OF PERJURY A SERMON Preach'd at the ASSIZES HELD AT CHESTER April the 4 th 1682. By John Allen M. A. Fellow of Trinity College in Cambridge and Chaplain to the Lord Bishop of Chester Totius injustitiae nulla capitalior est quam eorum qui tùm cùm maximè fallunt id agunt ut viri boni esse videantur Tully de Offic. Lib. 1. LONDON Printed for Benj. Tooke at the Ship in St. Paul's Church-yard and George Atkinson Bookseller in Chester 1682. TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL Sir Robert Leycester Baronet Foreman AND The rest of the Worthy and Loyal Gentlemen of the Grand Jury for the Assizes lately held at Chester Gentlemen THe Preaching of this Sermon was undertaken at the request of the High Sheriff an Honest True-hearted and Loyal Gentleman an Ancient and Faithful Servant to His Majesty But the Printing of it was extorted by Your importunity You have thrust me into the World perfectly against my humour and inclination and You have thereby expos'd me to the exceptions and censures of this captious Age of peevish ill-natur'd and ill-affected Persons To You therefore I flee for shelter Your Protection I claim on Your judgements I have relyed You are bound in Honour and Justice to excuse the Faults of this Discourse to vindicate the Truths to justifie the Doctrine and to abhor the Perjuries herein mention'd I have some encouragement to hope that the Sermon will please the honest the Faithful and the Loyal because it pleases you who are eminently such that it may be in some degree useful and seasonable for these Times because You think so And if it chance to be carp't and cavell'd at by the Factious and the Seditious by false Witnesses and corrupt Jurors by the Old Covenanters or New Associators as being peculiarly levell'd against their Designs and Practises Yet however we need not fear we have this advantage upon them that whoever rail or even mutter against us do thereby confess their own guilt and so their Credit is crack't and their Testimony becomes invalid Their Tongues are no Slander their ill-words are no Disparagement no more than their good ones can be a Commendation My Design in Preaching and Yours in Publishing this Discourse I dare confidently say were both the same To Convince the Guilty and make them truly sensible of their Sin and Danger in order to their Repentance And to fix and ' stablish the slippery and wavering Tempers of those who are apt to be drawn in by great Examples or specious Pretences or the Prospect of temporal Advantages That our joynt Endeavours may prove by God's blessing useful and instrumental to these great and good Ends shall be the hearty Prayer of Gentlemen Your most Obedient and most Humble Servant John Allen. Of Perjury A SERMON Preach'd at the ASSIZES HELD AT CHESTER April the 4 th 1682. Leviticus XIX 12. And ye shall not swear by my Name falsly I Have made choice of these words as a subject both suitable to this solemn Occasion and seasonable for the Times The times are notoriously pester'd disturb'd and endanger'd by the variety and frequency of Perjury and upon this account the Occasion may seem to require a serious and plain Discourse that by God's blessing may prove serviceable and useful to advise and admonish All that are concern'd so to discharge their duty to God to their King and Country that not the least blemish or tincture of this sin may defile their Consciences or disparage their proceedings I had intended to have giv'n an account by way of Preface of the Nature Kinds End or Vsefulness Lawfulness and Obligation of Oaths together with the most usual Forms and Ceremonies of solemn Swearing Ancient and Modern but am forc'd to wave all that by reason of the largeness and copiousness of my subject My design is to discourse of the sin of Perjury and to give you a full account of it in this method 1. I shall shew what Perjury is and how many ways it is committed 2. The heinousness and aggravations of it 3. What are the usual occasions of inducements and temptations to this sin 4 And lastly The punishments of it by the Laws of God and Man 1. Perjury as the Text tells us is a Swearing by God's Name falsly as Philo describes it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a calling God to witness for the Confirmation of a Lye And is committed these several ways 1. When Men do assert and testifie upon Oath a thing to be true which they know to be false when they swear That they saw or heard such or such things done or spoken which their own Consciences tell 'em they did not 2. When Men do assert and testifie upon Oath a thing to be true of the truth of which they are not fully assured Nay though the thing should be true yet being it is more then they knew they are however guilty of Perjury because they call God to witness and appeal to him for the attestation of that as certainly true which for ought they know may be utterly false To these we may add that when Men declare upon Oath this or that to be their judgment and the sense of their minds