THE NATURE and USEFULNESS OF Solemn Judicial SWEARING WITH THE IMPIETY and MISCHIEF OF Vain and False-SWEARING IN A SERMON Preached July 14 th 1681. IN THE Cathedral Church of S. PETER IN YORK At the ASSIZES for that County By THO. COMBER D. D. Prebendary of YORK And thou shalt Swear the Lord liveth in Truth in Judgment and in Righteousness Jerem. IV. 2. LONDON Printed by S. Roycroft for Robert Clavell and are to be Sold by Richard Lambert Bookseller in York 1682. HEBREWS VI. 16. For Men verily swear by the Greater and an Oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife AS Almighty God is the Creator so he is also the Governour of all the World and hath an unquestionable right to rule over every Creature He was the Maker and is the Judge of all the Earth And though he doth not exercise this Power immediately because mortal Men cannot suffer the glories of his dazling and illustrious presence yet he ordains the Rulers of the World to be his Vice-gerents There is no Power but of God the Powers that be are ordained of God and he expects we should be subject to them for his and for Conscience sake since their Authority is of Divine Original which the Scripture intimates in calling Judges by the name of Gods a Title commonly given them by the Jews as also in declaring They judge not for Man but for the Lord whence one of the Ancient Fathers brings in Almighty God thus speaking to the Judges I have given you my Honour my Commission and my Name therefore do you Judge as I myself would do Yea it was Law and Custom both of old in this Nation as our own best Authors inform us To place the venerable Book of the holy Gospels before the Tribunal of Justice as an Emblem that they judged by his Authority But there is no clearer evidence of the Divine Original of Humane Judicatures than the solemn use of Oaths there Which are a plain recognizing God as the Supream Judge of all and an Appeal to the High Court of Heaven For though the Sovereign of the World do communicate his Authority to our Magistrates yet his Attribute of Omniscience is incommunicable they are capable of representing his Person but not able to discern the hearts and thoughts of others Wherefore since there is one part of God's Judicial Perfections that no mortal Judge can receive viz. the knowledge of Mens Thoughts a point so necessary that no infallible and certain Judgment can be given without it Therefore in all Controversies where the Parties make contrary affirmations there lies an Appeal to the greater and higher Judge that is to God the greatest of all which Appeal being in order to end the strife and to find out which of the contradicting Parties speaks true is called an Oath and here described by the Apostle when he saith For men verily swear by the greater c. And certainly this use of Oaths is very sacred and most necessary being a clear manifestation of God's glory an evident testimony of the Divine Original of the Magistrates Power and the great support of the administration of that Justice which is the Bond of all Societies But yet there are some so ignorant and absurd as to deny they are lawful others so stupid and inconsiderate to take them without reverence and swallow them as Common things yea too many so Impious to use them to gain credit to what they know to be false For the redress of which dangerous Errors and Impieties I suppose it will be a very seasonable and useful undertaking upon this Occasion to explain this piece of holy Scripture For men verily swear c. Wherein we will first consider the Apostles general design in this place which will prove the lawfulness of Taking Oaths in Judicial cases Secondly we will observe the several particulars contained in the words which represent to us 1. The nature of an Oath For men verily swear by the greater 2. The reason of an Oath viz. for Confirmation 3. The end and use of it in Judgment to be an end of all strife And since a Religious Oath is the foundation of all our Administrations of Justice the main hinge upon which all these Controversies turn the only security that the Reverend Judges the Jurors and the Witnesses do give that they will speak and act uprightly doubtless no Subject can be more suitable or advantagious for this time and place which therefore we will prosecute in our proposed Method First We consider the Apostles general design and the occasion of bringing in these words here And we may observe He is here perswading the Hebrews to imitate their Pious Ancestors in relying on the Truth of God exhorting them to be followers of them who by Faith and Patience inherited the Promises v. 12. adding that the Promise it self was worthy to be trusted because it had the highest and most solemn confirmation imaginable being secured by the Oath of God and that no common Oath neither Not such as the Poets feign the Heathen gods took whom Lactantius derides for their swearing by the Stygian