it another is of the thing which hee speaketh in stead of this knowing or thinking it to bee false Whence it commeth to passe that a man may speake that which is false and yet not lye if he thinketh it to be so as he speaketh although it be not so and that he may speake that which is true and yet lye if thinking it to be false he speaketh it for a Truth although indeed it bee so as hee speaketh For a man is to bee esteemed a lyer or no lyer according to the meaning of his minde and not according to the Truth or falsenesse of the things themselves And therefore he that speaketh that which is false for true thinking it to be so may be said to erre or to be rash but he cannot bee truely said to bee a lyer because when he thus speaketh hee hath not a double heart nor desireth to deceive but is himselfe deceived And in another place speaking to the same purpose hee saith neither by any meanes is he free from a lye Enchirid. ad Laurentium cap. 17. who with his mouth speaketh the Truth not knowing it to be so because knowingly hee lyeth with his will c. and he is better who not knowing it speaketh false because he thinketh it true than he that willingly hath a minde to lye though hee speake Truth not knowing it to be true which hee speaketh c. The like also may be said of promises as P. Martyr affirmeth when as a man making 1 Sam. 21. 12. them purposeth to performe them but afterwards doth not either because hee cannot through impotency which hee foresaw not when he promised or will not upon some pressing necessity and much altering of the case from what it was As when an able man promiseth to pay a debt at such a day and in the meane time is disabled by some unexpected losse So when one promiseth to lend a summe of money to one whom he taketh to be an honest man and able to repay it at such a time and in the meane while it appeareth that hee is an unthrift who will consume it in drinking or gaming or a dishonest banke-rupt who will make no conscience to cheate him of it Or if a man promiseth to lend his sword to one that is sober and in his right minde and soone after he prove distracted and frantique who is likely therewith to kill himselfe or some other In these and such like cases a man lyeth not though hee doth not performe what he promised because his minde and tongue agreed when hee made it and the change is not from himselfe but from him unto whom hee promised because there is error personae an errour in the person he not being the same man which hee was or seemed to bee when the promise was made And thus the Apostle Paul is excused from a lye when as hee said that hee would goe into Spaine Rom. 15. 24 28. 2 Cor. 1. 15 17. whither he went not and promised the Corinthians that at such a time hee would come unto them but did not performe it In neither of which he lyed because when he made these promises he did not dissemble speaking one thing and thinking another but speaking then what he afterwards purposed to performe God did in the mean while otherwise dispose of him whose disposition overruleth all and is above all humane resolution The second thing considerable in the nature of §. 5. That a lye is alwayes voluntary a lye is that it is alwayes voluntary the will resisting the minde in a knowne Truth and injoyning the tongue to speake that which is contrary to it the heart also and affections desiring and delighting in it either absolutely or conditionally in respect of circumstances So that if the will imbraceth not an untruth as it is untrue but onely as through errour of the minde and judgement it is presented and commended unto it and if the heart affecteth it not nor delighteth in it as a lye but onely
loftinesse of speech not onely to delight the hearer but for the more full informing of him of the truth for his greater profit As also when wee give to things senselesse or inanimate motion and life yea sometimes the use of reason Of the former are such speaches as ascribe a kinde of infinitenesse to things finite as when speaking of a multitude we say commonly that they are innumerable like the sands of the Sea of long lasting things that they are everlasting and without end of those that are of great quantity or capacity that they are immense and above all measure And such phrases are used in the Scriptures as that the Benjamites were so cunning in the use of their slinges Judg. 20. 16. that they could cast their stones at an haires bredth and not misse that the sinnes which the faithfull Psal 137. 18. confesse themselves to have committed were above not onely the haires of their head in number but even the sands by the Sea shore and that if all things which Christ did should bee wtitten the John 21. 25. whole World would not containe the volumes that should bee written By which speeches no man can be deceived seeing if they were taken literally there were no shaddow or shew of truth in them but rather the truth which they perswade is the more cleared and inforced namely that the Benjamites were exceeding cunning in the use of their slings that the sins confessed were a number almost numberles and the actions done by Christ were very many more than the Evangelist had recorded Of the other we have many examples in the Psalmes and Prophets as when the Mountaines are said to skip the Flouds to clap their hands the Earth to heare the Word of the Lord which cannot be taken in their proper sense but onely as Rhetoricall phrases expressing the trueth according to the intention of the speaker in a loftinesse of speech for the better understanding of the hearer and affecting of him with more delight Neither can they be esteemed lyes because they doe not deceive the hearer or reader seeing they doe not beget a false conceit in his minde but rather cause him to conceive and imbrace the trueth with greater admiration So S. Augustine Whatsoever Quicquid autem figuratè fit aut dicitur non est mendacium c. Contra mendac ad Consent lib. 1. cap. 5. is done or spoken figuratively is not a lye For every enunciation or signification is to be referred vnto that which it signifieth to the understanding of those unto whom it is uttered otherwise as he saith in another place all tropes and metaphors which are not taken in a proper but borrowed cap. 10. sense by one thing signifying another should be judged lyes as where it is said that Christ is a Rocke a Doore a Vine and that impenitent persons have hearts of stone all which are not properly and literally true but in a figurative sense The like may bee said of an Ironie which is a §. 2. Of Ironies and that they are no lyes Rhetoricall manner of speaking whereby we signifie one contrarie by another which is commonly used by way of jesting or derision for the dispraising or discountenancing of that which is evill as when we say of an unthrift O he is a good husband or of a man infamous for deceit and unjust dealing O hee is a very honest man The which manner of speech is easily understood either by our gesture or pronunciation or the palpable difference that is betweene our words and the thing it selfe The which manner of speaking though it bee often abused unto sinne as scoffing scorning deriding yet is it lawfull in it selfe and to us also when it is rightly used not to deceive but the better to cleare the trueth to discountenance sinne and to convince offenders of their faults and errors neither hath he that so useth it a will to lie or deceive but to signifie the trueth in an improper way that it may bee received with more delight And of this wee have examples in the Scriptures as in the speech of Michajah the 1 King 22. 15. Prophet unto wicked Ahab Goe up and prosper In Elias deriding the follie of Baals Priests in Iob to his three friends No doubt but yee are the 1 King 18. 27. people and wisdome shall dye with you In the Apostle Paul convincing the Corinthians of their pride Job 12. 2. and follie Ye suffer saith he foolâ—s gladly seeing your 2 Cor. 11. 