which really is not so or which is grounded on bare suspicions or fond wishes or which proceeds not from full conviction but from partial and by-respects This is also Perjury So then if Witnesses sworn to testifie the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth do depose falsities do conceal and suppress the most material Evidence do improve and enlarge their testimony with the additions of their own fancies and inventions They are plainly perjur'd So likewise when Men sworn to enquire and inform the Courts of Justice do not find Bills according to fair full and legal Evidence against some sorts of persons out of love fear favour and affection or hope of reward Or do find 'em against others out of envy hatred malice c. If Men from the fore-named motives do acquit the Guilty or condemn the Innocent This is Perjury in the Jurors in God's account in his sight according to his Laws though possibly the Laws of the Realm may take no Cognizance or hold of them These things I mention and desire All that are or may be concern'd to consider seriously and to be sensible of their danger and that because such miscarriages do happen sometimes to the scandal of Religion to the reproach of our Nation to the obstruction of Justice and the perversion of our good Laws And because Mens passions and prejudices and interests do so frequently tincture their judgments and biass their wills that it is a very hard thing for some Men to be Witnesses and not be Parties too they are insensibly and yet powerfully suborn'd to give in their Evidence with more or less weight according to their inclination or aversion to a person to a Party or a Cause And it is not to be deny'd that Jurors also may be in danger
the Promises He disregards all the Curses contain'd in that Holy Volume Other sorts of Sinners are generally more modest and shame-fac't use more respect and good manners to their Maker even when They offend Him They have commonly an awe and concern upon them and strive though in vain to conceal themselves from his All-seeing eye and to cover their sins with secresie or darkness or at least to put off the thoughts of God's presence and stifle the fears of his Power and Justice But the Perjurer is rude and insolent is loud and clamorous Aspice quantâ Voce neget quae sit ficti constantia vultûs Juvenal Sat. 13. He has cas'd his countenance with Impudence and Hypocrisie He fears neither God nor Man He swears with courage and a loud Voice He stares God in the Face He calls upon Him to look on to hearken and be a Witness how cunningly and securely He can abuse and profane His Name for the Confirmation of a lye He challenges God to come forth and engage and be bound with him for what He never intends or will take no care to perform Can there be a sin more impudent and heinous than This Is it possible to reconcile this with so much as the shew and pretence of Religion Can those Men that affront their God and profane his Name at this rate perswade themselves or any Body else that they have any the lowest degree of Love or Fear or Trust in God or any of the Christian graces Is it possible for those Men Epist 154. sine ullâ dubitatione minus malum est per Deum falsum jurare veraciter quam per Doum verum fallacitèr for All their pretences and noise to be heartily Zelous against Popery and Idolatry who make no scruple of Perjury It is not if S. Austin tells us true That without all doubt it is a less sin to swear truly by a false God than to swear falsly by the True One. And so makes Perjury a more heinous Crime than Idolatry it self And is it not a madness in us to cry up and magnifie and take Those for our Examples and Leaders and the Guides of our Consciences and Practices that have forsworn themselves over and over that were never true to any Government that never were or never will be faithful to This. Oh my Soul come not thou into their secrets Have thou nothing to do with those wicked Men that will never be oblig'd to speak truth or perform their promises 2. Perjury is not only an impious and impudent affront to God but is also most injurious and mischievous to 1. Man to our Neighbour And that first in his private capacity in All his concerns of what kind soever though never so dear unto him His Life his Liberty his Reputation his Estate are All at the mercy of the Perjurers Psal 35.11 and though They lay to his charge things that He knows not as David speaks though They invent and forge groundless accusations against the most perfect Innocence yet if they prove and attest 'em upon Oath if they call on God to confirm their lying Evidence There is usually no sence no shelter against their malice and treachery 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Themist Orat. 1. We can guard our selves in most cases against open violence We can preserve our Goods from Thieves and Robbers We may find generally some guard and shelter against other injuries but Perjury is an Arrow that flieth in darkness it is a Surprise a Stabb It destroys