Lake a thing meaner than themselves But as Sovereign Princes having no equal in their Kingdom whose witness can add any Authority to their solemn Acts conclude them with a Teste meipso and are witnesses to themselves so the King of Kings when he made the Promise to Abraham because he could swear by no greater sware by himself Ver. 13 14 15. Confirming his promise saith Philo by an Oath worthy of God and therefore he did not swear by any other because there was none greater nor better than he And lest any should object What need was there for the God of Truth to swear who is so far from being made more credible by an Oath as the same Philo notes that he only makes an Oath to be firm and as S. Ambrose speaks He alone is the Judge of them that Swear and the Avenger of them that Swear falsly Therefore the Apostle prevents that scruple in the words of the Text by declaring that an Oath was not necessary with respect to God who made the Promise but in compliance to Men who were to receive it in condescension to their infirmity He was content to imitate humane Customs and to give the same security for his own truth which men are wont to give for theirs For men verily swear by the greater c. that is This is the way saith our Apostle by which men confirm things uncertain this is the method they use to conclude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all doubtful Controversies where one affirms what the other denies the highest and best Means they have to end this strife which otherwise would not cease is to make the Parties swear by the Name of God And the Divine Majesty was pleased to take our measures in transacting his Covenant with us for he swear to
confirm it not by a greater indeed as we do because there was no greater but by himself Gen. xxii 16. By my self have I sworn saith the Lord c. and upon this Abraham did believe the Promise and so ought we also Now from the words thus explained we infer That it is lawful for Christians to use an Oath for confirmation in solemn Cases We see that God did take an Oath and if Oaths were evil in themselves 't is certain God would not swear since he can neither do nor be tempted to do evil James I. 13. yea his Swearing certainly proves it is good in its own nature and His Oath being designed to comply with humane custom as a confirmation of the Truth of his Word on a great and just occasion by this Imitation and design God hath ratified and approved our solemn use of Oaths in deciding differences This one Act of his declaring it lawful to swear in all such cases Besides the Apostle here relates the use of Oaths in Judgment supposing it universally practiced by Gentiles Jews and Christians at that time for he saith not ye Hebrews swear or ye before your Conversion did swear but Men verily swear c. that is all Men do it now Nor doth he on this occasion give any intimation either of his dislike of this general custom or that it was not to be allowed to the Christians so to do wherefore we may conclude from his recording this usage without making any exception to it and his justifying it from the example of God himself that the Apostle did allow and approve this use of Oaths But our obstinate Adversaries without considering how to answer these Arguments will presently object That Christ saith Swear not at all Math. V. 34. and S. James adds Above all things my Brethren Swear not Jam. V. 12. as also that some of the Ancients as well Heathens as Christians seem by some pickt Sentences to forbid all use of Oaths To which I shall reply That since 't is impious to suppose those Scriptures can contradict this Text it is reasonable to believe that some other kind of Swearing is there forbidden and not that which is commended here and it is very plain to unprejudiced Men that our Saviour is speaking of no other Oaths but those used in common discourse for the next words are but let your communication be yea yea nay nay ver 37. which shews he was treating only of Oaths in our ordinary Communication which might be wholly prevented if in our common talk we barely affirmed things by a plain yea or yes or barely denied them by a plain nay or no and the instances he gives of swearing by Heaven by Earth by Jerusalem and by their Head ver 34 35 36. were all of that sort of Oaths which the Jews used in their usual discourse and not one of them was ever used in Judgment where they only swear by the living God Math. xxvi 63. Indeed the Pharisees to take the Jews off from the wicked custom of ordinary Swearing by Gods Name did allow them in their common-talk to swear by these lesser things persuading them there was little danger in them and no great obligation by them Math. xxiii 16 c. But Jesus reproves this false gloss of the Third Commandment declaring that in our Communication one with another we must not swear at all neither by God nor the Creatures for in our usual discourse a bare Yes or