19. selves are wise and elsewhere telling them that he had not been burthensome unto them as to other Churches he concludes with an Ironie forgive me 2 Cor. 12. 13. this wrong Yea even God himselfe useth and by his using justifieth this figure and forme of speaking to Iob that he might thereby the better convince him of his follie and weakenesse Gird up now thy loynes like a man and answere me And Deeke thy selfe now with majestie and excellencie and array thy selfe with glorie and beautie c. Finally upon the same grounds we acquit and §. 3. Parables acquitted from the censure of lying exempt from lying first Parables whereby the trueth of things is signified and represented unto us by fained stories of other men and their actions wherein the circumstances are so fitted as though they had been truely done that by them the truth may bee signified as it were in reall words and portraied in living and speaking pictures for the better convincing of the hearers to the acknowledgement of the trueth when they without partialitie may judge of it in other mens persons as we see in Nathans Parable to David and our Saviours 2 Sam. 12. to the Scribes and Pharisees concerning the vineyard let out to those unjust farmers that killed the heire to get possession of it which drew Matth. 21. 33 41. from both a just sentence against their owne sinnes which they would rather have minced and excused if directly and plainely they had beene charged with them So also they serve sometimes to dazle the understanding when they are darkely propounded and not applied to use the which our Saviour used when hee spoke to those whom in just judgement he would have heare and not understand sometimes to make what is said more cleare and evident when things are illustrated by such examples as are common and familiar by which as the hearer is made docible and capable of what is taught so are the things learned much the better imprinted in his memorie Neither is there any lie in such formes of speech seeing the end of the speaker is not to deceive the hearer but rather to discover the trueth in a more familiar manner the minde and tongue agreeing together and ayming at the same end although the words must not be taken as proper and direct but by analogie and way of similitude Not much unlike unto these is the way of teaching §. 4. Of
fables and poeticall fictions and that they are not to bee reputed lyes by Fables and Poeticall fictions in which beasts and birds yea trees and plants are brought in speaking and reasoning one with another which were purposely invented to teach men some politicke lesson or morall instruction that thereby they might be made more wise or more vertuous provoked to some good dutie or made more cautious in shunning some evill either of sinne or punishment which fabulous tales cannot justly be reputed lyes because he that telleth them speaketh the truth though not in a proper and literall sense yet in the reason and morall of his speech and because it is not his purpose to deceive his hearer but to teach him the truth in an easie and familiar manner that it may bee better conceived and remembred In which respects fabulous tales are of best use when as they are told to rude and simple people who not being capable of arguments syllogismes and demonstratiue reasons give no heede unto them but when the truth is represented in a fabulous tale which they understand being allured with the noveltie of the thing they listen unto it that they may know what will be the issue and so at unawares are taken with the reason and morall of it when as stronger reasons would not perswade them And being informed in the trueth the lesson which they have learned is more firmely imprinted in their memorie for things which are strange and pleasant doe extraordinarily delight and being delightfull are not easily forgotten And of such fables we have examples in the Scriptures as that of Iotham who by that fable of Judg. 9. the trees convinced the people of their ungratitude and folly in preferring ambitious and wicked Abimelech before all the sonnes of Gedeon who were vertuous and modest And that of Iehoash in which he resembled Amaziah to a Thistle and himselfe to 2 King 14. 9. a Cedar that by the inequalitie of their strength hee might disswade him from provoking him to battaile And such was the fable of Menius Agrippa to the mutinous people of Rome about the disaagreement betweene the rest of the members of the body with the belly or stomacke whereby hee perswaded them to come backe and joyne with the Senators The which kinde of fables are lawfull as being no lyes but representations of truth under fictions and not to deceive the hearer but to draw him on more easilie to the acknowledgement of the truth onely in them that devise them care must bee had to avoide all obsceanesse and scurrilitie because as the Apostle speaketh such 1 Cor. 15. rotten speeches doe corrupt good manners For whereas it may be objected that the Apostle Paul 2 Tim. 4. 4. condemneth those that turne away their eares from the truth and hearken unto fables and forbiddeth Timothy to give heede unto them and 1 Tim. 1. 4. 2 Pet. 1. 16. the Apostle Peter saith that hee had not followed cunningly devised fables they doe not speake of all fables but onely of profane old wives and Jewish fables which did not tend to edification and instruction in the knowledge of the trueth but onely by pleasing the eare to fill the minde with unprofitable vanities and misleade the judgement into errors and lyes And that he speaketh of such onely and not of the other which have their politicke 1 Tim. 4. 7. Tit. 1. 14. and morall use he plainely expoundeth himselfe in divers other places CHAP. IIII. Two questions discussed the first concerning stratagems in warre the second concerning simulation and dissimulation ANd thus have I shewed what a lye is §. 1. That stratagems in war are lawfull the nature thereof the things concurring in it and what formes and kindes of speech are suspected for untruths but cleared from this suspition And now for conclusion of this point two questions come to bee resolved First what is to be thought of stratagems in Warre by which I understand such sleights and policies either by words or actions as are purposely devised and practised to circumvent and deceive an enemie where as one thing is pretended to conceale the truth and another thing is intended but coloured and covered with some subtile device To which I answere that it is lawfull by all just and honest policies to circumvent an enemie in a lawfull war either by word or action For if it be lawfull by strength of armes to spoyle kill and utterly destroy them then also to use the strength of our wits and all good policies which may conduce to the obtaining victorie especially considering that here there is no falsehood or treacherie under shew of love and amitie but an open denouncing of hostilitie by which both sides professe that they will use the uttermost of their indeavour to supplant one another both by strength and policie by which generall profession both sides have sufficient warning to expect the uttermost that can be done by power or wisdome for their ruine and consequently to prepare themselves and as it were to countermine against them for the preventing of their designes and to catch them if they can in their owne wiles And this as it is warranted by reason and nature that in our owne defence or just and necessarie offence wee should use all good meanes to destroy them who otherwise would destroy us so also by the holy Scriptures and that both by the examples of pious and religious Kings and Captaines as Iosua David and divers others and also by the commandement of Josh 8. 2. 2 Sam. 5. 23. God himselfe injoyning them to use such politicke stratagems And with this also agreeth the law of Nations and the law of Armes that all meanes may bee used both apertly and professedly and also secretly and cunningly as ambuscadoes and subtile devices for the surprizing of Cities and Forts masked and disguized under shewes and appearances of such things as are not really intended Neither is there in all this any falsehood or unjustice but onely an indeavour to conceale the truth when as being unseasonably professed it would become hurtfull and pernicious to our selves and countrie But yet some caution must here be observed §. 2. That the former point is to be held with some caution namely that though wee take lawfull libertie in these stratagems and martiall policies to conceale the trueth from an enemie yet that wee doe not under any pretence or to advance any end tell direct lies and much lesse confirme them by false oathes and imprecations and least of all must we hold it lawfull to breake and nullifie our promises and covenants made with enemies either for the concluding of peace or a truce and cessation from armes and hostility for an appointed time or keeping of quarter or any other course agreed upon for the right ordering and managing of the warre to the good of both parties and tending to the welfare of common wealths and humane societies The which is