us by Mining or Ambuscade it takes away all our Armour the Armour of Innocence in which we trusted It cuts off our retreat it leaves us naked and unable to stand and defend our selves against its secret violence 2. Perjury is injurious to Conversation and Commerce All our Dealings and Trade and Contracts and Friendships are grounded upon and managed by the Faith and Assurance that we give and take of the sincerity of our minds and purposes express'd by our words and in great concerns confirm'd by our Oaths This tyes and compacts us together makes us useful and helpful and serviceable to each other This creates and preserves Love and Kindness and Mutual Affection and Endearments and the Intercourse and Circulation of good turns and benefits But if after all this Men shall assume a liberty to deceive and impose upon their correspondents to deny their own words and to break their promises What must This come to How shall any Man know whom to trust whom to employ or whom to speak to If this should prevail all Society must be dissolv'd every Man must set up for himself and fall into Mr. Hobbs's state of Nature and proclaim War against all Mankind beside 3. But then further As to Government and the Consequents of it Peace and Order and just Liberty There is nothing but Perjury can destroy it and deprive us of them Nothing but Perjury can carry on Faction and begin a Rebellion Nothing but the highest Profanation of God's Name can ruine the Monarchy All that are entrusted in any Office or Employment either Civil Military or Sacred have given the best assurance to the Prince that a Promise can make and an Oath can bind that They will bear Faith and true Allegiance to His Majesty His Heirs and Successors and Him and Them will defend to the uttermost of their power against All conspiracies and attempts whatsoever that shall be made against His or Their Persons their Crown and Dignity c. But if These Sacred Bonds must be broken in sunder upon every Sham and hold us no longer than some Men please then certainly do we incur the guilt of a most heinous and grievous sin or rather a mass and heap of horrid Crimes We not only violate the Laws of God and Man but also become most treacherous and ungrateful to the Prince that relies and depends upon our fidelity that hath oblig'd us All by the general influences of his most gracious and benign Government and many of the most Factious and dangerous tempers among us with particular signal and undeserved favours If we break our Faith and renounce our Oaths then we know what must be the Consequence and Effects of the Perjury We shall have new Oaths Iron shackles clap't upon our Consciences Wars and Confusions Sedition and Rebellion and if these prosper then the Ruine of the Monarchy and of the Church the Slavery of our Country Tyranny and Arbitrary power exercis'd upon us by the worst of our fellow Subjects This shall be our Portion and the due reward of our Perfidiousness 4. And Lastly Perjury is injurious to publick iustice For since an Oath is the main ground of All proceedings in order to decide Controversies is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The greatest assurance that a Man can give of the truth of his Testimony the last result the highest and utmost appeal that we can make and is the end of all strife Heb. 6.16 as
to abuse their trust and assume a liberty to admit or reject what they please of the Evidence to believe whatever is depos'd in some cases and in others just nothing at all Nay to interpret the Laws in favour of the offenders and declare it against Law to put the Laws in execution 3. They that promise upon Oath what they intend not to perform or are unresolv'd and indifferent whether they shall perform it or not These are ipso facto guilty of Perjury because they swear by God's Name falsly they call God to witness and to vouch for the truth and sincerity of their promise when the intention of their minds does not concur with the words of their mouths Now although it be the Prerogative of the searcher of hearts to know Mens thoughts yet in some cases it is not impossible no nor difficult for us to pass a right judgment upon some Mens very intentions we may know them by their fruits their words and their actions do abundantly expose and discover the treachery of their minds It is not so easily forgotten as it was forgiven that a Rebellion was begun by Men who at the same time promis'd and swore and Covenanted to preserve and defend the King's person and Authority And if we observe now as who can choose the Behaviour the Discourses the Practises of those yet remaining and Surviving Politicians and of their too forward Pupils also we shall find it an hard task to judge favourably of them and to reconcile their suspicious carriage with their Loyal Oaths And we cannot but take notice that several Men for their advantage or in order to conceal as yet their Trayterous and Unripe designs will not refuse any Test or Oath requir'd by the Law to express and make