No is enough and whatever is more comes from either the evil custom of the Speaker or the evil and jealous temper of the Hearer And S. James only repeats and applies his Masters words warning the Christians to take great heed they did not use that liberty given them by the Jewish false Teachers to swear in their usual talk by Heaven or by Earth or any other Oath but to be sure always to affirm what was to be affirmed by a plain Yea and deny what was to be denied by a single Nay lest they fell under Gods condemnation for profaning his Name or as some of the best Copies read Lest by a common careless use of Oaths they fall into that accursed Hypocrisie of binding rash and false words with Oaths as customary Swearers use to do This is all can be fairly inferred from these two places and therefore we conclude they forbid only Common Swearing and not that Religious and Solemn Swearing in Judgment which this Apostle here approves and commends And the Practice of the best Christians abundantly assures us it was never believed that solemn Oaths on great Occasions were forbidden in the Gospel This Apostle S. Paul who certainly knew his Masters mind saith S. Augustine did Swear for his saying in weighty cases God is my witness Rom. I. 9. and Behold before God I lie not Galat. I. 20. are as plain Oaths in that Father's Opinion as can be spoken And though the Primitive Christians refused to Swear by the Emperors Genius or by any of the Daemons since thereby they had acknowledged them to be gods yet Tertullian saith expresly But we also swear By the Emperors Safety that is by God who is the Author of it 'T is certain the Christians were Souldiers under Heathen Emperors and yet they could not be listed without taking an Oath which was given to the Souldiers still even when the Emperors were become Christian only with some alteration in the form For then they swore By God and Christ and by the Holy Ghost By the Majesty of the Emperor which next to God is to be loved and honoured of all And Optatus who lived at the same time saith God is wont to be named by Men in swearing to consirm the Truth An ancient and genuine Synodical Epistle written from the Orthodox Bishops about Alexandria An. 339. declares That the Christian People there bound these Bishops by Oath to choose Athanasius for their Pastor and mentions Eusebius of Nicomedia accusing the said Athanasius and swearing to the Accusation And the same Holy Confessor Athanasius in his Apology to the Emperor clears himself by an Oath from those Slanders Theophronius a Christian Bishop begins his Confession of Faith in the Council of Antioch An. 341. with a solemn Oath Synesius likewise a Primitive Bishop being chosen Arbitrator in a certain Controversie makes one of the Parties who was of the Episcopal Order bind his Promise by an Oath S. Hierom relates the solemn Oaths wherewith John Patriarch of Jerusalem and Ruffinus did confirm their Assertions and though both these were his Adversaries and he bitterly inveighs against them for small Crimes yet he blames them not for Swearing and he also observes that S. Augustine swears to confirm an Assertion yet never checks him for it though he was then angry with him A whole Council of Bishops judging Sabatius unworthy of the Episcopal dignity made him swear never to accept it And the
Moderator of the Conference at Carthage between the Orthodox and the Donatists solemnly swears by the Holy Trinity he will judge impartially Yea the Civil Laws of Arcadius and Honorius decree severe penalties to them who would not stand to those Agreements which they had confirmed by an Oath either by the Name of God or by the safety of the Emperor And in the Council of Toledo the Prince adjures his Bishops most solemnly to determine uprightly By these and inumerable more Instances which we have omitted either as more common or of later date it clearly appears that the Primitive Christians did think solemn Oaths lawful and frequently used them Nor were any Oaths forbidden by the ancient Canons but only Pagan Oaths they indeed who used them were to be Ex communicated But none ever pretended that Christian Oaths by the Name of the True God were forbidden by the Gospel till the gross Times of Popery and then Turgot and Aldwin two Fanatick Monks of S. Cuthberts being in Scotland refused to swear Allegiance to King Malcolm on pretence Swearing was forbid in the Gospel though these Hypocrites had Sworn to the Rules of their Orders before And a little after the Monks of Castellion had some scruples whether it were lawful for them to Swear alledging the same Texts and Reasons that our modern Sectaries urge as may appear by Innocents Answer to them Wherefore it is from Popish Enthusiasts and not Primitive Christians that our deluded Quakers learn to refuse all Swearing But this short and clear account of the Sense of Holy Scripture and the Opinion and Practice of the best