to be abhorred of all Christians yea though such breach of promise might be coloured and excused by equivocations mentall reservations or any other pretence whatsoever seeing such lyes and falsifying of promises are not onely most dishonourable unto God especially when as by oath he is brought in as a witnesse to a lye but also most hurtfull to humane societies and common wealths when as this chiefe bond of peace and justice is violated seeing none thus deceived would be willing afterwards to trust another or to make truce or peace upon any conditions when as they can have no assurance that they wil be observed and performed Yea such lyes and breach of promises are above all most pernicious to the parties themselves seeing through Gods just judgement they are either taken in their owne net and miscarry in their enterprise or have the same measure from others measured unto them who taking them upon advantage falsifie their faith to them whom they have found faithlesse For he that is Lord of hoasts and God of battailes Who giveth salvation to Kings Psal 144. 10. and delivereth David his servant from the hurtfull sword is also the God of truth and therefore as wee may expect that hee will crowne Justice and Truth with conquest and triumph so that he will execute vengeance upon lyers and not suffer falsehood to goe unpunished The like may be said of spies and intelligencers who if any other might in many respects pleade for a liberty in lying But howsoever it may bee lawfull for such to disguise themselves and their intentions and to use all good policies to conceale an unprofitable and unseasonable truth yet it is in no wise lawfull for them to use meanes that are evill and sinnefull to effect their desire as to deny the truth renounce their religion to make profession of a false religion as Judaisme Mahumetisme Popery by going to Masse and joyning with them in any superstitious service or finally by telling lyes or using any other falsehood to deceive and blinde their eyes with whom they converse that they may atchieve their designes the better when as they live among them unsuspected The second question is concerning simulation §. 3. The second question propoundedand discussed and first of simulation lawfull and unlawfull or faining and dissimulation or disguising Simulation is when by word action or any other signe that is fained to be which is not Dissimulation is when as by any of these means any thing is disguised and hid which in truth is Now the question is whether either of these can be judged lawfull and justly acquitted from being a lye For the former we must answer by distinction for either the thing fained hath no being at all either in reality and truth or in reason and signification or else though it have no existence properly and in the very nature of the thing yet it hath an improper and figurative being by which it signifieth and representeth something that is If the thing fained have no being at all then is it all one with a lye but though it have no being in reality yet if it haue a being in the reason of the thing and bee brought to signifie demonstrate and illustrate something that is then is it no lye but wholly tendeth to the setting forth of truth and of this kinde are many poeticall fictions fables apologies and parables So Saint Augustine not all that which wee Non omne quod singimus mendaciū est sed quando id singimus quod nihil significat c. Quaest Evangel lib. 2. cap. 51. faine is a lye but then it is a lye when as we faine that which signifieth nothing But when our fiction is referred to some signification it is not a lye but some figure of truth otherwise all those things which are spoken figuratively of wise and holy Men yea even God himselfe should bee thought lyes because according to common understanding truth is not in such speeches As for example the parable of the prodigall was not really and properly true but figuratively and in the reason and signification of it So our Saviours comming to looke for fruite on the figge tree when the time of bearing was not had in it no reall intention to finde fruite upon it seeing every one might know that in such a season it could have none but it was fained that as it were under this reall parable he might signifie that they who brought forth no Fictio quae ad aliquam veritatem refertur figura est quae non refertur mendacium est Aug. ibid. fruites were under the curse And therefore as he saith a fiction which is referred to some truth is a figure and that which is not thus referred is a lye Secondly wee may distinguish of the purpose and resolution of our minde and heart of doing or not doing what we faine and make shew of For either it is absolute or conditionall Now if in shew or words I faine that I will doe that which I have absolutely resolved not to do then doe I lye whether I doe or doe it not because my words and significations disagree from my minde and heart But if my resolution were onely conditionall then it dependeth upon the performance of the condition and I may doe a thing resolved on or not doe it without lying as the condition is observed or not observed As for example if I goe to a friendes house with a resolution to returne home to my owne supper if he doe not use some importunity in desiring me to stay supper with him then if I faine that I will goe home and use some earnestnesse that I may take leave I lye not if I goe away though I desired to stay being not at all or but sleightly intreated nor yet if I stay though I made shew that I would depart if importunity bee used because my resolution was conditionall and I was truely purposed to depart if not earnestly invited or to stay and suppe with my friend if he instantly desired it Lastly wee may distinguish of the divers ends which they that faine do aime at in their faining For either their aime is to deceive their neighbour in making him to beleeve that which is not true or to doe him some other hurt or else that they may hereby benefit themselves or others The former is to be reputed a lye yea such a lye as is hurtfull and pernicious as when men faine themselves to be pious and religious when as in truth they are impious and prophane the which is damnable hypocrisie and this fained piety double iniquity or when outwardly by their words and shewes they faine love and friendship when as their hearts are full of enmity that they may get the fitter opportunity of revenge and executing their malice These men lye in their faining seeing their minds disagree from their words and shewes and because also their end and aime is to deceive and hurt Now