a shew of their Loyalty though God and their own Souls can witness and their actions declare that they had much rather let them alone and don 't intend to be obliged by them Men that will come to the Sacrament once or twice in their lifes in a Civil way that is upon entring on some Office some gainful or honourable employment but scarce ever come near the Church either before or after And will take the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy rather than forgo any temporal advantage or be disabled for service but make no Conscience to break 'em when 't is more for their interest 4. They also are guilty of Perjury that having promis'd upon Oath sincerely and with an honest intention do yet afterwards fall off and renounce the obligation do not faithfully and resolvedly endeavour and take care to fullfill their word do act contrary to their Oath when a just occasion requires and calls for the performance of their promise or sworn duty I use all these expressions that I may reach to most or All cases of this nature And this is call'd properly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Chrysippus the Philosopher that is to swear falsly Ap. Stob. c. 28. so as that our actions do not answer to our words as the former was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when our words do not agree with our hearts and minds And accordingly he tells us that at the instant of taking or rather giving a promissory Oath a Man cannot be said properly either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because as it respects the future a Man cannot be known to have sworn truly or falsly till the time of fullfilling his promise does discover his faithfulness or falshood But this Critical nicety will not hold for if a Man having confirm'd his promise by an Oath and that sincerely and with intention to keep it for instance to pay a sum of Money upon a set day shall in the intermediate time contrive to evade the obligation and to break his word you cannot but think that he is really guilty of Perjury and that too though he should not be able effectually to shirk and avoid the payment at the appointed time But however there can be no dispute no use of this distinction as to the breach of those promissory Oaths that are taken to re-inforce a known and antecedent duty or those whose obligation does take place and lay hold upon our Consciences at and from the very moment of swearing For they that do not continue in that honest and faithful intention in which they took their Oaths they that have no mind to be oblig'd any longer by them are contriving how to break them to the best advantage are seeking excuses and evasions to palliate their perfidiousness These Men are guilty of Perjury nay though for want of opportunity and power they proceed no further because having bound their Souls with a bond Numb 30.2 having sworn by the help of God and by the Contents of the Gospel to perform their promise having call'd in God to be Surety for them and as it were bound with them They do yet as much as in them lyes as far as they dare for fear of the Laws and Civil punishments without any respect or regard to Conscience and the fear of God disengage themselves from the obligation of their Oaths 5. They are involv'd in the guilt of Perjury who against or without the consent of the Supreme Power do frame and impose upon others or take themselves new Oaths contrary to and destructive of their former obligations This is a ticklish point as the times go and therefore I shall explain and confirm it the more largely and carefully I must tell you then that an Oath can re-inforce a former or induce a new obligation where there was none before but cannot destroy an antecedent one or super-induce another repugnant to it and one main reason hereof is this because by every such obligation a right does accrue to another to Him to whom the promise is made and we become thereby indebted to Him and bound in Conscience and He hath a Right and Lawful power to challenge and demand of us as a duty the just performance of it and therefore it is most unreasonable and unequal most injurious and unjust that his right should be infring'd by any act of ours without his leave and release first obtain'd I must further tell you that we are bound in Conscience to be subject to all our Superiours according to the nature quality and extent of their dominion over us And consequently to the Supreme or Soveraign in all things not counter-manded by His only Superiour the King of Heaven which duty and obligation of ours a subsequent Oath taken against or without his consent can by no means disannul and cancel All which is prov'd from Numb 30. at the beginning of the Chapter where the Rule is thus given If a Daughter still remaining in her Fathers House or if a Wife do vow a vow unto the Lord if the Father or Husband respectively do hear of it and hold his peace and express no dislike of it the Vow shall stand but if Father or Husband