Christians may abundantly satisfie all that are unprejudiced That Solemn Oaths in Judgment are not only very lawful but useful and necessary and have been used by all Men of all Religions as most Sacred things For Men verily swear c. that is all Men do so and God imitates the use and S. Paul records it with approbation Yet that Mens irreverent taking and impious breaking of Oaths may not prejudice this useful Institution nor be an offence to such as are really tender I shall pass from this proof of the Lawfulness of Swearing in general to consider the Particulars of the Text wherein First the nature of an Oath is implied in these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Men verily swear by the greater Whence it appears that an Oath is an Appeal to a Higher Power to One Greater in knowledge who sees if we deceive and cannot be deceived to one Greater in Integrity and Truth who will not connive at Falshood nor respect Persons to one Greater in Power who can as easily punish as find out Perjury and cast the Perjur'd wretch into Hell Fire wherefore every Oath ought to be made by the Supream Being and all that define it say it is The calling God to witness The giving God for the security of our Fidelity and is not to be used but only when our words cannot be made certain without calling in the Divine Majesty And hence it is made a Duty and reckoned a part of Religious Worship to Swear by the True God Deut. vi 13. and because Oaths in Judicature were always made by Gods Name therefore such an Oath is called An Oath of the Lord Exod. xxii 11. and some think Solomon gives the Oath of Allegiance that Name when he bids us obey the King because of the Oath of God Eccles viii 2. Indeed all Nations are wont to swear by their proper gods so that there is the same variety in Mens Oaths that is in their Religion In the League between Hannibal and the King of Macedon they swear by above Twenty several gods of Afric and Greece And in an older general League among all the Grecian Cities every place was to take their Country Oath and swear by the greatest Deity of their own City So the Heathen Poet requires the Jew to swear to him by Anchialus that is as the Romans falsly pronounced by the living God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Christians made the Jews swear by the Hebrew Names of God Adonai Sebaoth Elohim c. And from this belief That in an Oath a man appealed to the God he worshipped sprang the custom of Sacrificing when Men did solemnly Swear And the use of going into the Temples and touching the Altars when they took a Religious Oath to put them in mind they were in the immediate presence of that God by whom they swore To which end also the Gentiles sometimes in solemn swearing touched the Images of their gods Whence the Papists the gross Imitators of Pagan Superstition have derived their Swearing upon the Reliques and Images of their Saints to whom they do by this Act give the honour due to God only As for us We swear by no other Name but only by the Name of GOD laying our hands upon the Holy Bible because all the Promises made to Truth and the Curses against Perjury are written there devoting our selves to want all the good therein promised and to suffer all the evil therein threatned if we swear falsly And we make God himself the sole Judge of that to whose Omniscience Truth and Omnipotence we appeal as knowing our heart and call on him as the Witness of our Truth So that this kind of Swearing is an Act of Religion a part of Divine Worship and was anciently called by the name of Religion it self and had the Title of Sacramentum For there is no way in the World by which we do more honour the Wisdom and Power the Justice and Truth of God than by this highest Appeal and therefore it is a part of his Honour which he will not give to any other nor can we swear by any Creature without being guilty of Idolatry the Creatures are our Fellow-servants and not enough above us to be the objects of our solemn Oaths For Men verily swear by the Greater c. Now from this account of the nature of an Oath we infer two things First That Oaths are a part of that Religious Worship due only to God and so it is not lawful to swear by the Creatures The Pharisees of old permitted it out of a pretended Reverence to the Name of God but Christ and S. James both forbid it As for the Heathens that worshipped the Creatures no wonder if they swore by them but it was a silly Superstition in Socrates to swear by any thing he saw as a Dog or a Goose c. that so he might avoid swearing by those he esteemed gods as Apollonius makes the excuse for him and the Ignorance of the Mahometans may make some Apology for their Swearing by ordinary Beings since their great Prophet swears in his Alcoran By the Wind and Clouds by the Stars and by Mount Sinai But who can excuse Christians for this wicked Custom of swearing by the Creatures in ordinary discourse contrary to