and in his that heareth in ordinary understanding but also it is done wittingly and willingly and to this end that they may deceive and mislead men into errour which if it were allowed would prove most pernicious seeing it would overthrow all societies and all contracts and dealings publike betweene Common-wealths and private betweene Man and Man seeing none could know how words or oathes are to bee understood and consequently could not beleeve one another in what is spoken And as they are pernicious in these and many other respects unto other men so in this regard most pernicious to themselves In that whereas other lyes are condemned by a naturall Conscience and so often repented of these being maintained and defended as no sinnes are committed without remorse so that men live and dye in them without repentance CHAP. VI. Of the causes of Lying THE maine end of all my former discourse §. 1. Of the outward causes of Lying which are first the Divell hath beene to inform the judgement in the true nature of a Lye and to distinguish it from such Truthes as in outward shew and appearance may seeme to have some semblance of it that so rightly discerning it we may the better avoyde it and yet not through our untaught zeale in shunning it loose our lawfull liberty in speaking such truthes as being cleare and candide inough in their owne nature yet like a faire greene tree neere unto a Smiths forge are as it were dusked and obfuscated with the sulphureous smoke of lyes by reason of their vicinity For vertue dwelleth betweene its extreames and the most unreconcileable enemies doe often border one upon another And now in the next place according to my order propounded I am to say something of the causes of lying the which are either outward in others or inward and in our selves The chiefe outward cause is the Divell who as he is a lyer from the beginning and the father of lyes so doth he beget children after his owne likenesse and indeavoureth to make them as great lyers as himselfe And as by his lyes at the first hee murthered Mankinde so ever since hee maketh them murtherers of themselves by drinking dayly deepe draughts in this poysoned cup of lying which he putteth into their hands Wherein also he sheweth his desperate malice against God himselfe in that not being able to resist his Power hee opposeth him as he is the God of Truth gainesaying what he saith as wee see in his first tentation to our first Parents For God having threatned death against them if they did eate of the forbidden fruite hee expressely contradicteth him and saith Yee shall Gen. 3. 4. not die at all And when he cannot impeach or hurt him in himselfe in regard of his most absolute and perfect being hee adventureth upon us and as it is reported of a kinde of Serpent called the Panther that hee so maligneth Man that when hee cannot hurt him hee will flye upon and bite his Picture So this old Serpent the Divell bearing an inveterate malice against God when he cannot revenge himselfe upon him he flyeth upon his Image that hee may deface it blotting out of it its created Truth and Righteousnesse and stamping upon it his owne image of lyes and falshood Another outward cause of lying is the World §. 2. Of the second outward cause of lying which is the world whether we understand it of the Persons of worldly wicked men or of Worldly things For worldly Men are the common teachers of lyes both by their precepts setting up as it were a Schoole of falshood and instructing one another in those cunning and politike arts of lying for advantage and also by their practice for the whole World lying in 1 John 5. 19. wickednesse as the Apostle Iohn speaketh but yet not willing to have it discovered doe tell lyes in 1 Tim. 4. 2. hypocrisie as Saint Paul foretelleth of the false teachers of the latter times and commonly use the Art of lying to hide and disguise their sinfull courses not caring to commit any wickednesse which by lyes they can keepe from comming to light whereby they become precedents and examples to encourage one another in these wicked practices which every one not restrained with the feare of God are apt to follow partly because being become so generall and universall the custome doth take away the conscience of it and the multitude of offenders leaveth no place for shame if they bee taken in the sinne and partly because they see one another thrive by these lying Arts so as they thinke with Dionysius that Divine providence favoureth their untruthes seeing they are carried with so faire a gale of winde into the Port of their desires Yea worldly wicked men allure oftentimes one another with promises and rewards to afford mutually the helpe of a lye when as it may advance their ends and redound to their benefit and advantage which if they refuse they become enemies as the Apostle speaketh because Gal. 4. 16. they tell the Truth And if they cannot intice them to swallow the hooke with these alluring baites of favour and friendship they will not sticke to drive them into their nettes with terrours and feares watching all occasions to doe them a mischiefe if they refuse to satisfie their desires Finally the things of the World as honours riches and pleasures are by way of object the usuall meanes to draw men to lying there being no kinde of lyes which the ambitious covetous and voluptuous will baulke when they thinke them advantagious for the obtaining of their preferments wealth and carnall delights The inward Cause of lying is our owne corrupt §. 3. Of the inward causes of Lying namely the flesh and fleshly lusts and 1. Ignorance and forgetfulnesse of God flesh and the sinfull lusts thereof For as the Devill is a lyar and the father of lyes so the flesh is a lyar and the mother of this bastardly brood who receiving from Sathan this sinfull seed doth nourish it in her fruitfull wombe conceiving breeding and bearing it untill it bee so multiplyed that it hath filled the earth Neither is our corrupt nature more prone unto any vice than unto this of lying nor yet giveth more full swinge unto any without remorse or checke of conscience than unto it if it be simply considered in it selfe or produce any advantage and bee not made odious by some evill consequents or pernitious fruits which it bringeth to our neighbours or to our selves And as the flesh generally is the cause of lying so is it in its particular lusts and the sinfull fruits which it produceth As first ignorance of God and his trueth is a speciall Cause of lying For did we know and acknowledge Gods Omniscience whereby hee beholdeth all secrets and taketh notice of not only the words of our mouthes but also of the hidden thoughts of our hearts and discerneth how they differ one from another his omnipotence
voluntate fallendi c. August Enchir. ad Laurent cap. 22. against that which he thinketh in his minde with a will to deceive Now words were therefore instituted not that by them men should deceive one another but that every one might thereby make knowne his thoughts to others And therefore to use words that wee may deceive and not for that end for which they were ordained is a sinne And as this sinne of lying is pernicious to the §. 8. That lying is pernicious to every particular family Common-wealth so also unto every particular family where it raigneth as being the common cause of all confusion and disorder of all evills and mischiefes which happen unto it For as it bringeth Gods judgements upon those families where it is tolerated as the deserved punishment of their sin so doe they suffer many evills from one another which are the effects of it For if the Governours be such as doe love and listen after lyes it maketh all the servants wicked because there will bee no Justice executed no difference betweene well and ill-deserving no rewards for the one nor punishments for the other when as the innocent and faithfull shall by lyes be traduced and branded and the faulty and faithlesse excused and commended No marvell then if the governement become lame and much weakned when as rewards and punishments which are the sinewes of it are cut in sunder and if there bee no good governement how can there be any true obedience And this is that which Salomon observeth If saith hee a Ruler Prov. 29. 