do upon notice thereof disallow it then the Vow of either of them shall not stand shall be of none effect God will forgive and excuse them but the obligation shall not take place And if this be so then certainly by parity of reason we may conclude That no Subject hath a right or power to oblige himself by Oath to the Prejudice and against the Consent of the Soveraign And if any Man hath been drawn in and entangled in such snares He must forthwith disengage himself and come off begging God's and the King's pardon for his folly and rashness He must remember that he is pre-engag'd He may and ought to renounce the treacherous Oath as being illegal and unable to lay hold on his Conscience But this is not all if the Matter of these Oaths be unlawful if against our plain duty and our former Oaths and Obligations then do they certainly involve us in Perjury and cannot be justified neither by the goodness of the intention nor the greatness of some Mens fears nor the piety of their pretences nor their Zeal for Religion and the publick good Such are the Solemn Leagues and Covenants Engagements and Associations contriv'd by perfidious Politicians and greedily swallowed by the Seditious and the Schismatick by the Lovers of Change the Male-contents the blind and furious Zelots and the deluded and ill-taught party of the Nation 6 And lastly They are guilty of Perjury who make use of Tricks and Cheats and subtle Artifices to evade and elude the obligation of their Oaths who will not understand the words of an Oath in their Assertions or Promises according to the plain genuin and common acception of them but by fastning a secret Sense of their own upon some Ambiguous terms or by some Reserves or Exceptions or Additions within their minds do quite alter the meaning of the words and thereby intend neither to be oblig'd to speak truth nor perform their promises The Romish Casuists are notoriously faulty in this point they are not asham'd to prescribe Rules of Aequivocation Mental Evasion and Reservation they set down Forms and propose several Modells and Examples of them for the help of Novices they teach their Disciples when and where and upon what occasions they may be used and undertake to prove that they are lawful and expedient and in some cases necessary And their forward Scholars do easily learn and are very expert and ready to practise according to their instructions But perhaps They are not the only Aequivocators in the World they don't engross the whole Trade to themselves There are some True Protestants towardly enough to imitate the subtleties of the Jesuit who when they find they are cramp't and fetter'd by an Oath that does pinch and fret 'em then have recourse to Jesuitical distinctions to their shifts Reserves and Evasions they swear first and then after vows they make enquiry they will find or make some creeping hole to escape at they will skrew and wrest and wind and turn and torture the words till they have made 'em pliant and yielding to their Sense and consistent with their Designs They take no care to perform what they have sworn but only to for-swear themselves Ingeniously and according to Art But none of these tricks will exempt either sort of 'em from the guilt of this sin and that because an Oath ought to be taken and kept too in the most plain free open-hearted and ingenuous way that can be with all simplicity and sincerity of mind and in that Sense of the words that they usually bear and are commonly taken in and particularly in that Sense that the Parties to whom we swear they for whose satisfaction or information we give our promise or testimony do or must be suppos'd to understand 'em in I will dispatch this particular with this necessary Observation That there may be Aequivocation in the very frame of an Oath as well as in the minds of deceitful Swearers Some Oaths both of former and later date are so neatly contriv'd so cunningly worded and so doubtfully express'd are adorn'd and set forth in such specious colours are compos'd and recommended by such Zelous Reformers are guilded over with such glorious pretences that many easie and well-meaning people are drawn in 2 Sam. 15.11 in their simplicity and know not any thing of the main Design and the Rebellion intended But when they are once catch't then shall they be taught that theirs is a Sacred Oath that they must make a Conscience of this more then all their former obligations then shall they be taught to understand the words in a larger or quite different Sense and so by degrees shall at last come to think that they are bound in Conscience and by virtue of their Oath to destroy the Prince whom they promis'd to preserve to ruine the Religion which to the best of their thinking they swore to maintain and to commit those outrages that Murder and Sacriledge and Rapine which they never dream't of or could perceive in their Religious Covenant but would possibly have abhorr'd the very remote apprehensions of such horrid villanies That 's the First 2. The Second is the Heinousness