though no Man can disprove them the God of Truth sees their Hearts And therefore All Nations have used to enjoyn Men to call upon the All-seeing God to attest the Truth of what they say with a wish of destruction to Themselves if the Divine Majesty who knows their Thoughts do not allow their Words for Truth And because it may well be supposed none will dare to do this open Affront to the God of Heaven nor expose themselves to his Vengeance who will discover and can destroy them if they speak falsly Therefore an Oath is the most solemn Confirmation of what we affirm in doubtful Cases the readiest way to gain credit to our Words and the most Sacred security we can give for our Truth and Veracity Hence Philo calls it The firmest Pledge of our Fidelity and Diodorus Siculus The greatest assurance of Faith among Men. Our Ancestors saith Cicero esteemed no Bond so sure to bind us to be Faithful as an Oath the Law of the Twelve Tables shews this the Sacrifices and the Leagues by which we bind our selves to be true to our very Enemies shew it And this is the Reason why all the World hath used Oaths in Judicature to be as a Pledge and Security for the Truth of that Evidence given there upon which all Causes usually depend And though some might speak the Truth there without an Oath as many good Men would perform their Promise without a Bond yet the difficulty of discerning honest Men from Hypocrites makes this Caution necessary And all Witnesses in Judgment are required to use an Oath for Confirmation of what they say unless their peculiar Character give them such credibility as to exempt them on which ground Jupiters Priests of Old and the Christian Clergy in the Middle times as also the Nobility in Our days have been excused from Formal Oaths as I could easily prove But generally Oaths are thought so necessary in Judgment that in the Old Canons it is the same thing to set down the Days in which no Oaths shall be taken and to fix the Times when no Causes shall be Tried So that the first Original of our Non-Term and Vacation in Law Proceedings are derived from the Canons which prohibit the Vse of Oaths at those Times But to proceed Since an Oath is so Solemn a Confirmation of our Truth by calling God to Witness the Pythagoreans allowed none to Swear in Light matters especially not in a trifling Action for a small Debt and Clinias a Philosopher of that Sect chose rather to pay three Talents unjustly than to free himself by an Oath Which Example may justly shame many Christians who trouble our Courts and engage many to Swear on far less occasion Again the same Pythagoreans permitted none to Swear concerning Things contingent future and uncertain affirming it was neither fit nor safe to Swear in such Cases The Grecian Laws also admitted none to Swear what they heard by Hear-say only And the Ancient Germans suffered not an Oath to be taken but when there was no other way of finding out the Truth For since every Man that Swears pawns his Soul in Security for his Integrity this ought not to be required but in weighty Causes nor to be taken but on Sure grounds This is a Mans last Security for his Truth and if he once falsifie this none can ever Trust him after no Bond can hold him Which our Noble King Henry the First well knew when he generously refused the Popes base Offer to Absolve him from his Oath saying Who will ever trust another hereafter when they see by my Example an Absolution can make void the highest Bond of Faith Now from this account of the Reason of Taking an Oath to be for Confirmation we shall draw this Inference That it is a huge Folly and a great Impiety to use Oaths upon a slight occasion or in Common discourse where there can be no need of this high and Sacred confirmation of our Words by God's Name unless we have so ill behaved our selves that none can Trust us without Pawning our Souls for every thing we say yet by using this Religious and Sacred Confirmation to every Trifle we make our very Oaths so cheap and contemptible that we are Trusted the less and not the more for our Vain-Swearing But besides the Folly of this vile Custom it is a grievous Sin being the most express breach of the Third Commandement and the most profane way of Taking the Name of God in Vain and though Men may account this a small Fault in themselves or their Friend God who is to be our Judge will not hold them guiltless who commit it He will not clear them nor let it go unpunished He will certainly condemn them in the Last Judgment As the other Translation reads that dreadful place And as this Sin is condemned in the Old Law so this Swearing in our Communication is strictly forbidden above all things James V. 12. in the New Testament Yea the very Heathens condemn the Common using Gods Name and Hierocles very expresly saith We must not use an Oath frequently nor on ordinary Occasions nor for silling up our Discourse