12. hearken unto lyes all his servants are wicked Againe if in a family there be no conscience made of lying all that live in it become negligent of their duetie and are much emboldned to commit any fault so it be not knowne and to breake burne spoile steale and loose any thing that belongeth to their governours when as they can by a lye deny or excuse it neither is there any feare of shame or punishment to restraine them seeing they can by lying so shift and shuffle off the fault from one to another that the master of the family cannot possibly discerne who is faulty or faultlesse and therefore is put to his choice whether he will let the offender escape or indanger himselfe to punish the innocent and so either to suffer evill in others or to bee evill himselfe whilest his severity is not guided by knowledge and truth And all this made David so out of love with lyars that hee professeth hee would not suffer one of them to dwell in his family Hee that worketh deceit shall not dwell in my house hee that telleth Psal 101. 7. lyes shall not tarry in my sight CHAP. XIII That the Lyar sinneth most of all against himselfe BUt as lyes are in these and many other §. 1. That lying defaceth Gods Image in us and stampeth on us the image of Sathan respects hurtfull to our neighbours so are they much more pernicious to our selves and that both in respect of the evill of sinne and also of the evill of punishment Concerning the former lying is most pernitious unto our selves in many considerations For first it defaceth and blotteth out Gods Image in us seeing wee resemble him not onely in wisedome holinesse and righteousnesse but also in truth which hath such relation unto them all that it is necessarily required to their very essence and being so that wisedome righteousnesse and holinesse are of no worth and existence unlesse truth be joyned with them And therefore the Apostle exhorting us to bee renewed according to Gods Image doth bid us to put on the new man which after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eph. 4. 24. God is created in righteousnesse and true holinesse or as the words there signifie holinesse of truth And this the Greeke Oratour saw by the light of nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Demosthenes for being asked in what things men came neerest to the likenesse of GOD answered in Trueth and beneficence Now this Trueth is most opposed and defaced by Lying and consequently it is most pernicious For if wee esteeme it a great hurt to have our eyes put out our faces gashed and deformed and our bodies maimed and dismembred how much more hurtfull is it to have these blemishes in our soules and to have Gods image defaced in us And yet it doth not onely blot out of us the image of God but it also stampeth on us the image of Sathan and sinne For the Devill is not onely a Lyar himselfe but also the authour and father of lyes according to that of our Saviour He is a Murtherer from the beginning Joh. 8. 44. and abode not in the trueth because there is no trueth in him when hee speaketh a lye he speaketh it of his owne for hee is a Lyar and the father of it where as Saint Basil observeth our Saviour putteth no difference In reg Contract Num. 76. of lyes but speaketh this indefinitely of them all And this wee see in the example of our first Parents unto whom Sathan lyeth even against God himselfe and also teacheth them to lye from whom this corruption and disposition of Lying is propagated to all their posterity in the example of the foure hundred false Prophets in whose mouth Sathan was a lying spirit teaching them to lye perniciously to Ahabs destruction as himselfe confesseth and of Ananias and Saphira Whose hearts 1 Kings 22. 22. Acts 5. 3. Sathan filled with deceit to lye unto the holy Ghost as Saint Peter speaketh Wherein he sheweth himselfe a right Serpent indeed seeing he carrieth his poison in his mouth whereby he killeth both himselfe and others And as the Devill is the Father of Lyars so are they his children in nothing more resembling him than in loving and making lyes For in this particular respect our Saviour chiefly speaketh Yee are of your Father the Devill and the lusts of your Father yee will doe Yea in this also they Joh. 8. 44. shew themselves to bee of this serpentine generation in that Their poison is like the poison of a Serpent Psal 38. 4. 140. 3. sharpening their tongues like him and having Adders poison under their lips Yea herein they goe beyond their Father the Devill in that hee beleeveth the trueth and trembleth whereas they not onely love and make lyes but also beleeve them more than truth yea rather any thing more than it according to the saying of our Saviour Because I tell you the Joh. 8. 45. trueth therefore yee beleeve mee not Now what can bee more pernicious unto man than to have Gods Image defaced in him to become the child of the Devill and to resemble him in sinfull Lying seeing they that are like him in his sinne shall hereafter be made like him in his punishments So also by Lying not onely the Image of Sathan §. 2. That the sinne of Lying encourageth men to commit
all other wickednesse is stamped upon us but also the Image of sinne and as thereby wee prove our selves to bee the children of the Devill so also the servants and slaves of sinne For as it is a great sinne in it selfe having in it all relations of sinne as before I have shewed so is it the cause of many other sins and a fruitfull mother and nurse of much other wickednesse even as it is also the bastardly Brat and hellish of spring of other sinnes which like cursed fathers beget it First it is the Cause of sinne because it is the common encouragement which setteth men on to worke wickednes whilest they hope to hide and disguise it so with their lyes that they shall never come to light This emboldeneth the adulterers to commit filthinesse because if they be questioned Expè delinqueÌ„tibus promptissimum est mentiri Lysâ—â—s apud Stobaeum Serm. 12. they resolve to deny it and none can prove it but only their Partners in wickednesse This heartneth men to kill and slay to coozen and deceive to rob and steale and what not Because if they bee suspected and examined they by their cunning lyes can hide their sinnes from the sight of men and so escape shame and punishment Whereas if they did not trust in lyes Adam would not eate the forbidden fruite Cain would not murther his brother Iacob would not deceive his father Iosephs brethren would not sell him to the Ismaelites Gehazi would not take a bribe the Harlot would not entice her young Lover to commit whoredome and then wipe her mouth as though she had not committed filthinesse Ananias and Saphira would not play the Hypocrites and withold part of the price of their possession the servant would not defraude his master the thiefe would not steale his neighbours goods nor the subject commit treason against his Prince and as the Prophet speaketh Israel shall doe no iniquitie if they will not Zeph. 3. 13. speake lyes to hide and cover it But when men have made lyes their refuge and have hid themselves under falshood then they are ready to make a covenant with death and an agreement with hell and to let loose the reines to all wickednesse because they hope for immunity and to escape punishment and that when the overflowing scourge shall passe through it shall Esay 28. 15. not come nigh unto them And as Lying is the Cause so also the Effect of sinne which followeth it as the shadow doth the body as we see in the example of our first Parents who having committed sinne did seeke to hide it with lyes and frivolous excuses even as they did with figge leaves seeke to hide their shame The which is also the common practice of all their degenerate posterity who are no more ready to sinne than to deny or excuse it with a lye For that which Saint Chrysostome speaketh Mendacil causa ex furto nascitur Chrysost in Mat. 5. Hom. 19. of stealing that the Cause of Lying springeth from theft the same may bee verified of all other sinnes which make men lyable to shame or punishment although indeed the sinne of stealing is a most usuall cause of Lying when as men having stollen doe use it as a colour and cover to hide their theft and therefore the Prophet Nahum joyneth them together as the Cause and the Effect Woe unto the bloody citie it is all full of lyes and robberie Nahum 3. 