of this sin of Perjury and that will appear in general First if we consider that there is no sin almost whatever so odious and infamous in the judgment of All Mankind that have any sense of Religion and common honesty as This For the Reverence of an Oath is Natural to us and implanted in us this Sacred and Solemn Appeal to God hath been ever held in so great Veneration both as a part of divine and immediate worship and as the main support of truth and faithfulness that whoever did presume to violate and profane it was generally abhorr'd as a most impious and treacherous Villain Methinks it makes ones stomach rise against him a Man can't excuse or pitty him can't find in his heart to pray for him or wish him well Give me leave therefore to expose this great Sin in its proper Colours and load it with its due aggravations that so All those that have seen how many ways it can be committed may by a just sense of its horrour and heinousness be admonish'd and terrify'd from involving themselves in so great guilt First then Perjury is an Affront to God and to All those glorious Attributes that shine forth and display themselves in the Government of the World He that forswears himself does thereby profane the most Holy and Reverend Name of God by making it the instrument of his deceit and treachery He appeals to the Searcher of Hearts to conceal and countenance his Hypocrisie He calls upon the God of Truth to attest a Falshood He dares his Power and defies his Justice and Vengeance He lays his unclean Hand upon the Holy Gospels He kisses the Book with his deceitful and lying Lips He invokes the help of God to protect and prosper his Perjury He renounces All the Truths He disclaims all
the Apostle speaks Since Oaths are of constant use in Judiciary Causes whether Criminal or Civil and the best means to find out the truth of Matter of Fact to determin of Right and Wrong to give every Man his due to clear the Innocent and discover the Guilty It is plain then that Perjury utterly defeats all these great and useful ends and makes the Law it self the instrument of injustice Perjury in the Witnesses misguides and mis-leads the Court destroys Mens rights countenance and confirms the wrongful claims and pretensions of Knaves and Forgers and lays on groundless accusations on the most honest and innocent And Perjury in the Jury can fetch off and rescue the most dangerous Criminals from fair and legal Tryals or acquit the guilty in spite of Evidence So that if this impudent and mischievous sin should obtain still for the future as it hath done for some late years should gain ground universally as it hath in some particular places our Laws would be clearly insignificant or rather basely perverted the justice of the Nation obstructed the innocent destroy'd and the worst of Men protected and encourag'd Our Terms and our Courts might be adjourn'd to the great Day of Judgment and the Lawyers become as useless and contemptible as the Clergy That 's the Second 3. I proceeed to the Third to enquire what are the occasions of or temptations to this sin And this point is set properly in this place that if we look back to the last general and consider what a great and heinous sin This is and look forward to the fourth Head and observe what are the punishments denounc't against it by the Laws of God and Man we may with just reason be induc't and perswaded to reject the temptations and cut off the occasions of it And indeed it is sadly strange and a matter of wonder and horrour that Men professing Religion with so much Zeal and noise that so many Scrupulous Precise and True Protestants falsly so call'd should make so light so little or nothing of this great and heavy sin should swallow Perjuries without strain or chewing should have recourse to 'em frequently and upon all occasions as to their Guard and Castle as to their Artillery and Arms offensive and defensive It is not presumable that Men of any honesty or Religion would make so bold with God and be so mischievous to Mankind and human Society as I have shewn these false-swearers are And I am confident that Perjury to a Conscience truly tender would appear ghastly and frightful it is not for a Novice to pretend to this Hellish accomplishment A Man must be moulded and modell'd by previous qualification and dispositions or perverted and debauch't with erroneous and corrupt Principles or at least driv'n and hurried on by powerful examples or violent passions or importunate lusts before he can arrive to this height of impudence and villany It need not cost us much trouble or time to enquire how and whence it comes to pass that so many do venture upon this dreadful sin for if you consider how many several ways Perjury is committed and take notice also of those that are scandalously guilty of it I dare assure that you will clearly perceive it to proceed from some one or more of these following particulars 1. Atheism A denying of God and Providence This indeed were a plausible and rational account