nor to confirm every Story we relate for by the Custom of Swearing often Men soon fall to Swear falsly which is the same with that of S. James lest we fall into Hypocrisie It is no doubt a horrid Impiety to make the Dreadful Name of GOD and his Terrible Attributes so cheap and vile as to bring them to Attest the most foolish false or filthy things which we vent in the Vainest Company and argues a Mind that either denies the Being of God or at least forgets his Power and besides that it is the most daring Abuse to Heaven it is also a high Affront to all the Publick Judicatories in the World since the highest Security that can be given for our Truth there the most Sacred Bond of Human Society the most Religious Pledge of a Mans Fidelity on which all our Lives and Fortunes may depend is by this bold Impiety rendred Mean and Contemptible prostituted to the Scorn of the Atheistical and Profane yea and made as Weak and unsecure as it is Common and despised A Sin without any Temptation to invite to it or any Excuse to be made for it having neither Honour Pleasure nor Profit in it unless we count it Reputation to Dishonour God Pleasure to play with Thunder or Profit to destroy those Immortal Souls of ours that are of more Value than a Thousand Worlds A Wickedness taken up only by Imitation and got by the cursed Society of the Debauched and Prosane and the continuance in it is the more unpardonable because it may easily and certainly be amended by a few serious Thoughts of God's Majesty by using the Company of Grave and Pious Men and either giving them the freedom to admonish us or imposing a small Penance on our selves for every
Offence till the wretched Custom be overcome Surely none but a Professed Atheist doth ever commit this Crime but meerly by Inconsideration and therefore all others I hope may easily be reduced by those Methods from the Profaning Gods holy Name and exposing this Venerable part of Religion to which if this Discourse may be subservient I shall rejoyce that I have rescued the Sacredness of Oaths from any degrees of Contempt Thirdly I shall proceed to the last Particular in the Text viz. The end of an Oath or the Cause moving Magistrates to require it that it may be an End of all strife for the Accuser impeaches and the Accused pleads Not Guilty the Plaintiff demands and the Defendant denies this is literally 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Controversie or Strife and lest these contrary Speeches should produce perpetual Wrangling the Witnesses Oaths are required that by the Truth they speak for which they bring in Almighty God for their Voucher the Cause may be determined and the Strife ended And from this use of an Oath by the Name of God the Divine Majesty himself doth as it were Judge between the Parties and so I understand that Common Phrase of being tried By God and our Country to signifie By the Witnesses Oath and the Jurers Verdict for Justinian saith by this use of Oaths Men seem to enter a Holy Temple when they come before a Tribunal and God rather than Man appears to decide the Cause Truth as the Ancients speak lies in a deep Pit and if any thing will draw it out it must be the Fear of God who is thus set before the Witnesses Eyes to engage them by all their hopes of Mercy to speak the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth And therefore not only the Apostle but the Civil Law calls it The best Means to determine Causes And the common Consent of Mankind hath made all our Lives Liberties and Estates to depend upon an Oath whensoever they are in question supposing this to be the surest and most Sacred guard unto them Nor is it without great reason that so much stress is laid upon Religious Oaths since though another Man seem thereby to have our Lives and Estates in his Power yet by this solemn Swearing He stakes his own Body and Soul his Temporal and Eternal Welfare against them and since he can only bring us by a False Oath under some Temporal Penalty while he firmly devotes himself to Eternal Vengeance he runs the greater Risque and loses most of the two who Swears falsly if he do but rightly consider it For as Plutarch notes Every Oath contains either expresly or implicitly a Curse on the Taker if it be false And though these Curses are variously expressed and sometimes only supposed yet they are very dreadful so that the Jews who might not use Ominous words chose rather to Swear Elliptically than to express what was so horrid So Moses Swears if you have not the Land and there stops but we are to understand Let me suffer all the Plagues due to Perjury yea God himself imitates this form I swear in my Wrath if they shall enter into my rest Hebr. iv 3. where again the Curse is understood And the Scholiast upon Aristophanes Observes It was an Ancient Custom thus to Swear Elliptically to avoid all Ominous words Yet some times these words were expressed in most terrible