1. And as Lying is the Cause and Effect of many other sinnes so it is the meanes to make us lye and dye in them without repentance for whereas there is no other meanes to bring us to the sight of our sinnes and unfeined sorrow for it nor to worke in us reformation for the time to come but the carefull and conscionable hearing of Gods Word and Law which convinceth us of our wickednesse and sheweth our miserable condition whilest wee continue in it Lying doth stop our eares that we will not listen unto it nor beeleve it as the Prophet implyeth in those words This is a rebellious people lying children children that will not heare the Esay 30. 9. Law of the Lord. And this commeth to passe partly because they make lyes their refuge and sheltring and hiding themselves under this covert they imagine that as they deceive men with their lyes so they shall also deceive God and preserve themselves from his just judgements because he taketh no notice of their wickednesse and partly because being accustomed to Lying they give no credit to the words of his Ministers and Ambassadours nor beleeve God or man in any thing which is spoken against them as thinking that there is no more Truth in them than they finde in themselves Secondly the Lyar maketh himselfe guilty of §. 3. That the Lyar abuseth his tongue and speech a great sin by abusing of his tongue which should bee his glory and which was given unto him by God as an excellent instrument to set forth his praise to speake the trueth which his minde conceiveth and to discover it to others for their mutuall good a privilege wherein God hath advanced man above all the rest of the creatures but Lyars shamefully abuse this singular gift of God and whereas it was given unto them as an instrument of righteousnesse and trueth and for the setting forth of Gods praise they make it to become a weapon or instrument of iniquity by their lying wherewith they dishonour God and hurt their neighbors whereby they make it appeare that they are subjects of Sathan For whereas there are two kingdomes the one of light the other of darkenesse and God the King of the one the Devill of the other they have also two severall languages the one of trueth which is the language of the spirituall Canaan the other of lyes which is the idiome or language of hell So that by our speech we may be knowne unto what Kingdome wee belong either of God when we speake the truth from Psal 15. â— our hearts or of Sathan when wee commonly lye and deceive which language when wee usually speake it may bee said unto us as it was unto Saint Peter thou art a subject of the Kingdome of darknesse for thy speech bewraieth thee Now if any lyar shall object that this is not his ordinary language Incredibile est non mentiri hominem ne capiatur qui mentitur ut capiat i. It is not to bee beleeved but that a man will lye that he 〈…〉 bee 〈…〉 who 〈…〉 not to â—â— that he may 〈…〉 â—nd overâ—â—â—â—â— August Senâ—â—â—â— 2 3. Ubi causa meÌ„tiâ—nâ—i sublata est mentimur ex consuetudine Sen. Epi. 46. Qui non seductione diaboli deceptus mentitur sed proposito mendax est nunquam desinit esse mendax neque post mortem Chrysost in Matth. 6. Hom. 10. Matth 7. â—2 but that he only useth it when it may seeme for his advantage to this I answere that a frequent act will
bring an habite and he who often lyeth for his profit will within a while be so inured unto it that he will bee ready to lye out of meere vanity and love of lying for his pleasure and delight Yea he will be ready to lye when hee never thinketh of it and as the skilfull Musition who hath brought his hand by much practice to an habite will play his lesson when his minde is on some other matter so when by custome men are come to an habite of lying they will lye at unawares and if they bee challenged for it they are ready to lye againe by denying that they lyed In respect of which habite and custome Saint Chrysostome saith that a lyar will continue to lye even after death He that lyeth saith he being not deceived by the seduction of the Divell but willingly and of set purpose will never leave to lye no not after death for death separateth the soule from the body but doth not change the purpose of lying wilt thou know this consider those lyars even after death Lord in thy name we have done this and that Did not they know in themselves that they never loved Christ nor did his Will yes but they thinke that as in this world they have deceived men so also there that they can deceive even God himselfe and therefore hee doth not say depart from me ye that have wrought iniquity but ye that now worke it because wicked men cease not to be wicked no not after death seeing though they cannot now sin yet they retain still their purpose of sining Thirdly the lyar sinneth against his owne soule §. 4. That the Lyar robbeth himselfe of his good name and credit Eccles 7. 1. Prov. 22. 1. in that by his lying hee robbeth himselfe of a most precious jewell even of a good name which is better than a precious oyntment and much to be preferred before great riches for a poore man being true and honest is better than alyar though never so rich Prov. 19. 22. as the wise man telleth us Neither is it possible that a man should hold his reputation when hee hath by lying lost all opinion of his truth but his words are esteemed no better than winde and if there be no clearer evidence for what he saith then his bare word hee is no more beleeved when hee speaketh truth than when he lyeth according to that of the sonne of Syrach Of an uncleane thing what Eccli 34. 4. can be cleansed and from that which is false what truth can come Now what greater mischiefe can befall a man in this life than to live infamous what greater losse than to loose a good name And when it is once lost what can againe bee more hardly recovered If wee loose our riches by labour and industry we may recover them If wee loose our health by physicke and good dyet it may be regained If our bodies be sore wounded they may be cured but if we once loose our fame and have woundes inflicted into our good names and reputation they hardly admit of any cure or if the wound bee healed there will ever after remaine a scarre But there is no more ready way to bring this evill of dishonour upon us than to bee accounted common lyars for as the son of Syrach telleth us The disposition of a lyar is dishonourable and Eccli 20. 26. his shame is ever with him And the wise man teacheth us the same lesson A righteous man saith hee hateth lying but the wicked man that is as the antithesis Prov. 13. 5. inferreth such an one as loveth lyes is loathsome and commeth to shame Neither can there in common repute a greater shame befall a man than to bee esteemed and called a lyar whereof it is that the very name is so much abhorred in all Nations and amongst all conditions of Men yea even those that make no conscience of committing the sinne that by a certaine kinde of propriety or eminency it is called the word of disgrace and no greater injury or affront can be offered unto them than that any upon any cause yea even when they deserve it shall give them the lye Although I thinke that our great gallants doe not take the word so much to heart because their truth is questioned and impeached for then they would hate the vice it selfe as much as the name as because it toucheth them in their valour and courage seeing lying is a base and cowardly vice into which men oftentimes fall out of meere feare and because they dare not speake or stand to the truth Fourthly this vice of lying maketh us odious §. 