of a good plea and excuse for Perjury if Atheism it self were rational An Atheist should he swear falsly every hour upon every occasion would do like an Atheist and act consistently to his Principles For what should hinder him from complying with our Forms and Customs of calling God to witness when it is for his advantage He knows of no God to come at his call to look on and be a Witness of his words and the searcher of his heart He believes no Judgment to come no future state The unquenchable Fire the never-dying Worm are Dreams and Fables and the inventions of Priests and Politicians to keep the People in awe according to His wise opinion And therefore he is ever ready to swear and lye and promise forward and backward He makes no scruple to take or break any Oath because he has no Conscience no fear of a Deity and consequently can securely throw off any obligation And the truth is if a Man were to set up the Trade of Perjury and make his fortunes by it The readiest way were to begin with Atheism if he could once conquer that the other would be an easie and profitable employment and require no stock but that of impudence and invention And in that other sort of Perjury the Trade of Treachery and Unfaithfulness and by the help of That setting up for Faction and cutting out work for Rebellion It is easie to observe That the most Atheistical persons are commonly the chief contrivers and the nimblest Crafts-men These are the Men that maintain Monarchy to be no more jure divino than Religion it self is that know no such thing as Paternal or Patriarchal Monarchy but seem to hold Common-wealths to have been ab Aeterno as well as the World and produc't from the fortuitous concourse of States-men as the other from that of Atoms These are the Men that wrangle loudest against the Prerogative of their Prince and magnifie the power of the People the great Leviathan These dispute and deny the right of Succession and make all concerns all obligations whether to God or the Laws submit and bow to their only God and great Idol Interest or Self-preservation 2. Lying and Treachery and customary Swearing These things do qualifie and dispose a Man to forswear himself upon any convenience or temptation Because hereby Men throw off that reverence and respect to Religion that fear of Gods Power and Justice which would restrain them They have made bold with God's Name so often and by degrees are grown so familiar with Him by calling upon Him in common Conversation that 't is no great strain to Conscience if they make some further use of Him in their serious affairs and in matters of greater moment By the custom of Lying they have got the knack to deceive betray and abuse their Neighbour or Friend and by the custom of vain and wanton Swearing they have learn't to make nothing of an Oath Put these together and that is soon done upon any occasion and then comes forth and commences a compleat and accomplish't Perjurer To this I may add a readiness and easiness to take new and contrary Oaths This doth both argue and infer a sleight esteem of the obligation of our former promises and does certainly engage us in Perjury For when Men find themselves entangled by different and contradictory Oaths we may presume by their actions that they thus argue with themselves Since we have taken several and cross Oaths it is at least in our liberty to be oblig'd by whether we please or rather the last ought to take
place and justle out the former as being more suitable to our second and best thoughts and more useful to our present designs And so Peccant jurando juramentum servando they add sin to sin they sin both by taking and by keeping their Oath whereas they ought in these circumstances to observe the Rules of the Casuists In malis promissis rescinde fidem in turpi voto muta decretum quod incautè vovisti non facias impia est promissio quae scelere adimpletur In lib. de specialib Legib. Or as Philo directs them To abstain from their unjust and mischievous practises notwithstanding their Oath and to implore God's pardon for their rash and sinful swearing to discard their false Oath and adhere to their known duty and the commands of God for to double your guilt when you may come off and be eas'd of the half is a piece of madness and frensie almost incurable says He. To these I might add the usual occasions and common temptations to this sin Such are Poverty and Necessity Covetousness and hope of Reward as also Fear whether of Shame or of Punishment or of Both In some Ambition and Popularity a desire and thirst after honour and greatness In others or perhaps in the same Revenge and Malice or else Favour Affection and Partiality Or lastly Faction Sedition and Designs against the Government As to All which it may be enough to remark that when these furious passions and violent desires are able to over-Master and run down the fear of God and the reverence of an Oath in the hearts of Men then is Perjury the most easie and compendious the most secure the most proper