forms against the Gentiles Let the gods destroy me Let the Divine Vengeance fall upon my own head and my whole Family And to make this more Solemn they used divers Ceremonies as that of casting away a Stone and wishing The gods might so cast them out of all the City and Capitol being safe if they did wittingly Swear falsly So also the killing of some Beast in Sacrifice and wishing They might be so slain if they did not speak Truth And the quenching a Flaming Torch suddenly and praying Their Life and Light might be so put out if they deceived Which last Ceremony was sometimes used amongst Christians and was solemnly performed in this Nation when the Oaths were taken to confirm Magna Charta And though in our Modern Courts we now abstain from Ominous Words contenting our selves with that very Ancient Form So help me God yet the Sense duly considered is as high as full and as terrible as any of the former for if we Swear falsly we wish That Gods Grace and Favour his Mercy and Providence may forsake us that he may never help us here nor hereafter but leave us to perish in this World and in the World to come And oh how dreadful an Imprecation is this He that after his Pledge given for his Truth dares tell a Lie for favour or Malice neither fears God nor loves himself he is a desperate Wretch unfit for Human Society and really doth far more mischief to himself than to his Adversary And since an Oath is thus guarded we may well be content it should end all Strife among us for no greater Security under Heaven can be given or devised Now from this description of the End of an Oath we will observe That Perjury especially in Courts of Justice is a heinous and horrid Impiety the very End of these Courts is to find out Truth and But to speak falsly there though by such as are not upon their Oath is to affront the Vice-gerents of God and wickedly to design to pervert Judgment as well as to make that holy Institution useless which is the great Security of all Societies But when Men come to Swear God himself is directly appealed to the Searcher of all Hearts is set upon the Tribunal and the Perjured Wretch Lies not unto Men but unto God Acts V. 4. He defies the King of Heaven to his face and affronts him openly in some of his tenderest Attributes disbelieving his Truth trà mpling on his Justice and despising his Power yea he makes as much as in him lies the Righteous God a Party to that Falshood by which he Murders or Robs his Neighbour saying as Philo hath elegantly expressed it O God I should not be believed but for thy Name and therefore I use thee for the Cloak of my Injustice I would not be discovered in my sin do thou help me and take the blame on thy self for though I am a Transgressor by thy Name I shall pass for an Honest man thou neither lovest Truth nor punishest Falshood This horrid Blasphemy is the import of all Perjury the very Image of the False-Swearers Thoughts and can any thing be more wicked This accursed Sin not only flies in the Face of God but by gilding fatal Lies with his Name misleads that Sacred Authority he hath set over us for securing our Rights and endeavours to make that the Instrument of their Revenge and Cruelty it imposes upon the most upright Juries with design to make them Partners in the Crime it robs an Innocent man of his
good Name his Estate his Liberty nay his very Life if their false Witness be believed Or if the Jurors be the Perjured Men in spight of all Evidence it rescues the greatest and most dangerous Malefactors by a Partiality that defies Heaven from the Justice of the Law and encourages not only them but others to commit the like Crimes And whosoever they be Jurors or Witnesses who regard not their Oaths They do what in them lies to subvert the Laws to take away the Administration of Justice and to ruine the Community they live in by baffling this Great and Sacred Instrument of our Peace and Safety If they do this for Fear or Favour it shews they value Men more than God and dare purchase Their Love with his utmost Displeasure If they are Perjur'd for Hire they sell their Souls for a Vile Price and purchase a Reversion in Hell which they shall inherit for ever If they do it in Malice it is like the Crime of Witches who give their Souls to the Devil for ever to be enabled to do a transient harm to their Neighbours And whatever be the Principle it springs from yea and whatever event it have as to the Party Accused the Perjur'd Man devotes himself to all the Curses in Gods Book and cuts himself off from all hope of the Divine Help for ever and therefore the Old Romans allotted no Human Punishment for this Sin but left the Criminal to the more terrible Vengeance of the gods who were most directly affronted by it the Greeks believed it brought ruine and destruction to the Man and all his Posterity Yet lest these who fear none but Human Penalties should be hardened by Impunity from Men for