5. That lyes make men odious unto God and men both to God and men First God abhorreth lyars and hateth lyes because they are contrary to his Nature and to his Law and not onely very sinfull in themselves but also the causes of much wickednesse And therefore Salomon numbreth it amongst those seaven abominations which God abhorreth A proude looke a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent Prov. 6. 17. Prov. 12. 22. blood And againe lying lippes are an abomination to the Lord but they that deale truly are his delight And wisedome even that eternall Word and Wisedome of the Father his onely deare Sonne professeth that his mouth should speake truth and that Prov. 8. 7. wickednesse that is the iniquity of lying as the antithesis sheweth is an abomination to his lippes now how odious ought this vice to be unto us that maketh us odious unto God and how ought we to love and imbrace Truth which God so much loveth according to that of Ieremy O Lord are not Jer. 5. 3. thine eyes upon the Truth namely to approve love and reward it for he loveth Truth and desireth it above all things in the inward parts as the Psalmist Zech. 8. 19. speaketh And who would not love that which God loveth and embrace and delight in that in which God delighteth and will reward Secondly it maketh lyars odious unto men as being a dishonest and dishonourable vice reprehended and condemned of all as unworthy an ingenuous civill man and much more a Christian who professeth himselfe a servant and childe of the God of Truth But especially it is hurtfull to those that feare God and love his truth and maketh those that make and love lyes odious in their eyes according to that of the wise Salomon A righteous man hateth lying but Prov. 13. 5. a wicked man that is a wicked lyar is loathsome and commeth to shame An example whereof wee have in David I have saith hee hated them that regard Psal 31. 5. lying vanities And againe I hate and abhorre lying Psal 119. 163. but thy Law doe I love Yea hee maketh this a note and signe of a blessed man that hee dis-respecteth lyars Blessed is the man saith he that respecteth not Psal 40. 4. the proud nor such as turne aside to lyes
Augustine There are saith he many kindes of lyes Mendaciorum genera multa sunt quae quidem omnia universaliter â—disse debemus Contmendac ad Consent lib. 2. cap. 3. all which universally we ought to hate For there is no lye which is not contrary to Truth for as light and darkenesse piety and impiety justice and iniquity sinne and righteousnesse health and sicknesse life and death even so Truth and lying are contrary to one another and therefore as much as we love that so much ought this to bee hated and abhorred And againe those things which are done against the Law of God cannot bee just and David saith unto God thy Law is Truth so that Psal 119. what is against Truth cannot bee just as all lyes are c. And therefore when examples of lying are alleadged out of the Scriptures either they are not lyes but are onely thought so because they are not understood or if they bee lyes they may not be imitated because they are not just as being against Truth And this is the next motive to make us to abhorre and forsake lyes because they are also opposite §. 2. That lyes are opposite to Justice to Justice the which consisting in an evennes equality and just proportion and agreement of one thing with another that is to be esteemed unjust wherein there is inequality and disagreement And consequently there is unjustice and iniquity in every lye wherein there is no equality or agreement betweene the speech and the minde this conceiving one thing and the tongue uttering another that dictating what is the truth and this speaking what is false To which purpose Saint Augustine thus speaketh every one who lyeth Omnis qui meÌ„titur iniquitatem facit c. August dedoctr Christiana Tom. 3. col 19. doth iniquity and if it seemeth unto any that a lye is sometimes profitable it may also seeme unto him that it is profitable to commit iniquity for no man that lyeth in that wherein he lyeth keepeth his faith For his will is that he to whom he lyeth should have faith to beleeve him which notwithstanding in lying to him himselfe keepeth not now every one who violateth his faith is unjust And therefore either injustice is sometimes profitable or else a lye is alwayes unprofitable and hereof it is that the Prophet Zephany joyneth these two together The remnant of Israel shall not doe Zeph. 3. 13. iniquity nor speake lyes neither shall a deceitfull tongue bee found in their mouth And so Malachie affirming that Truth was in Levies mouth denyeth also that there was iniquity found in it The Law Mal. 2. 6. of Truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lippes And therefore as wee love Justice so also we must love Truth and if we would not bee accounted unjust and wicked we must be carefull to hate and shunne lying Finally lying is contrary to Charity which as §. 3. That lyes are opposite to Charity 1 Cor. 13. 6. the Apostle speaketh delighteth and rejoyceth in the Truth Now Charity is the fulfilling of the whole Law and compriseth in it all duties towards God our neighbours and our selves and therefore lying in this respect as it opposeth Charity transgresseth the whole Law of God for first it dishonoureth God and robbeth him of his Glory as in those respects formerly spoken of namely because it is contrary to Gods Nature and Truth and transgresseth his Word and revealed Will so also because the Lyar like the Divell in a sort blasphemeth God in opposing his workes taking upon him to give a being to that which is not and to make something of nothing which is proper and peculiar to divine Omnipotency which neverthelesse is but an apish imitation and not done in Truth for whereas God by his Almighty Power giveth a true being to things that are not and maketh all things of nothing the Divell and those his children that resemble him in lying doe not by their words give a true being to things that are not but onely labour to imitate God herein as much as they are able giving unto them a false being in the opinions of those whom they deceive with their lyes and though they are not yet make them seeme to bee in shew and appearance Even as the Divell by his jugling trickes and impostures casteth false mists before mens eyes and maketh them beleeve that they see many things which they see not and which in truth are not whilest being unable to give a true existence to these things he onely deludeth and abuseth their phantasie Secondly it is contrary to true Charity in respect of our neighbors seeing it robbeth their mindes of that precious Jewell of Truth and putteth in the place thereof as it were the base bugles and worthlesse counterfeits of lyes besides all those evills and mischiefes of which I have formerly spoken Finally it is most contrary to that Charity and Love which every man oweth to himselfe seeing it bringeth upon a man innumerable evills spoyling him of truth and many other graces in this life and depriving him of all hope to injoy eternall blessednesse or to escape the everlasting torments of Hell fire in the life to come Againe for a conclusion of this point that we §. 4. That lying is but a vaine and sleight vice may be moved to loath lying let us consider that as it is base and dishonourable so it is but a vaine and sleight vice which hath no solidity or substance in it and therefore lasteth and endureth not but onely serveth for the present turne to make a seeming and false shew and then like a snuffe the blaze going out it endeth in stinke It may seeme to bring profit for the time and to make us rich like a Bristoll Diamond or counterfeite Pearle but being so soft that it will not indure the hard touch of a wise tryall it will soone loose its glosse and glory and make the owner if hee have given oughts for it a looser by his bargaine It may like glittering tinsell seeme for the time rich and make a faire shew and promise also to cover our nakednesse but even whilest it seemeth outwardly to hide our sinne and shame we are inwardly in our hearts and consciences never the warmer in respect of peace and sound comfort and within a while this base and sleight stuffe will bee worne out to ragges so that it will bee easie to see through it and to discerne all that nakednesse and filthinesse of vice and sin which at the first they promised to hide To which purpose the wise Salomon speakeeth excellently The lippe of Truth shall be established Prov. 12. 19. for ever but a lying tongue is but for a moment The which even the Heathens have found by their Menander apud StobaeuÌ„ Serm. 12. owne experience For one of them saith that no lyar can long lie hid Another speaketh the same more elegantly no lye proceedeth and