way to relieve their wants or satisfie their covetous desires or to rid them of their fears or to gratifie their ambition or to pleasure their Friends or dispatch their Enemies or to compass and compleat their Seditious designs And this shall suffice to have spoken to the Third because I hasten to the Fourth and Last Head of Discourse 4. The Punishments of Perjury and these are severe and dreadful in proportion to the guilt of this great sin It is a good Rule Semper perpendendum est damnum quod ex perjurio resultat Men ought to weigh well the damages and mischievous consequences of their false-witnessing and perfidiousness not to others only but to themselves that if Conscience and the Sense of their duty cannot prevail with them they may be restrain'd by the fear of suffering Eccl'us 7.36 Remember the end says a Wise Man and Thou shalt never do amiss See what will come on 't see whether Perjury will quit cost and turn to account and then venture upon it if you think t' will prove for your advantage Severe Judgments are denounc't against this sin by the Laws of God and Man God declares that He will not hold him guiltless that taketh His Name in vain or forswears himself as our Saviour expounds it Matth. 5.33 He will not pardon him He will not leave him unpunish't Ainsworth on Exod. 20.7 He will not hold him just or innocent in the great Day of Judgement By the Law of Moses a False-witness was to suffer the same thing as a punishment Deut 19.19 that he intended to have brought upon his Brother as a mischief And God declares the severity of his Judgments against this sin by the Prophet Zechariah The flying Roll was an Emblem of the Curse Chap. 5.3 4. that goeth forth over the face of the whole Earth and shall enter into the House of him That sweareth falsly by my Name and it shall remain in the midst of his House and shall consume it with the Timber thereof and the Stones thereof it shall entail a Curse upon his Family and Estate as it is commonly expounded As to the Punishments denounc't against this sin by the Laws of Men I shall not presume to recount what the Common Law does inflict upon Persons convict of Perjury But what some Canons of the Church and the Civil Laws define I shall declare briefly A Perjurer shall be Ten years Excommunicate says S. Basil They that Subborn others to forswear themselves Can. 64. shall not be received into Communion till the point of death and those that are drawn in shall for ever after be depriv'd of the priviledge of giving in their Testimony in any case and according to Law branded with infamy says the Council of Mascon Tom. 5. p. 970. Can. 17. Shall never be deem'd worthy to take an Oath nor to lye in hallowed ground That is shall be deny'd Christian Burial says another And a Council in England here in the year One Thousand and Nine call'd Concilium Aenhamense ranks 'em with Witches Sorcerers Necromancers egregious Strumpets c. And Decrees thus against 'em Tanquam terrâ indignos è terrâ projicite ut purior sit deinceps populus as unworthy to enjoy the priviledge and benefit of their Native Countrey Turn them out and Banish 'em that the Land may be cleansed and the rest preserved from the infection If this good English Cannon were now in force if this course were taken with those that are notoriously guilty of this Crime we might have a fair riddance of the perfidious disturbers of our Peace and Government we might have a just hope to see the rest of our people who are drawn in by examples or abused by pretenders to return to their Wits and their Honesty again to their former settlement and quiet to their Callings and proper business who now spend their time and trouble their heads about News and Politicks We might hope to see an end of those jealousies those Murmurings and clamours those Factious and Seditious designs and Practices that have put our people into such a fermentation and Paroxysm so high a fit of Frensie that they are grown frantick and delirous do rave and talk idly and look wildly and act extravagantly do mischief to themselves and others and threat'n to lay violent hands on the Laws and the Government But to proceed Perjury by the Civil Law is punishable by Banishment or Scourging and always with Infamy beside But if a Man lost his Life by the Perjury as by false-witness in Capital Cases then it was punish't by Death Manum perdant perjuri Let them lose their hand says Charles the Great the right hand the same that was laid on the Gospels at taking the Oath But whatever the Laws of Men define in this case I am sure nothing can be so severe so dreadful as what we bring upon our selves and call upon God to inflict upon us when we swear falsly For every Oath doth include an Execration 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plutarch or Curse upon our selves in case of Perjury and that whether the Curse be formally express'd or only imply'd For who ever appeals to God as a Witness of the sincerity of his heart and the truth of his words doth thereby