if they dreaded the Vengeance of God they durst not commit this Crime therefore it was Ordained that if any were convict of Perjury who had sworn on the Holy Gospels his Tongue should be cut out as of no use for ever after And all Laws deprive these Wretches of the Priviledge of giving Testimony in any other Cause and their Credit is Eternally blasted The Indians cut off their Fingers and Toes to reduce them to Beggery and Shame the Egyptians put them to Death as unworthy to Live among Mankind after so inexcusable a Wickedness But whatever they suffer here Damnation doth await them in the next World unless they do Repent sincerely and make Satisfaction also But I hope we need aggravate this Crime no further but having surveyed all the Particulars of the Text may now pass to the Application And that which naturally follows from the Premisses is First That all Persons concerned be very Cautious in taking Oaths and that when they come to Swear they do it with all Religious Fear and Reverence not only as being immediately in Gods Presence but as making a direct Appeal to him and offering their Souls as a Pledge for the Truth of what they shall speak and though the thing they Swear be never so True yet this Application is so venerable and so high a piece of Religion that it ought to be done with all Gravity and humble Reverence and if they be so taken to confirm a known and certain Truth they do exceedingly tend to the Honour of God and to the Benefit of Mankind and are so very lawful that we may as well scruple to make Application to Gods Mercy in Prayer as to his Truth in Solemn Swearing on a Just Occasion especially since it is evident by Reason and Universal Practice that the World cannot well be Governed nor Justice Dispensed without them and it is the Abuse of them not the Serious and Just use of Oaths that ought to be avoided Secondly When we have taken them let us be very fearful of breaking them and make Conscience of answering and acting in every Point agreeable to what we have Sworn let us fear no Anger but that of Heaven nor seek no Favour but that of God nor wish for any Gain but the Peace of a good Conscience We see that the Laws of God and Men have put the End of all Strife upon our Fidelity supposing we are Christians and Hónest men who Fear the Lord of Hosts and value our own Souls and we have given the greatest Security under Heaven that we will be Impartial Now how vile and infamous a Crime will it be in us to betray his Trust to abuse the Judge of all the World and his Vice-gerents to wrong the Innocent and destroyour own Souls One would imagine nothing could tempt a Rational Man to such an Act if the too frequent and sad Experience of Opposite yea of Contradictory Oaths in this Impious Age of ours did not convince us that nothing is too monstrous or unreasonable for an Ill Man to do If Popish Zealots by Assurances of Dispensation were the only Persons who assumed the Impudence to commit this Crime it would not be so very strange But for Us who say No Power on Earth can Cancel this Sacred Bond of an Oath for Us to Perjure our selves is at once our Shame and the Worlds Wonder doubtless such Men deserve not only the bare Punishments of the Law but to suffer an Universal Detestation that as they are the Bane of our Government the Scandal of our Religion and the Enemies of God so they may be esteemed and treated as the Foes of all Mankind until by Sorrow and Repentance they shall own their Faults and return to a better Mind Finally Let us Bless the Holy Name of God for our Good Laws and the Security we enjoy by them since no Man can hurt us in Body in Goods or Good Name without venturing the Damnation of his own Soul we have excellent Methods to find out the Guilty and clear the Innocent And though Evil Men will claim unjustly accuse falsly or deny their Guilt impudently yet while we have so Just and so Prudent Magistrates on Earth and so Righteous and Powerful GOD in Heaven we may rationally hope that all Perjury Falshood and Injustice shall be discovered either Here or Hereafter Cicero mentions a False-witness at Rome who was struck Dumb just as He was pronouncing that part of his Oath If I willingly speak falsly But if such Vengeance be not Now presently executed let us not despair for there is a Great Assize coming where all Errors in Judgment shall be rectified and all False-Swearers discovered and condemned But it would prevent many a sad Sentence at that Dreadful Day and hinder all Publick Injustice here if all that are called to this Duty would very seriously remember That They Swear by the Greater and so their Oath for Confirmation would ever be a Just End of all Strife Which God of His Mercy grant for Jesus Christs sake to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all Honour and Glory now and for evermore Amen FINIS a Gen. 18. 25. b Rom. 13. 1. c Ibid v. 5. 1 Pet. 2. 13. d Exod. 23. 28. 〈◊〉