leave their Prov. 〈…〉 lying and labour to regaine their favour by speaking of Truth whereas If a Ruler hearken unto lyes Prov. 29. 12. all his servants are so wicked as to tell them if the King will be made glad with wickednesse and the Princes Hos 7. 3. with lyes those that are about them will to their uttermost skill use all their lying Arts to please and delight them But though the care of reforming this vice §. 4. The fourth use is that wee doe our best to prevent this sin in others ought to be chiefly in Rulers and Magistrates yet not in them onely but every Christian ought to doe his best to maintaine and nourish Trueth and to suppres this Vice of lying both in himselfe and others Especially it concernes every man to take heed that hee so carry himselfe in his entercourse and dealings that he be not a cause or occasion unto his neighbor of falling into this sin And because it is most frequently cōmitted in buying and selling the Seller labouring to raise his commodity by telling untrueths and the Buyer to pull downe the price by dispraising it therefore let us not only watch over our owne tongues that wee doe not offend but also avoid all occasions whereby our neighbour with whom we deale may fall into this sinne Now this is done when as wee doe not in driving our bargaine delight in using many words which are seldome free from lyes but take a plaine and faire course in our asking and offering with all convenient sparingnesse of speech And as the Seller is not by his lavish prayses to draw on the Buyer to speake worse of the commodity than either it deserves or he thinkes so let not the Buyer by his dispraises moove the Seller to use untrue commendations that hereby hee may dazle his eyes and allure him to a better liking And as the one must not aske at the first excessive prices for his wares from which height he doth not usually descend to his selling price but as it were by the steps and staires of lyes and untruthes so must not the other by too much hucking and niggardly offers as much under the just price move him to the practice of his lying arts and eloquence nor by distrusting his words when he speaketh truth occasion him to further the bargaine by speaking lyes because he seeth that the one is beleeved as well as the other To conclude all that I have to say in this discourse §. 5. Tbat governours of Families should doe their best to suppresse or reforme this vice in their inferiours seeing this vice of lying is so sinnefull and pernicious let Parents and Governours of Families use their best care and indevour in the education of their children and governement of their servants to suppresse and reforme it by all good meanes that those under their charge be not tainted and poysoned with it And to this end they must make themselves in all their speeches examples of truth unto their inferiours and such as hate and shunne lyes In which respect I have much misliked and condemned their practise which make no scruple of telling lyes to their little children either by promising unto them that which they meane not to performe that hereby they may allure them to doe what they would have them or by skaring them with bug-beares and faise frights that they may make them leave their crying or doing other things amisse whereby they usually loose their credit and authority with them so that they doe not beleeve them when as they are serious in speaking truth and withall poyson Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem Testa diu Horat. their tender natures which in themselves are too apt to receive any sinnefull impression and make them apt and ready to follow their evill example and so by custome habituate them unto it that they can hardly bee brought to leave it when they come to riper age Another meanes is to make it one part of their chiefest care in observing their Children and Servants that they may finde them out in their lyes unto which by naturall corruption they are so much inclined and taking them with the manner to rebuke and discountenance them in their sinne shewing them the hainousnes of it by Gods Word and the punishments which are threatned against them that are guilty of it And if all this will not reclaime them they must adde to their instructions and rebukes seasonable corrections and shew themselves more ready and willing to remit or tenderly to chastize their faults committed against themselves than their sin of lying whereby they deny or excuse them which is committed against God Finally if we would have our inferiours to confesse the truth when they are faulty and guilty and not use lyes and false excuses we must in our government avoid too much rigor and cruelty in our corrections which out of feare and infirmity will move inferiours to hide their faults with lyes and so to hazard their soules rather than indure bodily smart and rather to presume on Gods mercy for the forgivenes of their sins than to confesse them to such governors as are so cruell that they can expect from them no pardon of their fault nor moderation in their punishments whereas if they would leave unto them some hope of finding mercy upon their confession and promise of amendment if they would not alwayes deale with them in severity and strictnesse of justice but pardon some faults because they are sleight and venial and some of an higher nature because of their ingenuity and truth which moveth them by an humble acknowledgement to submit themselves to their pleasure and to rely upon their mercy they would not be so apt to make lyes their refuge especially if they knew that they are so odious to their governours that they will if they be discovered inflict upon them more certaine and severe punishment And as rigour and cruelty must be shunned in correction so also injustice and indiscretion whereby men make no difference of faults but punish with as much severity triviall and small oversights as great and pernicious offences infirmities and unwilling slips and faylings as voluntary and wilfull negligences For when the delinquent doth not lye under any great guilt nor in his conscience is convinced that hee hath deserved much blame and yet knowing in respect of his governours indiscretion that hee shall fare as ill as if hee were more faulty this causeth him to make no scruple to prevent and escape his punishment by lyes and because these light faults happen often and so the offender is put often to his lying shifts at last custome will bring an habite and imbolden him to use lying excuses to hide his greater faults as well as his lesser faylings The like care must bee used by Superiours in their corrections that they avoid all rashnesse and furious passion for if they come masked and disguised under this terrible vizard and fall to execution before they have duely examined and judged they put the offender into a sudden fright and not being able to see the face of his Father or Master whilest it is covered with this rash rage and tyranny for very feare hee denyeth the faults which he hath committed before he well knoweth what hee speaketh and having once said it hee out-faceth the Trueth and stoutly standeth to his first lye being ready to backe it with another lest if the Truth should come to light he should incurre more displeasure and draw upon himselfe double punishment both for his fault and falshoode in hiding it with his lyes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS