,this e,book was prepared by ,les ,bowler1 ,st4 ,ives1 ,dorset4 ,,sermons ,,on ,,evil ,,speaking ,,by ,,isaac ,,barrow1 ,d4,d4 ,,contents4 ,introduction by ,professor ,henry ,morley4 ,against ,foolish ,talking and ,jesting4 ,against ,rash and ,vain ,swearing4 ,of ,evil-speaking in ,general4 ,the ,folly of ,slander4 ,part #a4 ,the ,folly of ,slander4 ,part #b4 ,,introduction4 ,isaac ,barrow was born in ,london in #afcj4 ,his father was draper to the king4 ,his mother died when he was four years old4 ,he was named ,isaac after an uncle1 who died in #afhj1 ,bishop of ,st4 ,asaph4 ,young ,isaac ,barrow was educated at the ,charterhouse ,school1 and at ,felstead1 before he went1 in #afdc1 to ,cambridge4 ,he entered first at ,peterhouse1 where his uncle ,isaac was a ,fellow1 but at that time his uncle was ejected from his ,fellowship for loyalty to the ,king's cause1 and removed to ,oxford2 the nephew1 who entered at ,cambridge1 therefore avoided ,peterhouse1 and went to ,trinity ,college4 ,young ,barrow's father also was at ,oxford1 where he gave up all his worldly means in service of the ,king4 ,the young student at ,cambridge did not conceal his royalist feeling1 but obtained1 nevertheless1 a scholarship at ,trinity1 with some exemptions from the ,puritan requirements of subscription4 ,he took his ,b4,a4 degree in #afdh1 and in #afdi was elected to a fellowship of ,trinity1 on the same day with his most intimate college friend ,john ,ray1 the botanist4 ,ray held in the next year several college offices2 was made in #afea lecturer in ,greek1 and in #afec lecturer in ,mathematics4 ,barrow proceeded to his ,m4,a4 in #afeb1 and was admitted to the same degree at ,oxford in #afec4 ,in #afed1 ,dr4 ,dupont1 who had been tutor to ,barrow and ,ray1 and held the ,university ,professorship of ,greek1 resigned1 and used his interest1 without success1 to get ,barrow appointed in his place4 ,isaac ,barrow was then a young man of four-and-twenty1 with the courage of his opinions in politics and in church questions1 which were not the opinions of those in power4 ,in #afee ,barrow left ,cambridge1 having sold his books to raise money for travel4 ,he went to ,paris1 where his father was with other royalists1 and gave some help to his father4 ,then he went on to ,italy1 made stay at ,florence1 and on a voyage from ,leghorn to ,smyrna stood to a gun in fight with a pirate ship from ,algiers that was beaten off4 ,at college and upon his travels ,barrow was helped by the liberality of public spirited men who thought him worth their aid4 ,he went on to ,constantinople1 where he studied the ,greek ,fathers of the ,church2 and he spent more than a year in ,turkey4 ,he returned through ,germany and ,holland1 reached ,england in the year before the ,restoration1 and then1 at the age of twenty-nine1 he entered holy orders1 for which in all his studies he had been preparing4 ,the ,cambridge ,greek ,professorship1 which had before been denied him1 was obtained by ,barrow immediately after the ,restoration4 ,soon afterwards he was chosen to be ,professor of ,geometry at ,gresham ,college4 ,in #affc he preached the sermon in ,westminster ,abbey at the consecration of his uncle1 ,isaac1 as ,bishop of ,st4 ,asaph4 ,in that year also he became1 at ,cambridge1 the first ,lucasian ,professor of ,mathematics1 for which office he resigned his post at ,gresham ,college4 ,as ,lucasian ,professor of ,mathematics1 ,isaac ,barrow had among his pupils ,isaac ,newton4 ,newton succeeded to the chair in #affi4 ,barrow resigned because he feared that the duties of the mathematical chair drew his thoughts too much from the duties of the pulpit1 towards the full performance of which he had desired all studies to be aids4 ,he was then intent upon the writing of an ,exposition of the ,creed1 ,decalogue1 and ,sacraments4 ,he held a prebend in ,salisbury ,cathedral1 and a living in ,wales1 that yielded little for his support after the ,professorship had been resigned4 ,but he was one of the ,king's chaplains1 was made ,d4,d4 by the ,king in #afgj1 and in #afgb he was appointed ,master of ,trinity by ,charles ,,ii41 who said1 when he appointed ,isaac ,barrow1 that he gave the post to the best scholar in ,england4 ,barrow was ,vice-,chancellor of the ,university when he died in #afgg1 during a visit to ,london on the business of his college4 ,the sermons here given were first published in #afgh1 in a volume entitled ,several ,sermons against ,evil-speaking4 ,that volume contained ten sermons1 of which the publisher said that the two last1 against pragmaticalness and meddling in the affairs of others1 do not so properly belong to this subject4 ,the sermons here given follow continuously1 beginning with the second in the series4 ,the text of the first sermon was ,if any man offend not in word1 he is a perfect man4 ,the texts to the last three were3 ,speak not evil one of another1 brethren2 ,judge not2 and ,that ye study to be quiet1 and to do your own business4 ,there were also published in #afgh1 the year after ,barrow's death1 a sermon preached by him on the ,good ,friday before he died1 a volume of ,twelve ,sermons preached upon several ,occasions1 and the second edition of a sermon on the ,duty and ,reward of ,bounty to the ,poor4 ,barrow's works were collected by ,archbishop ,tillotson1 and published1 in four folio volumes1 in the years #afhc-afhg4 ,there were other editions in three folios in #agaf1 in #agbb1 and in #agda4 ,dr4 ,dibdin said of ,barrow that he had the clearest head with which mathematics ever endowed an individual1 and one of the purest and most unsophisticated hearts that ever beat in the human breast4 ,in these sermons against ,evil ,speaking he distinguishes as clearly as ,shakespeare does between the playfulness of kindly mirth that draws men nearer to each other and the words that make division4 ,no man was more free than ,isaac ,barrow from the spirit of unkindness4 ,the man speaks in these sermons4 ,yet he could hold his own in wit with the light triflers of the court of ,charles the ,second4 ,it is of him that the familiar story is told of a playful match at mock courtesy with the ,earl of ,rochester1 who meeting ,dr4 ,barrow near the king's chamber bowed low1 saying1 ,i am yours1 doctor1 to the knee strings4 ,barrow 7bowing lower71 ,i am yours1 my lord1 to the shoe- tie4 ,rochester3 ,yours1 doctor1 down to the ground4 ,barrow3 ,yours1 my lord1 to the centre of the earth4 ,rochester 7not to be out-done73 ,yours1 doctor1 to the lowest pit of hell4 ,barrow3 ,there1 my lord1 ,i must leave you4 ,barrow's mathematical power gave clearness to his sermons1 which were full of sense and piety4 ,they were very carefully written1 copied and recopied1 and now rank with the most valued pieces of the literature of the pulpit4 ,he was deeply religious1 although he had1 besides learning1 a lively wit1 and never lost the pluck that taught him how to man a gun against a pirate4 ,he was low of stature1 lean1 and of a pale complexion1 so untidy that on one occasion his appearance in the pulpit is said to have caused half the congregation to go out of church4 ,he gave his whole mind and his whole soul to his work for ,god4 ,mythical tales are told of the length of some of his sermons1 at a time when an hour's sermon was not considered long4 ,of one charity-sermon the story is that it lasted three hours and a half1 and that ,barrow was requested to print it--with the other half which he had not had time to deliver4 ,but we may take this tale as one of the quips at which ,barrow himself would have laughed very good-humouredly4 ,h4 ,m4 ,,sermons ,,on ,,evil-,,speaking4 ,,against ,,foolish ,,talking ,,and ,,jesting4 ,nor foolish talking1 nor jesting1 which are not convenient4-- ,ephes4 v4#d4 ,moral and political aphorisms are seldom couched in such terms that they should be taken as they sound precisely1 or according to the widest extent of signification2 but do commonly need exposition1 and admit exception3 otherwise frequently they would not only clash with reason and experience1 but interfere1 thwart1 and supplant one another4 ,the best masters of such wisdom are wont to interdict things1 apt by unseasonable or excessive use to be perverted1 in general forms of speech1 leaving the restrictions1 which the case may require or bear1 to be made by the hearer's or interpreter's discretion2 whence many seemingly formal prohibitions are to be received only as sober cautions4 ,this observation may be particularly supposed applicable to this precept of ,st4 ,paul1 which seemeth universally to forbid a practice commended 7in some cases and degrees7 by philosophers as virtuous1 not disallowed by reason1 commonly affected by men1 often used by wise and good persons2 from which consequently1 if our religion did wholly debar us1 it would seem chargeable with somewhat too uncouth austerity and sourness3 from imputations of which kind as in its temper and frame it is really most free 7it never quenching natural light or cancelling the dictates of sound reason1 but confirming and improving them72 so it carefully declineth them1 enjoining us that if there be any things ,greek 7lovely1 or grateful to men71 any things ,greek 7of good report and repute71 if there be any virtue and any praise 7anything in the common apprehensions of men held worthy and laudable71 we should mind those things1 that is1 should yield them a regard answerable to the esteem they carry among rational and sober persons4 ,whence it may seem requisite so to interpret and determine ,st4 ,paul's meaning here concerning eutrapelia 7that is1 facetious speech1 or raillery1 by our translators rendered jesting71 that he may consist with himself1 and be reconciled to ,aristotle1 who placeth this practice in the rank of virtues2 or that religion and reason may well accord in the case3 supposing that1 if there be any kind of facetiousness innocent and reasonable1 conformable to good manners 7regulated by common sense1 and consistent with the tenor of ,christian duty1 that is1 not transgressing the bounds of piety1 charity1 and sobriety71 ,st4 ,paul did not intend to discountenance or prohibit that kind4 ,for thus expounding and limiting his intent we have some warrant from himself1 some fair intimations in the words here4 ,for first1 what sort of facetious speech he aimeth at1 he doth imply by the fellow he coupleth therewith2 ,greek1 saith he1 ,greek 7foolish talking1 or facetiousness73 such facetiousness therefore he toucheth as doth include folly1 in the matter or manner thereof4 ,then he further determineth it1 by adjoining a peculiar quality thereof1 unprofitableness1 or impertinency2 ,greek 7which are not pertinent71 or conducible to any good purpose3 whence may be collected that it is a frivolous and idle sort of facetiousness which he condemneth4 ,but1 however1 manifest it is that some kind thereof he doth earnestly forbid3 whence1 in order to the guidance of our practice1 it is needful to distinguish the kinds1 severing that which is allowable from that which is unlawful2 that so we may be satisfied in the case1 and not on the one hand ignorantly transgress our duty1 nor on the other trouble ourselves with scruples1 others with censures1 upon the use of warrantable liberty therein4 ,and such a resolution seemeth indeed especially needful in this our age 7this pleasant and jocular age7 which is so infinitely addicted to this sort of speaking1 that it scarce doth affect or prize anything near so much2 all reputation appearing now to veil and stoop to that of being a wit3 to be learned1 to be wise1 to be good1 are nothing in comparison thereto2 even to be noble and rich are inferior things1 and afford no such glory4 ,many at least 7to purchase this glory1 to be deemed considerable in this faculty1 and enrolled among the wits7 do not only make shipwreck of conscience1 abandon virtue1 and forfeit all pretences to wisdom2 but neglect their estates1 and prostitute their honour3 so to the private damage of many particular persons1 and with no small prejudice to the public1 are our times possessed and transported with this humour4 ,to repress the excess and extravagance whereof1 nothing in way of discourse can serve better than a plain declaration when and how such a practice is allowable or tolerable2 when it is wicked and vain1 unworthy of a man endued with reason1 and pretending to honesty or honour4 ,this ,i shall in some measure endeavour to perform4 ,but first it may be demanded what the thing we speak of is1 or what this facetiousness doth import8 ,to which question ,i might reply as ,democritus did to him that asked the definition of a man1 ',tis that which we all see and know3 any one better apprehends what it is by acquaintance than ,i can inform him by description4 ,it is indeed a thing so versatile and multiform1 appearing in so many shapes1 so many postures1 so many garbs1 so variously apprehended by several eyes and judgments1 that it seemeth no less hard to settle a clear and certain notion thereof1 than to make a portrait of ,proteus1 or to define the figure of the fleeting air4 ,sometimes it lieth in pat allusion to a known story1 or in seasonable application of a trivial saying1 or in forging an apposite tale3 sometimes it playeth in words and phrases1 taking advantage from the ambiguity of their sense1 or the affinity of their sound3 sometimes it is wrapped in a dress of humorous expression2 sometimes it lurketh under an odd similitude2 sometimes it is lodged in a sly question1 in a smart answer1 in a quirkish reason1 in a shrewd intimation1 in cunningly diverting1 or cleverly retorting an objection3 sometimes it is couched in a bold scheme of speech1 in a tart irony1 in a lusty hyperbole1 in a startling metaphor1 in a plausible reconciling of contradictions1 or in acute nonsense3 sometimes a scenical representation of persons or things1 a counterfeit speech1 a mimical look or gesture passeth for it3 sometimes an affected simplicity1 sometimes a presumptuous bluntness giveth it being2 sometimes it riseth from a lucky hitting upon what is strange1 sometimes from a crafty wresting obvious matter to the purpose3 often it consisteth in one knows not what1 and springeth up one can hardly tell how4 ,its ways are unaccountable and inexplicable1 being answerable to the numberless rovings of fancy and windings of language4 ,it is in short1 a manner of speaking out of the simple and plain way 7such as reason teacheth and proveth things by71 which by a pretty surprising uncouthness in conceit or expression doth affect and amuse the fancy1 stirring in it some wonder1 and breeding some delight thereto4 ,it raiseth admiration1 as signifying a nimble sagacity of apprehension1 a special felicity of invention1 a vivacity of spirit1 and reach of wit more than vulgar3 it seeming to argue a rare quickness of parts1 that one can fetch in remote conceits applicable2 a notable skill1 that he can dexterously accommodate them to the purpose before him2 together with a lively briskness of humour1 not apt to damp those sportful flashes of imagination4 7,whence in ,aristotle such persons are termed ,greek1 dexterous men2 and ,greek1 men of facile or versatile manners1 who can easily turn themselves to all things1 or turn all things to themselves47 ,it also procureth delight1 by gratifying curiosity with its rareness or semblance of difficulty 7as monsters1 not for their beauty1 but their rarety2 as juggling tricks1 not for their use1 but their abstruseness1 are beheld with pleasure7 by diverting the mind from its road of serious thoughts2 by instilling gaiety and airiness of spirit2 by provoking to such dispositions of spirit in way of emulation or complaisance2 and by seasoning matters1 otherwise distasteful or insipid1 with an unusual1 and thence grateful tang4 ,but saying no more concerning what it is1 and leaving it to your imagination and experience to supply the defect of such explication1 ,i shall address myself to show1 first1 when and how such a manner of speaking may be allowed2 then1 in what matters and ways it should be condemned4 #a4 ,such facetiousness is not absolutely unreasonable or unlawful1 which ministereth harmless divertisement1 and delight to conversation 7harmless1 ,i say1 that is1 not entrenching upon piety1 not infringing charity or justice1 not disturbing peace74 ,for ,christianity is not so tetrical1 so harsh1 so envious1 as to bar us continually from innocent1 much less from wholesome and useful pleasure1 such as human life doth need or require4 ,and if jocular discourse may serve to good purposes of this kind2 if it may be apt to raise our drooping spirits1 to allay our irksome cares1 to whet our blunted industry1 to recreate our minds being tired and cloyed with graver occupations2 if it may breed alacrity1 or maintain good humour among us2 if it may conduce to sweeten conversation and endear society2 then is it not inconvenient1 or unprofitable4 ,if for those ends we may use other recreations1 employing on them our ears and eyes1 our hands and feet1 our other instruments of sense and motion1 why may we not as well to them accommodate our organs of speech and interior sense8 ,why should those games which excite our wits and fancies be less reasonable than those whereby our grosser parts and faculties are exercised8 ,yea1 why are not those more reasonable1 since they are performed in a manly way1 and have in them a smack of reason2 feeling also they may be so managed1 as not only to divert and please1 but to improve and profit the mind1 rousing and quickening it1 yea sometimes enlightening and instructing it1 by good sense conveyed in jocular expression8 ,it would surely be hard that we should be tied ever to knit the brow1 and squeeze the brain 7to be always sadly dumpish1 or seriously pensive71 that all divertisement of mirth and pleasantness should be shut out of conversation2 and how can we better relieve our minds1 or relax our thoughts1 how can we be more ingenuously cheerful1 in what more kindly way can we exhilarate ourselves and others1 than by thus sacrificing to the ,graces1 as the ancients called it8 ,are not some persons always1 and all persons sometimes1 incapable otherwise to divert themselves1 than by such discourse8 ,shall we1 ,i say1 have no recreation8 or must our recreations be ever clownish1 or childish1 consisting merely in rustical efforts1 or in petty sleights of bodily strength and activity8 ,were we1 in fine1 obliged ever to talk like philosophers1 assigning dry reasons for everything1 and dropping grave sentences upon all occasions1 would it not much deaden human life1 and make ordinary conversation exceedingly to languish8 ,facetiousness therefore in such cases1 and to such purposes1 may be allowable4 #b4 ,facetiousness is allowable when it is the most proper instrument of exposing things apparently base and vile to due contempt4 ,it is many times expedient1 that things really ridiculous should appear such1 that they may be sufficiently loathed and shunned2 and to render them such is the part of a facetious wit1 and usually can only be compassed thereby4 ,when to impugn them with down-right reason1 or to check them by serious discourse1 would signify nothing1 then representing them in a shape strangely ugly to the fancy1 and thereby raising derision at them1 may effectually discountenance them4 ,thus did the prophet ,elias expose the wicked superstition of those who worshipped ,baal3 ,elias 7saith the text7 mocked them1 and said1 ',cry aloud2 for he is a god1 either he is talking1 or he is pursuing1 or he is in a journey1 or peradventure he sleeps1 and must be awaked4' ,by which one pregnant instance it appeareth that reasoning pleasantly-abusive in some cases may be useful4 ,the ,holy ,scripture doth not indeed use it frequently 7it not suiting the ,divine simplicity and stately gravity thereof to do so72 yet its condescension thereto at any time sufficiently doth authorise a cautious use thereof4 ,when sarcastic twitches are needful to pierce the thick skins of men1 to correct their lethargic stupidity1 to rouse them out of their drowsy negligence1 then may they well be applied when plain declarations will not enlighten people to discern the truth and weight of things1 and blunt arguments will not penetrate to convince or persuade them to their duty1 then doth reason freely resign its place to wit1 allowing it to undertake its work of instruction and reproof4 #c4 ,facetious discourse particularly may be commodious for reproving some vices1 and reclaiming some persons 7as salt for cleansing and curing some sores74 ,it commonly procureth a more easy access to the ears of men1 and worketh a stronger impression on their hearts1 than other discourse could do4 ,many who will not stand a direct reproof1 and cannot abide to be plainly admonished of their fault1 will yet endure to be pleasantly rubbed1 and will patiently bear a jocund wipe2 though they abominate all language purely bitter or sour1 yet they can relish discourse having in it a pleasant tartness4 ,you must not chide them as their master1 but you may gibe with them as their companion4 ,if you do that1 they will take you for pragmatical and haughty2 this they may interpret friendship and freedom4 ,most men are of that temper2 and particularly the genius of divers persons1 whose opinions and practices we should strive to correct1 doth require not a grave and severe1 but a free and merry way of treating them4 ,for what can be more unsuitable and unpromising1 than to seem serious with those who are not so themselves1 or demure with the scornful8 ,if we design either to please or vex them into better manners1 we must be as sportful in a manner1 or as contemptuous as themselves4 ,if we mean to be heard by them1 we must talk in their own fashion1 with humour and jollity2 if we will instruct them1 we must withal somewhat divert them3 we must seem to play with them if we think to convey any sober thoughts into them4 ,they scorn to be formally advised or taught2 but they may perhaps be slily laughed and lured into a better mind4 ,if by such complaisance we can inveigle those dottrels to hearken to us1 we may induce them to consider farther1 and give reason some competent scope1 some fair play with them4 ,good reason may be apparelled in the garb of wit1 and therein will securely pass whither in its native homeliness it could never arrive3 and being come thither1 it with especial advantage may impress good advice1 making an offender more clearly to see1 and more deeply to feel his miscarriage2 being represented to his fancy in a strain somewhat rare and remarkable1 yet not so fierce and frightful4 ,the severity of reproof is tempered1 and the reprover's anger disguised thereby4 ,the guilty person cannot but observe that he who thus reprehends him is not disturbed or out of humour1 and that he rather pitieth than hateth him2 which breedeth a veneration to him1 and imparteth no small efficacy to his wholesome suggestions4 ,such a reprehension1 while it forceth a smile without1 doth work remorse within2 while it seemeth to tickle the ear1 doth sting the heart4 ,in fine1 many whose foreheads are brazed and hearts steeled against all blame1 are yet not of proof against derision2 divers1 who never will be reasoned1 may be rallied in better order3 in which cases raillery1 as an instrument of so important good1 as a servant of the best charity1 may be allowed4 #d4 ,some errors likewise in this way may be most properly and most successfully confuted2 such as deserve not1 and hardly can bear a serious and solid confutation4 ,he that will contest things apparently decided by sense and experience1 or who disavows clear principles of reason1 approved by general consent and the common sense of men1 what other hopeful way is there of proceeding with him1 than pleasantly to explode his conceits8 ,to dispute seriously with him were trifling2 to trifle with him is the proper course4 ,since he rejecteth the grounds of reasoning1 'tis vain to be in earnest2 what then remains but to jest with him8 ,to deal seriously were to yield too much respect to such a baffler1 and too much weight to his fancies2 to raise the man too high in his courage and conceit2 to make his pretences seem worthy the considering and canvassing4 ,briefly1 perverse obstinacy is more easily quelled1 petulant impudence is sooner dashed1 sophistical captiousness is more safely eluded1 sceptical wantonness is more surely confounded in this than in the simple way of discourse4 #e4 ,this way is also commonly the best way of defence against unjust reproach and obloquy4 ,to yield to a slanderous reviler a serious reply1 or to make a formal plea against his charge1 doth seem to imply that we much consider or deeply resent it2 whereas by pleasant reflection on it we signify the matter only deserves contempt1 and that we take ourselves unconcerned therein4 ,so easily without care or trouble may the brunts of malice be declined or repelled4 #f4 ,this may be allowed in way of counterbalancing and in compliance to the fashion of others4 ,it would be a disadvantage unto truth and virtue if their defenders were barred from the use of this weapon1 since it is that especially whereby the patrons of error and vice do maintain and propagate them4 ,they being destitute of good reason1 do usually recommend their absurd and pestilent notions by a pleasantness of conceit and expression1 bewitching the fancies of shallow hearers1 and inveigling heedless persons to a liking of them2 and if1 for reclaiming such people1 the folly of those seducers may in like manner be displayed as ridiculous and odious1 why should that advantage be refused8 ,it is wit that wageth the war against reason1 against virtue1 against religion2 wit alone it is that perverteth so many1 and so greatly corrupteth the world4 ,it may1 therefore1 be needful1 in our warfare for those dearest concerns1 to sort the manner of our fighting with that of our adversaries1 and with the same kind of arms to protect goodness1 whereby they do assail it4 ,if wit may happily serve under the banner of truth and virtue1 we may impress it for that service2 and good it were to rescue so worthy a faculty from so vile abuse4 ,it is the right of reason and piety to command that and all other endowments2 folly and impiety do only usurp them4 ,just and fit therefore it is to wrest them out of so bad hands1 to revoke them to their right use and duty4 ,it doth especially seem requisite to do it in this age1 wherein plain reason is deemed a dull and heavy thing4 ,when the mental appetite of men is become like the corporal1 and cannot relish any food without some piquant sauce1 so that people will rather starve than live on solid fare2 when substantial and sound discourse findeth small attention or acceptance2 in such a time1 he that can1 may in complaisance1 and for fashion's sake1 vouchsafe to be facetious2 an ingenious vein coupled with an honest mind may be a good talent2 he shall employ wit commendably who by it can further the interests of goodness1 alluring men first to listen1 then inducing them to consent unto its wholesome dictates and precepts4 ,since men are so irreclaimably disposed to mirth and laughter1 it may be well to set them in the right pin1 to divert their humour into the proper channel1 that they may please themselves in deriding things which deserve it1 ceasing to laugh at that which requireth reverence or horror4 ,it may also be expedient to put the world out of conceit that all sober and good men are a sort of such lumpish or sour people that they can utter nothing but flat and drowsy stuff1 by showing them that such persons1 when they see cause1 in condescension1 can be as brisk and smart as themselves2 when they please1 can speak pleasantly and wittily1 as well as gravely and judiciously4 ,this way at least1 in respect to the various palates of men1 may for variety sake be sometimes attempted1 when other means do fail2 when many strict and subtle arguings1 many zealous declamations1 many wholesome serious discourses have been spent1 without effecting the extirpation of bad principles1 or conversion of those who abet them2 this course may be tried1 and some perhaps may be reclaimed thereby4 #g4 ,furthermore1 the warrantableness of this practice in some cases may be inferred from a parity of reason1 in this manner4 ,if it be lawful 7as by the best authorities it plainly doth appear to be71 in using rhetorical schemes1 poetical strains1 involutions of sense in allegories1 fables1 parables1 and riddles1 to discoast from the plain and simple way of speech1 why may not facetiousness1 issuing from the same principles1 directed to the same ends1 serving to like purposes1 be likewise used blamelessly8 ,if those exorbitancies of speech may be accommodated to instill good doctrine into the head1 to excite good passions in the heart1 to illustrate and adorn the truth1 in a delightful and taking way1 and facetious discourse be sometimes notoriously conducible to the same ends1 why1 they being retained1 should it be rejected1 especially considering how difficult often it may be to distinguish those forms of discourse from this1 or exactly to define the limits which sever rhetoric and raillery4 ,some elegant figures and trophies of rhetoric 7biting sarcasms1 sly ironies1 strong metaphors1 lofty hyperboles1 paronomasies1 oxymorons1 and the like1 frequently used by the best speakers1 and not seldom even by sacred writers7 do lie very near upon the confines of jocularity1 and are not easily differenced from those sallies of wit wherein the lepid way doth consist3 so that were this wholly culpable1 it would be matter of scruple whether one hath committed a fault or no when he meant only to play the orator or the poet2 and hard surely it would be to find a judge who could precisely set out the difference between a jest and a flourish4 #h4 ,i shall only add1 that of old even the sagest and gravest persons 7persons of most rigid and severe virtue7 did much affect this kind of discourse1 and did apply it to noble purposes4 ,the great introducer of moral wisdom among the pagans did practise it so much 7by it repressing the windy pride and fallacious vanity of sophisters in his time71 that he thereby got the name of ,greek1 the droll2 and the rest of those who pursued his design do1 by numberless stories and apophthegms recorded of them1 appear well skilled and much delighted in this way4 ,many great princes 7as ,augustus ,caesar1 for one1 many of whose jests are extant in ,macrobius71 many grave statesmen 7as ,cicero particularly1 who composed several books of jests71 many famous captains 7as ,fabius1 ,m4 ,cato the ,censor1 ,scipio ,africanus1 ,epaminondas1 ,themistocles1 ,phocion1 and many others1 whose witty sayings together with their martial exploits are reported by historians71 have pleased themselves herein1 and made it a condiment of their weighty businesses4 ,so that practising thus 7within certain rule and compass71 we cannot err without great patterns1 and mighty patrons4 #i4 ,in fine1 since it cannot be shown that such a sportfulness of wit and fancy doth contain an intrinsic and inseparable turpitude2 since it may be so cleanly1 handsomely1 and innocently used1 as not to defile or discompose the mind of the speaker1 nor to wrong or harm the hearer1 nor to derogate from any worthy subject of discourse1 nor to infringe decency1 to disturb peace1 to violate any of the grand duties incumbent on us 7piety1 charity1 justice1 sobriety71 but rather sometimes may yield advantage in those respects2 it cannot well absolutely and universally be condemned3 and when not used upon improper matter1 in an unfit manner1 with excessive measure1 at undue season1 to evil purpose1 it may be allowed4 ,it is bad objects1 or bad adjuncts1 which do spoil its indifference and innocence2 it is the abuse thereof1 to which 7as all pleasant things are dangerous1 and apt to degenerate into baits of intemperance and excess7 it is very liable1 that corrupteth it2 and seemeth to be the ground why in so general terms it is prohibited by the ,apostle4 ,which prohibition to what cases1 or what sorts of jesting it extendeth1 we come now to declare4 ,,ii4 #a4 ,all profane jesting1 all speaking loosely and wantonly about holy things 7things nearly related to ,god and religion71 making such things the matters of sport and mockery1 playing and trifling with them1 is certainly prohibited1 as an intolerably vain and wicked practice4 ,it is an infallible sign of a vain and light spirit1 which considereth little1 and cannot distinguish things1 to talk slightly concerning persons of high dignity1 to whom especial respect is due2 or about matters of great importance1 which deserve very serious consideration4 ,no man speaketh1 or should speak1 of his prince1 that which he hath not weighed whether it will consist with that veneration which should be preserved inviolate to him4 ,and is not the same1 is not much greater care to be used in regard to the incomparably great and glorious ,majesty of ,heaven8 ,yes1 surely1 as we should not without great awe think of ,him2 so we should not presume to mention ,his name1 ,his word1 ,his institutions1 anything immediately belonging to ,him1 without profoundest reverence and dread4 ,it is the most enormous sauciness that can be imagined1 to speak petulantly or pertly concerning ,him2 especially considering that whatever we do say about ,him1 we do utter it in ,his presence1 and to ,his very face4 ,for there is not1 as the holy psalmist considered1 a word in my tongue1 but lo1 ,o ,lord1 thou knowest it altogether4 ,no man also hath the heart to droll1 or thinks raillery convenient1 in cases nearly touching his life1 his health1 his estate1 or his fame3 and are the true life and health of our soul1 are interests in ,god's favour and mercy1 are everlasting glory and bliss affairs of less moment8 are the treasures and joys of paradise1 or the damages and torments in hell1 more jesting matters8 ,no1 certainly no3 in all reason therefore it becometh us1 and it infinitely concerneth us1 whenever we think of these things1 to be in best earnest1 always to speak of them in most sober sadness4 ,the proper objects of common mirth and sportful divertisement are mean and petty matters2 anything at least is by playing therewith made such3 great things are thereby diminished and debased2 especially sacred things do grievously suffer thence1 being with extreme indecency and indignity depressed beneath themselves1 when they become the subjects of flashy wit1 or the entertainments of frothy merriment3 to sacrifice their honour to our vain pleasure1 being like the ridiculous fondness of that people which1 as ,a,elian reporteth1 worshipping a fly1 did offer up an ox thereto4 ,these things were by ,god instituted1 and proposed to us for purposes quite different2 to compose our hearts1 and settle our fancies in a most serious frame2 to breed inward satisfaction1 and joy purely spiritual2 to exercise our most solemn thoughts1 and employ our gravest discourses3 all our speech therefore about them should be wholesome1 apt to afford good instruction1 or to excite good affections2 good1 as ,st4 ,paul speaketh1 for the use of edifying1 that it may minister grace unto the hearers4 ,if we must be facetious and merry1 the field is wide and spacious2 there are matters enough in the world besides these most august and dreadful things1 to try our faculties and please our humour with2 everywhere light and ludicrous things occur2 it therefore doth argue a marvellous poverty of wit1 and barrenness of invention 7no less than a strange defect of goodness1 and want of discretion71 in those who can devise no other subjects to frolic upon besides these1 of all most improper and perilous2 who cannot seem ingenious under the charge of so highly trespassing upon decency1 disclaiming wisdom1 wounding the ears of others1 and their own consciences4 ,seem ingenious1 ,i say2 for seldom those persons really are such1 or are capable to discover any wit in a wise and manly way4 ',tis not the excellency of their fancies1 which in themselves are usually sorry and insipid enough1 but the uncouthness of their presumption2 not their extraordinary wit1 but their prodigious rashness1 which is to be admired4 ,they are gazed on1 as the doers of bold tricks1 who dare perform that which no sober man will attempt3 they do indeed rather deserve themselves to be laughed at1 than their conceits4 ,for what can be more ridiculous than we do make ourselves1 when we thus fiddle and fool with our own souls2 when1 to make vain people merry1 we incense ,god's earnest displeasure2 when1 to raise a fit of present laughter1 we expose ourselves to endless wailing and woe2 when1 to be reckoned wits1 we prove ourselves stark wild8 ,surely to this case we may accommodate that of a truly great wit1 ,king ,solomon3 ,i said of laughter1 ,it is mad2 and of mirth1 ,what doeth it8 #b4 ,all injurious1 abusive1 scurrilous jesting1 which causelessly or needlessly tendeth to the disgrace1 damage1 vexation1 or prejudice in any kind of our neighbour 7provoking his displeasure1 grating on his modesty1 stirring passion in him71 is also prohibited4 ,when men1 to raise an admiration of their wit1 to please themselves1 or gratify the humours of other men1 do expose their neighbour to scorn and contempt1 making ignominious reflections upon his person and his actions1 taunting his real imperfections1 or fastening imaginary ones upon him1 they transgress their duty1 and abuse their wits2 'tis not urbanity1 or genuine facetiousness1 but uncivil rudeness or vile malignity4 ,to do thus1 as it is the office of mean and base spirits 7unfit for any worthy or weighty employments71 so it is full of inhumanity1 of iniquity1 of indecency and folly4 ,for the weaknesses of men1 of what kind soever 7natural or moral1 in quality or in act71 considering whence they spring1 and how much we are all subject to them1 and do need excuse for them1 do in equity challenge compassion to be had of them2 not complacency to be taken in them1 or mirth drawn from them2 they1 in respect to common humanity1 should rather be studiously connived at1 and concealed1 or mildly excused1 than wilfully laid open1 and wantonly descanted upon2 they rather are to be deplored secretly1 than openly derided4 ,the reputation of men is too noble a sacrifice to be offered up to vainglory1 fond pleasure1 or ill-humour2 it is a good far more dear and precious1 than to be prostituted for idle sport and divertisement4 ,it becometh us not to trifle with that which in common estimation is of so great moment--to play rudely with a thing so very brittle1 yet of so vast price2 which being once broken or cracked1 it is very hard and scarce possible to repair4 ,a small1 transient pleasure1 a tickling the ears1 wagging the lungs1 forming the face into a smile1 a giggle1 or a hum1 are not to be purchased with the grievous distaste and smart1 perhaps with the real damage and mischief of our neighbour1 which attend upon contempt4 ,this is not jesting1 surely1 but bad earnest2 'tis wild mirth1 which is the mother of grief to those whom we should tenderly love2 'tis unnatural sport1 which breedeth displeasure in them whose delight it should promote1 whose liking it should procure3 it crosseth the nature and design of this way of speaking1 which is to cement and ingratiate society1 to render conversation pleasant and sprightly1 for mutual satisfaction and comfort4 ,true festivity is called salt1 and such it should be1 giving a smart but savoury relish to discourse2 exciting an appetite1 not irritating disgust2 cleansing sometimes1 but never creating a sore3 and ,greek1 7if it become thus insipid71 or unsavoury1 it is therefore good for nothing1 but to be cast out1 and trodden under foot of men4 ,such jesting which doth not season wholesome or harmless discourse1 but giveth a haut gout to putrid and poisonous stuff1 gratifying distempered palates and corrupt stomachs1 is indeed odious and despicable folly1 to be cast out with loathing1 to be trodden under foot with contempt4 ,if a man offends in this sort1 to please himself1 'tis scurvy malignity2 if to delight others1 'tis base servility and flattery3 upon the first score he is a buffoon to himself2 upon the last1 a fool to others4 ,and well in common speech are such practisers so termed1 the grounds of that practice being so vain1 and the effect so unhappy4 ,the heart of fools1 saith the wise man1 is in the house of mirth2 meaning1 it seems1 especially such hurtfully wanton mirth3 for it is 7as he further telleth us7 the property of fools to delight in doing harm 7,it is as sport to a fool to do mischief74 ,is it not in earnest most palpable folly1 for so mean ends to do so great harm2 to disoblige men in sport2 to lose friends and get enemies for a conceit2 out of a light humour to provoke fierce wrath1 and breed tough hatred2 to engage one's self consequently very far in strife1 danger1 and trouble8 ,no way certainly is more apt to produce such effects than this2 nothing more speedily inflameth1 or more thoroughly engageth men1 or sticketh longer in men's hearts and memories1 than bitter taunts and scoffs3 whence this honey soon turns into gall2 these jolly comedies do commonly terminate in woeful tragedies4 ,especially this scurrilous and scoffing way is then most detestable when it not only exposeth the blemishes and infirmities of men1 but abuseth piety and virtue themselves2 flouting persons for their constancy in devotion1 or their strict adherence to a conscientious practice of duty2 aiming to effect that which ,job complaineth of1 ,the just upright man is laughed to scorn2 resembling those whom the psalmist thus describeth1 ,who whet their tongue like a sword1 and bend their arrows1 even bitter words1 that they may shoot in secret at the perfect2 serving good men as ,jeremy was served--,the word of the ,lord1 saith he1 was made a reproach unto me1 and a derision daily4 ,this practice doth evidently in the highest degree tend to the disparagement and discouragement of goodness2 aiming to expose it1 and to render men ashamed thereof2 and it manifestly proceedeth from a desperate corruption of mind1 from a mind hardened and emboldened1 sold and enslaved to wickedness3 whence they who deal therein are in ,holy ,scripture represented as egregious sinners1 or persons superlatively wicked1 under the name of scorners 7,greek1 pests1 or pestilent men1 the ,greek translators call them1 properly enough in regard to the effects of their practice72 concerning whom the wise man 7signifying how ,god will meet with them in their own way7 saith1 ,surely the ,lord scorneth the scorners4 ',greek 7scoffers1 or mockers71 ,st4 ,peter termeth them1 who walk according to their own lusts2 who not being willing to practise1 are ready to deride virtue2 thereby striving to seduce others into their pernicious courses4 ,this offence also proportionably groweth more criminal as it presumeth to reach persons eminent in dignity or worth1 unto whom special veneration is appropriate4 ,this adjoineth sauciness to scurrility1 and advanceth the wrong thereof into a kind of sacrilege4 ',tis not only injustice1 but profaneness1 to abuse the gods4 ,their station is a sanctuary from all irreverence and reproach2 they are seated on high1 that we may only look up to them with respect2 their defects are not to be seen1 or not to be touched by malicious or wanton wits1 by spiteful or scornful tongues3 the diminution of their credit is a public mischief1 and the ,state itself doth suffer in their becoming objects of scorn2 not only themselves are vilified and degraded1 but the great affairs they manage are obstructed1 the justice they administer is disparaged thereby4 ,in fine1 no jesting is allowable which is not thoroughly innocent3 it is an unworthy perverting of wit to employ it in biting and scratching2 in working prejudice to any man's reputation or interest2 in needlessly incensing any man's anger or sorrow2 in raising animosities1 dissensions1 and feuds among any4 ,whence it is somewhat strange that any men from so mean and silly a practice should expect commendation1 or that any should afford regard thereto2 the which it is so far from meriting1 that indeed contempt and abhorrence are due to it4 ,men do truly more render themselves despicable than others when1 without just ground1 or reasonable occasion1 they do attack others in this way4 ,that such a practice doth ever find any encouragement or acceptance1 whence can it proceed1 but from the bad nature and small judgment of some persons8 ,for to any man who is endowed with any sense of goodness1 and hath a competence of true wit1 or a right knowledge of good manners 7who knows4 4 4 4 inurbanum lepido seponere dicto71 it cannot but be unsavoury and loathsome4 ,the repute it obtaineth is in all respects unjust4 ,so would it appear1 not only were the cause to be decided in a court of morality1 because it consists not with virtue and wisdom2 but even before any competent judges of wit itself4 ,for he overthrows his own pretence1 and cannot reasonably claim any interest in wit1 who doth thus behave himself3 he prejudgeth himself to want wit1 who cannot descry fit matter to divert himself or others3 he discovereth a great straitness and sterility of good invention1 who cannot in all the wide field of things find better subjects of discourse2 who knows not how to be ingenious within reasonable compass1 but to pick up a sorry conceit is forced to make excursions beyond the bounds of honesty and decency4 ,neither is it any argument of considerable ability in him that haps to please this way3 a slender faculty will serve the turn4 ,the sharpness of his speech cometh not from wit so much as from choler1 which furnisheth the lowest inventions with a kind of pungent expression1 and giveth an edge to every spiteful word3 so that any dull wretch doth seem to scold eloquently and ingeniously4 ,commonly also satirical taunts do owe their seeming piquancy1 not to the speaker or his words1 but to the subject1 and the hearers2 the matter conspiring with the bad nature or the vanity of men who love to laugh at any rate1 and to be pleased at the expense of other men's repute2 conceiting themselves extolled by the depression of their neighbour1 and hoping to gain by his loss4 ,such customers they are that maintain the bitter wits1 who otherwise would want trade1 and might go a-begging4 ,for commonly they who seem to excel this way are miserably flat in other discourse1 and most dully serious3 they have a particular unaptness to describe any good thing1 or commend any worthy person2 being destitute of right ideas1 and proper terms answerable to such purposes3 their representations of that kind are absurd and unhandsome2 their eulogies 7to use their own way of speaking7 are in effect satires1 and they can hardly more abuse a man than by attempting to commend him2 like those in the prophet1 who were wise to do ill1 but to do well had no knowledge4 #c4 ,i pass by that it is very culpable to be facetious in obscene and smutty matters4 ,such things are not to be discoursed on either in jest or in earnest2 they must not1 as ,st4 ,paul saith1 be so much as named among ,christians4 ,to meddle with them is not to disport1 but to defile one's self and others4 ,there is indeed no more certain sign of a mind utterly debauched from piety and virtue than by affecting such talk4 ,but further-- #d4 ,all unseasonable jesting is blamable4 ,as there are some proper seasons of relaxation1 when we may desipere in loco2 so there are some times1 and circumstances of things1 wherein it concerneth and becometh men to be serious in mind1 grave in demeanour1 and plain in discourse2 when to sport in this way is to do indecently or uncivilly1 to be impertinent or troublesome4 ,it comporteth not well with the presence of superiors1 before whom it becometh us to be composed and modest1 much less with the performance of sacred offices1 which require an earnest attention1 and most serious frame of mind4 ,in deliberations and debates about affairs of great importance1 the simple manner of speaking to the point is the proper1 easy1 clear1 and compendious way3 facetious speech there serves only to obstruct and entangle business1 to lose time1 and protract the result4 ,the shop and exchange will scarce endure jesting in their lower transactions3 the ,senate1 the ,court of ,justice1 the ,church do much more exclude it from their more weighty consultations4 ,whenever it justleth out1 or hindereth the despatch of other serious business1 taking up the room or swallowing the time due to it1 or indisposing the minds of the audience to attend it1 then it is unseasonable and pestilent4 ,greek 7to play1 that we may be seriously busy71 is the good rule 7of ,anacharsis71 implying the subordination of sport to business1 as a condiment and furtherance1 not an impediment or clog thereto4 ,he that for his sport neglects his business1 deserves indeed to be reckoned among children2 and children's fortune will attend him1 to be pleased with toys1 and to fail of substantial profit4 ',tis again improper 7because indeed uncivil1 and inhuman7 to jest with persons that are in a sad or afflicted condition2 as arguing want of due considering or due commiserating their case4 ,it appears a kind of insulting upon their misfortune1 and is apt to foment their grief4 ,even in our own case 7upon any disastrous occurrence to ourselves71 it would not be seemly to frolic it thus2 it would signify want of due regard to the frowns of ,god1 and the strokes of ,his hand2 it would cross the wise man's advice1 ,in the day of prosperity be joyful1 but in the day of adversity consider4 ,it is also not seasonable1 or civil1 to be jocund in this way with those who desire to be serious1 and like not the humour4 ,jocularity should not be forcibly obtruded1 but by a kindly conspiracy 7or tacit compact7 slip into conversation2 consent and complaisance give all the life thereto4 ,its design is to sweeten and ease society2 when to the contrary it breedeth offence or encumbrance1 it is worse than vain and unprofitable4 ,from these instances we may collect when in other like cases it is unseasonable1 and therefore culpable4 ,further-- #e4 ,to affect1 admire1 or highly to value this way of speaking 7either absolutely in itself1 or in comparison to the serious and plain way of speech71 and thence to be drawn into an immoderate use thereof1 is blamable4 ,a man of ripe age and sound judgment1 for refreshment to himself1 or in complaisance to others1 may sometimes condescend to play in this1 or any other harmless way2 but to be fond of it1 to prosecute it with a careful or painful eagerness1 to dote and dwell upon it1 to reckon it a brave or a fine thing1 a singular matter of commendation1 a transcendent accomplishment1 anywise preferable to rational endowments1 or comparable to the moral excellencies of our mind 7to solid knowledge1 or sound wisdom1 or true virtue and goodness71 this is extremely childish1 or brutish1 and far below a man4 ,what can be more absurd than to make business of play1 to be studious and laborious in toys1 to make a profession or drive a trade of impertinency8 ,what more plain nonsense can there be1 than to be earnest in jest1 to be continual in divertisement1 or constant in pastime2 to make extravagance all our way1 and sauce all our diet8 ,is not this plainly the life of a child that is ever busy1 yet never hath anything to do8 ,or the life of that mimical brute which is always active in playing uncouth and unlucky tricks2 which1 could it speak1 might surely pass well for a professed wit8 ,the proper work of man1 the grand drift of human life1 is to follow reason 7that noble spark kindled from ,heaven2 that princely and powerful faculty1 which is able to reach so lofty objects1 and achieve so mighty works71 not to soothe fancy1 that brutish1 shallow and giddy power1 able to perform nothing worthy much regard4 ,we are not 7even ,cicero could tell us7 born for play and jesting1 but for severity1 and the study of graver and greater affairs4 ,yes1 we were purposely designed1 and fitly framed1 to understand and contemplate1 to affect and delight in1 to undertake and pursue most noble and worthy things2 to be employed in business considerably profitable to ourselves1 and beneficial to others4 ,we do therefore strangely debase ourselves1 when we do strongly bend our minds to1 or set our affections upon1 such toys4 ,especially to do so is unworthy of a ,christian2 that is1 of a person who is advanced to so high a rank1 and so glorious relations2 who hath so excellent objects of his mind and affections presented before him1 and so excellent rewards for his care and pains proposed to him2 who is engaged in affairs of so worthy nature1 and so immense consequence3 for him to be zealous about quibbles1 for him to be ravished with puny conceits and expressions1 'tis a wondrous oversight1 and an enormous indecency4 ,he indeed that prefers any faculty to reason1 disclaims the privilege of being a man1 and understands not the worth of his own nature2 he that prizes any quality beyond virtue and goodness1 renounces the title of a ,christian1 and knows not how to value the dignity of his profession4 ,it is these two 7reason and virtue7 in conjunction which produce all that is considerably good and great in the world4 ,fancy can do little2 doth never anything well1 except as directed and wielded by them4 ,do pretty conceits or humorous talk carry on any business1 or perform any work8 ,no2 they are ineffectual and fruitless3 often they disturb1 but they never despatch anything with good success4 ,it is simple reason 7as dull and dry as it seemeth7 which expediteth all the grand affairs1 which accomplisheth all the mighty works that we see done in the world4 ,in truth1 therefore1 as one diamond is worth numberless bits of glass2 so one solid reason is worth innumerable fancies3 one grain of true science and sound wisdom in real worth and use doth outweigh loads 7if any loads can be7 of freakish wit4 ,to rate things otherwise doth argue great weakness of judgment1 and fondness of mind4 ,so to conceit of this way signifieth a weak mind2 and much to delight therein rendereth it so--nothing more debaseth the spirit of a man1 or more rendereth it light and trifling4 ,hence if we must be venting pleasant conceits1 we should do it as if we did it not1 carelessly and unconcernedly2 not standing upon it1 or valuing ourselves for it3 we should do it with measure and moderation2 not giving up ourselves thereto1 so as to mind it or delight in it more than in any other thing3 we should not be so intent upon it as to become remiss in affairs more proper or needful for us2 so as to nauseate serious business1 or disrelish the more worthy entertainments of our minds4 ,this is the great danger of it1 which we daily see men to incur2 they are so bewitched with a humour of being witty themselves1 or of hearkening to the fancies of others1 that it is this only which they can like or favour1 which they can endure to think or talk of4 ',tis a great pity that men who would seem to have so much wit1 should so little understand themselves4 ,but further-- #f4 ,vainglorious ostentation this way is very blamable4 ,all ambition1 all vanity1 all conceitedness1 upon whatever ground they are founded1 are absolutely unreasonable and silly2 but yet those being grounded on some real ability1 or some useful skill1 are wise and manly in comparison to this1 which standeth on a foundation so manifestly slight and weak4 ,the old philosophers by a severe father were called animalia gloriae 7animals of glory71 and by a satirical poet they were termed bladders of vanity2 but they at least did catch at praise from praiseworthy knowledge2 they were puffed up with a wind which blew some good to mankind2 they sought glory from that which deserved glory if they had not sought it2 it was a substantial and solid credit which they did affect1 resulting from successful enterprises of strong reason1 and stout industry3 but these animalculae gloriae1 these flies1 these insects of glory1 these1 not bladders1 but bubbles of vanity1 would be admired and praised for that which is nowise admirable or laudable2 for the casual hits and emergencies of roving fancy2 for stumbling on an odd conceit or phrase1 which signifieth nothing1 and is as superficial as the smile1 as hollow as the noise it causeth4 ,nothing certainly in nature is more ridiculous than a self-conceited wit1 who deemeth himself somebody1 and greatly pretendeth to commendation from so pitiful and worthless a thing as a knack of trifling4 #g4 ,lastly1 it is our duty never so far to engage ourselves in this way as thereby to lose or to impair that habitual seriousness1 modesty and sobriety of mind1 that steady composedness1 gravity and constancy of demeanour1 which become ,christians4 ,we should continually keep our minds intent upon our high calling1 and grand interests2 ever well tuned1 and ready for the performance of holy devotions1 and the practice of most serious duties with earnest attention and fervent affection4 ,wherefore we should never suffer them to be dissolved into levity1 or disordered into a wanton frame1 indisposing us for religious thoughts and actions4 ,we ought always in our behaviour to maintain1 not only ,greek 7a fitting decency71 but also ,greek 7a stately gravity71 a kind of venerable majesty1 suitable to that high rank which we bear of ,god's friends and children2 adorning our holy profession1 and guarding us from all impressions of sinful vanity4 ,wherefore we should not let ourselves be transported into any excessive pitch of lightness1 inconsistent with or prejudicial to our ,christian state and business4 ,gravity and modesty are the senses of piety1 which being once slighted1 sin will easily attempt and encroach upon us4 ,so the old ,spanish gentleman may be interpreted to have been wise who1 when his son upon a voyage to the ,indies took his leave of him1 gave him this odd advice1 ,my son1 in the first place keep thy gravity1 in the next place fear ,god2 intimating that a man must first be serious1 before he can be pious4 ,to conclude1 as we need not be demure1 so must we not be impudent2 as we should not be sour1 so ought we not to be fond2 as we may be free1 so we should not be vain2 as we may well stoop to friendly complaisance1 so we should take heed of falling into contemptible levity4 ,if without wronging others1 or derogating from ourselves1 we can be facetious1 if we can use our wits in jesting innocently1 and conveniently1 we may sometimes do it3 but let us1 in compliance with ,st4 ,paul's direction1 beware of foolish talking and jesting which are not convenient4 ,now the ,god of grace and peace 4 4 4 4 make us perfect in every good work to do ,his will1 working in us that which is well pleasing in ,his sight1 through ,jesus ,christ1 to whom be glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4 ,,against ,,rash ,,and ,,vain ,,swearing4 ,but above all things1 my brethren1 swear not4 ,st4 ,james v4 #ab4 ,among other precepts of good life 7directing the practice of virtue and abstinence from sin7 ,st4 ,james doth insert this about swearing1 couched in expression denoting his great earnestness1 and apt to excite our special attention4 ,therein he doth not mean universally to interdict the use of oaths1 for that in some cases is not only lawful1 but very expedient1 yea1 needful1 and required from us as a duty2 but that swearing which our ,lord had expressly prohibited to ,his disciples1 and which thence1 questionless1 the brethren to whom ,st4 ,james did write did well understand themselves obliged to forbear1 having learned so in the first catechisms of ,christian institution2 that is1 needless and heedless swearing in ordinary conversation1 a practice then frequent in the world1 both among ,jews and ,gentiles2 the which also1 to the shame of our age1 is now so much in fashion1 and with some men in vogue2 the invoking ,god's name1 appealing to ,his testimony1 and provoking ,his judgment upon any slight occasion1 in common talk1 with vain incogitancy1 or profane boldness4 ,from such practice the ,holy ,apostle exhorteth in terms importing his great concernedness1 and implying the matter to be of highest importance2 for1 ,greek1 saith he1 7,before all things71 my brethren1 do not swear2 as if he did apprehend this sin of all others to be one of the most heinous and pernicious4 ,could he have said more8 would he have said so much1 if he had not conceived the matter to be of exceeding weight and consequence8 ,and that it is so1 ,i mean now1 by ,god's help1 to show you1 by proposing some considerations1 whereby the heinous wickedness1 together with the monstrous folly1 of such rash and vain swearing will appear2 the which being laid to heart will1 ,i hope1 effectually dissuade and deter from it4 ,i4 ,let us consider the nature of an oath1 and what we do when we adventure to swear4 ,it is 7as it is phrased in the ,decalogue1 and elsewhere in ,holy ,scripture7 an assuming the name of ,god1 and applying it to our purpose2 to countenance and confirm what we say4 ,it is an invocation of ,god as a most faithful ,witness1 concerning the truth of our words1 or the sincerity of our meaning4 ,it is an appeal to ,god as a most upright ,judge whether we do prevaricate in asserting what we do not believe true1 or in promising what we are not firmly resolved to perform4 ,it is a formal engagement of ,god to be the ,avenger of our trespassing in violation of truth or faith4 ,it is a binding our souls with a most strict and solemn obligation1 to answer before ,god1 and to undergo the issue of ,his judgment about what we affirm or undertake4 ,such an oath is represented to us in ,holy ,scripture4 ,whence we may collect1 that swearing doth require great modesty and composedness of spirit1 very serious consideration and solicitous care1 that we be not rude and saucy with ,god1 in taking up ,his name1 and prostituting it to vile or mean uses2 that we do not abuse or debase ,his authority1 by citing it to aver falsehoods or impertinences2 that we do not slight ,his venerable justice1 by rashly provoking it against us2 that we do not precipitately throw our souls into most dangerous snares and intricacies4 ,for let us reflect and consider3 ,what a presumption is it without due regard and reverence to lay hold on ,god's name2 with unhallowed breath to vent and toss that great and glorious1 that most holy1 that reverend1 that fearful and terrible name of the ,lord our ,god1 the great ,creator1 the mighty ,sovereign1 the dreadful ,judge of all the world2 that name which all heaven with profoundest submission doth adore1 which the angelical powers1 the brightest and purest ,seraphim1 without hiding their faces1 and reverential horror1 cannot utter or hear2 the very thought whereof should strike awe through our hearts1 the mention whereof would make any sober man to tremble8 ,greek1 ,for how1 saith ,st4 ,chrysostom1 is it not absurd that a servant should not dare to call his master by name1 or bluntly and ordinarily to mention him1 yet that we slightly and contemptuously should in our mouth toss about the ,lord of angels8 ,how is it not absurd1 if we have a garment better than the rest1 that we forbear to use it continually1 but in the most slight and common way do wear the name of ,god8 ,how grievous indecency is it1 at every turn to summon our ,maker1 and call down ,almighty ,god from heaven1 to attend our leisure1 to vouch our idle prattle1 to second our giddy passions1 to concern ,his truth1 ,his justice1 ,his power in our trivial affairs6 ,what a wildness is it1 to dally with that judgment upon which the eternal doom of all creatures dependeth1 at which the pillars of heaven are astonished1 which hurled down legions of angels from the top of heaven and happiness into the bottomless dungeon3 the which1 as grievous sinners1 of all things we have most reason to dread2 and about which no sober man can otherwise think than did that great king1 the holy psalmist1 who said1 ,my flesh trembleth for ,thee1 and ,i am afraid of ,thy judgments6 ,how prodigious a madness is it1 without any constraint or needful cause1 to incur so horrible a danger1 to rush upon a curse2 to defy that vengeance1 the least touch of breath whereof can dash us to nothing1 or thrust us down into extreme and endless woe8 ,who can express the wretchedness of that folly1 which so entangleth us with inextricable knots1 and enchaineth our souls so rashly with desperate obligations8 ,wherefore he that would but a little mind what he doeth when he dareth to swear1 what it is to meddle with the adorable name1 the venerable testimony1 the formidable judgment1 the terrible vengeance of the ,divine ,majesty1 into what a case he putteth himself1 how extreme hazard he runneth thereby1 would assuredly have little heart to swear1 without greatest reason1 and most urgent need2 hardly without trembling would he undertake the most necessary and solemn oath2 much cause would he see ,greek1 to adore1 to fear an oath3 which to do1 the divine preacher maketh the character of a good man4 ,as1 saith he1 is the good1 so is the sinner2 and he that sweareth1 as he that feareth an oath4 ,in fine1 even a heathen philosopher1 considering the nature of an oath1 did conclude the unlawfulness thereof in such cases4 ,for1 seeing1 saith he1 an oath doth call ,god for witness1 and proposeth ,him for umpire and voucher of the things it saith2 therefore to induce ,god so upon occasion of human affairs1 or1 which is all one1 upon small and slight accounts1 doth imply contempt of ,him3 wherefore we ought wholly to shun swearing1 except upon occasions of highest necessity4 ,,ii4 ,we may consider that swearing1 agreeably to its nature1 or natural aptitude and tendency1 is represented in ,holy ,scripture as a special part of religious worship1 or devotion towards ,god2 in the due performance whereof we do avow ,him for the true ,god and ,governor of the world2 we piously do acknowledge ,his principal attributes and special prerogatives2 ,his omnipresence and omniscience1 extending itself to our most inward thoughts1 our secretest purposes1 our closest retirements2 ,his watchful providence over all our actions1 affairs1 and concerns2 ,his faithful goodness1 in favouring truth and protecting right2 ,his exact justice1 in patronising sincerity1 and chastising perfidiousness2 ,his being ,supreme ,lord over all persons1 and ,judge paramount in all causes2 ,his readiness in our need1 upon our humble imploration and reference1 to undertake the arbitration of matters controverted1 and the care of administering justice1 for the maintenance of truth and right1 of loyalty and fidelity1 of order and peace among men4 ,swearing does also intimate a pious truth and confidence in ,god1 as ,aristotle observeth4 ,such things a serious oath doth imply1 to such purposes swearing naturally serveth2 and therefore to signify or effectuate them1 ,divine institution hath devoted it4 ,god in goodness to such ends hath pleased to lend us ,his great name2 allowing us to cite ,him for a witness1 to have recourse to ,his bar1 to engage ,his justice and power1 whenever the case deserveth and requireth it1 or when we cannot by other means well assure the sincerity of our meaning1 or secure the constancy of our resolutions4 ,yea1 in such exigencies ,he doth exact this practice from us1 as an instance of our religious confidence in ,him1 and as a service conducible to ,his glory4 ,for it is a precept in ,his law1 of moral nature1 and eternal obligation1 ,thou shalt fear the ,lord thy ,god2 ,him shalt thou serve1 and to ,him shalt thou cleave1 and shalt swear by ,his name4 ,it is the character of a religious man to swear with due reverence and upright conscience4 ,for1 ,the king1 saith the psalmist1 shall rejoice in ,god2 every one that sweareth by ,him shall glory3 but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped4 ,it is a distinctive mark of ,god's people1 according to that of the prophet ,jeremy1 ,and it shall come to pass1 if they will diligently learn the ways of my people1 to swear by my name 4 4 4 then shall they be built in the midst of my people4 ,it is predicted concerning the evangelical times1 ,unto ,me every knee shall bow1 every tongue shall swear3 and1 ,that he who blesseth himself in the earth1 shall bless himself by the ,god of ,truth2 and he that sweareth in the earth1 shall swear by the ,god of ,truth4 ,as therefore all other acts of devotion1 wherein immediate application is made to the ,divine ,majesty1 should never be performed without most hearty intention1 most serious consideration1 most lowly reverence2 so neither should this grand one1 wherein ,god is so nearly touched1 and ,his chief attributes so much concerned3 the which indeed doth involve both prayer and praise1 doth require the most devotional acts of faith and fear4 ,we therefore should so perform it as not to incur that reproof3 ,this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth1 and honoureth me with their lips1 but their heart is far from me4 ,when we seem most formally to avow ,god1 to confess ,his omniscience1 to confide in ,his justice1 we should not really disregard ,him1 and in effect signify that we do not think ,he doth know what we say1 or what we do4 ,if we do presume to offer this service1 we should do it in the manner appointed by himself1 according to the conditions prescribed in the prophet1 ,thou shalt swear1 the ,lord liveth1 in truth1 in judgment1 and in righteousness3 in truth1 taking heed that our meaning be conformable to the sense of our words1 and our words to the verity of things2 in judgment1 having with careful deliberation examined and weighed that which we assert or promise2 in righteousness1 being satisfied in conscience that we do not therein infringe any rule of piety toward ,god1 of equity toward men1 or sobriety and discretion in regard to ourselves4 ,the cause of our swearing must be needful1 or very expedient2 the design of it must be honest and useful to considerable purposes 7tending to ,god's honour1 our neighbour's benefit1 our own welfare72 the matter of it should be not only just and lawful1 but worthy and weighty2 the manner ought to be grave and solemn1 our mind being framed to earnest attention1 and endued with pious affections suitable to the occasion4 ,otherwise1 if we do venture to swear1 without due advice and care1 without much respect and awe1 upon any slight or vain 7not to say bad or unlawful7 occasion1 we then desecrate swearing1 and are guilty of profaning a most sacred ordinance3 the doing so doth imply base hypocrisy1 or lewd mockery1 or abominable wantonness and folly2 in bodily invading and vainly trifling with the most august duties of religion4 ,such swearing therefore is very dishonourable and injurious to ,god1 very prejudicial to religion1 very repugnant to piety4 ,,iii4 ,we may consider that the swearing prohibited is very noxious to human society4 ,the great prop of society 7which upholdeth the safety1 peace1 and welfare thereof1 in observing laws1 dispensing justice1 discharging trusts1 keeping contracts1 and holding good correspondence mutually7 is conscience1 or a sense of duty toward ,god1 obliging to perform that which is right and equal2 quickened by hope of rewards and fear of punishments from ,him3 secluding which principle1 no worldly confederation is strong enough to hold men fast1 or can further dispose many to do right1 or observe faith1 or hold peace1 than appetite or interest1 or humour 7things very slippery and uncertain7 do sway them4 ,that men should live honestly1 quietly1 and comfortably together1 it is needful that they should live under a sense of ,god's will1 and in awe of the divine power1 hoping to please ,god1 and fearing to offend ,him1 by their behaviour respectively4 ,that justice should be administered between men1 it is necessary that testimonies of fact be alleged2 and that witnesses should apprehend themselves greatly obliged to discover the truth1 according to their conscience1 in dark and doubtful cases4 ,that men should uprightly discharge offices serviceable to public good1 it doth behove that they be firmly engaged to perform the trusts reposed in them4 ,that in affairs of very considerable importance men should deal with one another with satisfaction of mind1 and mutual confidence1 they must receive competent assurances concerning the integrity1 fidelity1 and constancy each of other4 ,that the safety of governors may be preserved1 and the obedience due to them maintained secure from attempts to which they are liable 7by the treachery1 levity1 perverseness1 timorousness1 ambition1 all such lusts and ill humours of men71 it is expedient that men should be tied with the strictest bands of allegiance4 ,that controversies emergent about the interests of men should be determined1 and an end put to strife by peremptory and satisfactory means1 is plainly necessary for common quiet4 ,wherefore for the public interest and benefit of human society it is requisite that the highest obligations possible should be laid upon the consciences of men4 ,and such are those of oaths1 engaging them to fidelity and constancy in all such cases1 out of regard to ,almighty ,god1 as the infallible patron of truth and right1 the unavoidable chastiser of perfidiousness and improbity4 ,to such purposes1 therefore1 oaths have ever been applied1 as the most effectual instruments of working them2 not only among the followers of true and perfect religion1 but even among all those who had any glimmering notions concerning a ,divine ,power and ,providence2 who have deemed an oath the fastest tie of conscience1 and held the violation of it for the most detestable impiety and iniquity4 ,so that what ,cicero saith of the ,romans1 that their ancestors had no band to constrain faith more strait than an oath1 is true of all other nations1 common reason not being able to devise any engagement more obliging than it is2 it being in the nature of things ,greek1 and ,greek1 the utmost assurance1 the last resort of human faith1 the surest pledge that any man can yield of his trustiness4 ,hence ever in transactions of highest moment this hath been used to bind the faith of men4 ,hereby nations have been wont to ratify leagues of peace and amity between each other 7which therefore the ,greeks call ,greek74 ,hereby princes have obliged their subjects to loyalty3 and it hath ever been the strongest argument to press that duty1 which the ,preacher useth1 ,i counsel thee to keep the king's commandment1 and that in regard of the oath of ,god4 ,hereby generals have engaged their soldiers to stick close to them in bearing hardships and encountering dangers4 ,hereby the nuptial league hath been confirmed2 the solemnisation whereof in temples before ,god is in effect a most sacred oath4 ,hereon the decision of the greatest causes concerning the lives1 estates1 and reputations of men have depended2 so that1 as the ,apostle saith1 an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife4 ,indeed1 such hath the need hereof been ever apprehended1 that we may observe1 in cases of great importance1 no other obligation hath been admitted for sufficient to bind the fidelity and constancy of the most credible persons2 so that even the best men hardly could trust the best men without it4 ,for instance1 ,when ,abimelech would assure to himself the friendship of ,abraham1 although he knew him to be a very pious and righteous person1 whose word might be as well taken as any man's1 yet1 for entire satisfaction1 he thus spake to him3 ,god is with thee in all that thou doest3 ,now therefore swear unto me here by ,god1 that thou wilt not deal falsely with me4 ,abraham1 though he did much confide in the honesty of his servant ,eliezer1 having entrusted him with all his estate1 yet in the affair concerning the marriage of his son he could not but thus oblige him3 ,put1 saith he1 ,i pray thee1 thy hand under my thigh1 and ,i will make thee swear by the ,lord1 the ,god of heaven and the ,god of the earth1 that thou wilt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the ,canaanites4 ,laban had good experience of ,jacob's fidelity2 yet that would not satisfy1 but1 ,the ,lord1 said he1 watch between me and thee1 when we are absent one from another4 ,if thou shalt afflict my daughters1 or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters1 no man is with us2 see1 ,god is witness between thee and me4 ,the ,god of ,abraham1 and the ,god of ,nahor1 the ,god of their father1 judge betwixt us4 ,so did ,jacob make ,joseph swear that he would bury him in ,canaan3 and ,joseph caused the children of ,israel to swear that they would translate his bones4 ,so did ,jonathan cause his beloved friend ,david to swear that he would show kindness to him and to his house for ever4 ,the prudence of which course the event showeth1 the total excision of ,jonathan's family being thereby prevented2 for the king1 'tis said1 spared ,mephibosheth the son of ,jonathan1 because of the ,lord's oath that was between them4 ,these instances declare that there is no security which men can yield comparable to that of an oath2 the obligation whereof no man wilfully can infringe without renouncing the fear of ,god and any pretence to ,his favour4 ,wherefore human society will be extremely wronged and damnified by the dissolving or slackening these most sacred bands of conscience2 and consequently by their common and careless use1 which soon will breed a contempt of them1 and render them insignificant1 either to bind the swearers1 or to ground a trust on their oaths4 ,as by the rare and reverent use of oaths their dignity is upheld and their obligation kept fast1 so by the frequent and negligent application of them1 by the prostituting them to every mean and toyish purpose1 their respect will be quite lost1 their strength will be loosed1 they will prove unserviceable to public use4 ,if oaths generally become cheap and vile1 what will that of allegiance signify8 ,if men are wont to play with swearing anywhere1 can we expect they should be serious and strict therein at the bar or in the church4 ,will they regard ,god's testimony1 or dread ,his judgment1 in one place1 or at one time1 when everywhere upon any1 upon no occasion they dare to confront and contemn them8 ,who then will be the more trusted for swearing8 ,what satisfaction will any man have from it8 ,the rifeness of this practice1 as it is the sign1 so it will be the cause of a general diffidence among man4 ,incredible therefore is the mischief which this vain practice will bring in to the public2 depriving princes of their best security1 exposing the estates of private men to uncertainty1 shaking all the confidence men can have in the faith of one another4 ,for which detriments accruing from this abuse to the public every vain swearer is responsible2 and he would do well to consider that he will never be able to make reparation for them4 ,and the public is much concerned that this enormity be retrenched4 ,,iv4 ,let us consider1 that rash and vain swearing is very apt often to bring the practiser of it into that most horrible sin of perjury4 ,for false swearing1 as the ,hebrew wise man saith1 naturally springeth out of much swearing3 and1 he1 saith ,st4 ,chrysostom1 that sweareth continually1 both willingly and unwillingly1 both ignorantly and knowingly1 both in earnest and in sport1 being often transported by anger and many other things1 will frequently forswear4 ,it is confessed and manifest1 that it is necessary for him that sweareth much to be perjurious4 ,greek1 ,for1 saith he again1 it is impossible1 it is impossible for a mouth addicted to swearing not frequently to forswear4 ,he that sweareth at random1 as blind passion moveth1 or wanton fancy prompteth1 or the temper suggesteth1 often will hit upon asserting that which is false1 or promising that which is impossible3 that want of conscience and of consideration which do suffer him to violate ,god's law in swearing will betray him to the venting of lies1 which backed with oaths become perjuries4 ,if sometime what he sweareth doth happen to be true and performable1 it doth not free him of guilt2 it being his fortune1 rather than his care or conscience1 which keepeth him from perjury4 ,v4 ,such swearing commonly will induce a man to bind himself by oath to unlawful practices2 and consequently will entangle him in a woeful necessity either of breaking his oath1 or of doing worse1 and committing wickedness3 so that swearing1 as ,st4 ,chrysostom saith1 hath this misery attending it1 that1 both trangressed and observed1 it plagueth those who are guilty of it4 ,of this perplexity the ,holy ,scripture affordeth two notable instances3 the one of ,saul1 forced to break his rash oaths2 the other of ,herod1 being engaged thereby to commit a most horrid murder4 ,had ,saul observed his oaths1 what injury had he done1 what mischief had he produced1 in slaughtering his most worthy and most innocent son1 the prop and glory of his family1 the bulwark of his country1 and the grand instrument of salvation to it2 in forcing the people to violate their cross oath1 and for prevention of one1 causing many perjuries8 ,he was therefore fain to desist1 and lie under the guilt of breaking his oaths4 ,and for ,herod1 the excellent father thus presseth the consideration of his case3 ,take1 saith he1 ,i beseech you1 the chopped off head of ,st4 ,john1 and his warm blood yet trickling down2 each of you bear it home with you1 and conceive that before your eyes you hear it uttering speech1 and saying1 ,embrace the murderer of me1 an oath4 ,that which reproof did not1 this an oath did do2 that which the tyrant's wrath could not1 this the necessity of keeping an oath did effect4 ,for when the tyrant was reprehended publicly in the audience of all men1 he bravely did bear the rebuke2 but when he had cast himself into the necessity of oaths1 then did he cut off that blessed head4 ,,vi4 ,likewise the use of rash swearing will often engage a man in undertakings very inconvenient and detrimental to himself4 ,a man is bound to perform his vows to the ,lord1 whatever they be1 whatever damage or trouble thence may accrue to him1 if they be not unlawful4 ,it is the law1 that which is gone out of thy lips1 thou shalt keep and perform4 ,it is the property of a good man1 that he sweareth to his own hurt1 and changeth not4 ,wherefore 'tis the part of a sober man to be well advised what he doth swear or vow religiously1 that he do not put himself into the inextricable strait of committing great sin1 or undergoing great inconvenience2 that he do not rush into that snare of which the wise man speaketh1 ,it is a snare to a man to devour that which is holy 7or1 to swallow a sacred obligation71 and after vows to make inquiry1 seeking how he may disengage himself the doing which is a folly offensive to ,god1 as the ,preacher telleth us4 ,when1 saith he1 thou vowest a vow unto ,god1 defer not to pay it2 for ,he hath no pleasure in fools3 pay that which thou hast vowed4 ,god will not admit our folly in vowing as a plea for non-performance2 ,he will exact it from us both as a due debt1 and as a proper punishment of our impious folly4 ,for instance1 into what loss and mischief1 what sorrow1 what regret and repentance1 did the unadvised vow of ,jephthah throw him2 the performance whereof1 as ,st4 ,chrysostom remarketh1 ,god did permit1 and order to be commemorated with solemn lamentation1 that all posterity might be admonished thereby1 and deterred from such precipitant swearing4 ,,vii4 ,let us consider that swearing is a sin of all others peculiarly clamorous1 and provocative of ,divine judgment4 ,god is hardly so much concerned1 or in a manner constrained1 to punish any other sin as this4 ,he is bound in honour and interest to vindicate ,his name from the abuse1 ,his authority from the contempt1 ,his holy ordinance from the profanation1 which it doth infer4 ,he is concerned to take care that ,his providence be not questioned1 that the dread of ,his majesty be not voided1 that all religion be not overthrown by the outrageous commission thereof with impunity4 ,it immediately toucheth ,his name1 it expressly calleth upon ,him to mind it1 to judge it1 to show himself in avenging it4 ,he may seem deaf1 or unconcerned1 if1 being so called and provoked1 ,he doth not declare ,himself4 ,there is understood to be a kind of formal compact between ,him and mankind1 obliging ,him to interpose1 to take the matter into ,his cognisance1 being specially addressed to ,him4 ,the bold swearer doth importune ,him to hear1 doth rouse ,him to mark1 doth brave ,him to judge and punish his wickedness4 ,hence no wonder that the flying roll1 a quick and inevitable curse1 doth surprise the swearer1 and cut him off1 as it is in the prophet4 ,no wonder that so many remarkable instances do occur in history of signal vengeance inflicted on persons notably guilty of this crime4 ,no wonder that a common practice thereof doth fetch down public judgments2 and that1 as the prophets of old did proclaim1 because of swearing the land mourneth4 ,,viii4 ,further 7passing over the special laws against it1 the mischievous consequences of it1 the sore punishments appointed to it71 we may consider1 that to common sense vain swearing is a very unreasonable and ill-favoured practice1 greatly misbecoming any sober1 worthy1 or honest person2 but especially most absurd and incongruous to a ,christian4 ,for in ordinary conversation what needful or reasonable occasion can intervene of violating this command8 ,if there come under discourse a matter of reason1 which is evidently true and certain1 then what need can there be of an oath to affirm it1 it sufficing to expose it to light1 or to propose the evidences for it8 ,if an obscure or doubtful point come to be debated1 it will not bear an oath2 it will be a strange madness to dare1 a great folly to hope the persuading it thereby4 ,what were more ridiculous than to swear the truth of a demonstrable theorem8 ,what more vain than so to assert a disputable problem3 oaths 7like wagers7 are in such cases no arguments1 except silliness in the users of them4 ,if a matter of history be started1 then if a man be taken for honest1 his word will pass for attestation without further assurance2 but if his veracity or probity be doubted1 his oath will not be relied on1 especially when he doth obtrude it4 ,for it was no less truly than acutely said by the old poet1 ,greek1 ,the man doth not get credit from an oath1 but an oath from the man4 ,and a greater author1 ,an oath1 saith ,st4 ,chrysostom1 doth not make a man credible2 but the testimony of his life1 and the exactness of his conversation1 and a good repute4 ,many often have burst with swearing1 and persuaded no man2 others only nodding have deserved more belief than those who swore so mightily4 ,wherefore oaths1 as they are frivolous coming from a person of little worth or conscience1 so they are superfluous in the mouth of an honest and worthy person2 yea1 as they do not increase the credit of the former1 so they may impair that of the latter4 ,a good man1 as ,socrates did say1 should apparently so demean himself1 that his word may be deemed more credible than an oath2 the constant tenour of his practice vouching for it1 and giving it such weight1 that no asseveration can further corroborate it4 ,he should ,greek1 swear by his good deeds1 and exhibit ,greek1 a life deserving belief1 as ,clemens ,alex4 saith3 so that no man should desire more from him than his bare assertion2 but willingly should yield him the privilege which the ,athenians granted to ,xenocrates1 that he should testify without swearing4 ,he should be like the ,essenes1 of whom ,josephus saith1 that everything spoken by them was more valid than an oath2 whence they declined swearing4 ,he should so much confide in his own veracity and fidelity1 and so much stand upon them1 that he should not deign to offer any pledge for them1 implying them to want confirmation4 ,he should1 as ,st4 ,jerome saith1 so love truth1 that he should suppose himself to have sworn whatsoever he hath said2 and therefore should not be apt to heap another oath on his words4 ,upon such accounts common reason directed even pagan wise men wholly to interdict swearing in ordinary conversation1 or about petty matters1 as an irrational and immoral practice1 unworthy of sober and discreet persons4 ,forbear swearing about any matter1 said ,plato1 cited by ,clem4 ,alex4 ,avoid swearing1 if you can1 wholly1 said ,epictetus4 ,for money swear by no god1 though you swear truly1 said ,socrates4 ,and divers the like precepts occur in other heathens2 the mention whereof may well serve to strike shame into many loose and vain people bearing the name of ,christians4 ,indeed1 for a true and real ,christian1 this practice doth especially in a far higher degree misbecome him1 upon considerations peculiar to his high calling and holy profession4 ,plutarch telleth us that among the ,romans the flamen of ,jupiter was not permitted to swear1 of which law among other reasons he assigned this3 ,because it is not handsome that he to whom divine and greatest things are entrusted should be distrusted about small matters4 ,the which reason may well be applied to excuse every ,christian from it1 who is a priest to the most ,high ,god1 and hath the most celestial and important matters concredited to him2 in comparison to which all other matters are very mean and inconsiderable4 ,the dignity of his rank should render his word verbum honoris1 passable without any further engagement4 ,he hath opinions of things1 he hath undertaken practices inconsistent with swearing4 ,for he that firmly doth believe that ,god is ever present with him1 and auditor and witness of all his discourse2 he that is persuaded that a severe judgment shall pass on him1 wherein he must give an account for every idle word which slippeth from him1 and wherein1 among other offenders1 assuredly liars will be condemned to the burning lake2 he that in a great ,sacrament 7once most solemnly taken1 and frequently renewed7 hath engaged and sworn1 together with all other divine commandments1 to observe those which most expressly do charge him to be exactly just1 faithful1 and veracious in all his words and deeds2 who therefore should be ready to say with ,david1 ,i have sworn1 and am steadfastly purposed to keep thy righteous judgments1 to him every word hath the force of an oath2 every lie1 every breach of promise1 every violation of faith doth involve perjury3 for him to swear is false heraldry1 an impertinent accumulation of one oath upon another2 he of all men should disdain to allow that his words are not perfectly credible1 that his promise is not secure1 without being assured by an oath4 ,,ix4 ,indeed1 the practice of swearing greatly disparageth him that useth it1 and derogateth from his credit upon divers accounts4 ,it signifieth 7if it signifieth anything7 that he doth not confide in his own reputation1 and judgeth his own bare word not to deserve credit3 for why1 if he taketh his word to be good1 doth he back it with asseverations8 why1 if he deemeth his own honesty to bear proof1 doth he cite ,heaven to warrant it8 ,it is1 saith ,st4 ,basil1 a very foul and silly thing for a man to accuse himself as unworthy of belief1 and to proffer an oath for security4 ,by so doing a man doth authorise others to distrust him2 for it can be no wrong to distrust him who doth not pretend to be a credible person1 or that his saying alone may safely be taken3 who1 by suspecting that others are not satisfied with his simple assertion1 implieth a reason known to himself for it4 ,it rendereth whatever he saith to be in reason suspicious1 as discovering him void of conscience and discretion2 for he that flatly against the rules of duty and reason will swear vainly1 what can engage him to speak truly8 ,he that is so loose in so clear and so considerable a point of obedience to ,god1 how can he be supposed staunch in regard to any other8 ,it being1 as ,aristotle hath it1 the part of the same men to do ill things1 and not to regard forswearing4 ,it will at least constrain any man to suspect all his discourse of vanity and unadvisedness1 seeing he plainly hath no care to bridle his tongue from so gross an offence4 ,it is strange1 therefore1 that any man of honour or honesty should not scorn1 by such a practice1 to shake his own credit1 or to detract from the validity of his word2 which should stand firm on itself1 and not want any attestation to support it4 ,it is a privilege of honourable persons that they are excused from swearing1 and that their verbum honoris passeth in lieu of an oath3 is it not then strange1 that when others dispense with them1 they should not dispense with themselves1 but voluntarily degrade themselves1 and with sin forfeit so noble a privilege8 ,x4 ,to excuse these faults1 the swearer will be forced to confess that his oaths are no more than waste and insignificant words1 deprecating being taken for serious1 or to be understood that he meaneth anything by them1 but only that he useth them as expletive phrases1 ,greek1 to plump his speech1 and fill up sentences4 ,but such pleas do no more than suggest other faults of swearing1 and good arguments against it2 its impertinence1 its abuse of speech1 its disgracing the practiser of it in point of judgment and capacity4 ,for so it is1 oaths as they commonly pass are mere excrescences of speech1 which do nothing but encumber and deform it2 they so embellish discourse1 as a wen or a scab do beautify a face1 as a patch or a spot do adorn a garment4 ,to what purpose1 ,i pray1 is ,god's name hooked and haled into our idle talk8 why should we so often mention ,him1 when we do not mean anything about ,him8 would it not1 into every sentence to foist a dog or a horse1 to intrude ,turkish1 or any barbarous gibberish1 be altogether as proper and pertinent8 ,what do these superfluities signify1 but that the venter of them doth little skill the use of speech1 or the rule of conversation1 but meaneth to sputter and prate anything without judgment or wit2 that his invention is very barren1 his fancy beggarly1 craving the aid of any stuff to relieve it8 ,one would think a man of sense should grudge to lend his ear1 or incline his attention to such motley ragged discourse2 that without nauseating he scarce should endure to observe men lavishing time1 and squandering their breath so frivolously4 ',tis an affront to good company to pester it with such talk4 ,,xi4 ,but further1 upon higher accounts this is a very uncivil and unmannerly practice4 ,some vain persons take it for a genteel and graceful thing2 a special accomplishment1 a mark of fine breeding1 a point of high gallantry2 for who1 forsooth1 is the brave spark1 the complete gentleman1 the man of conversation and address1 but he that hath the skill and confidence 7,o heavens6 how mean a skill6 how mad a confidence67 to lard every sentence with an oath or a curse1 making bold at every turn to salute his ,maker1 or to summon ,him in attestation of his tattle2 not to say calling and challenging the ,almighty to damn and destroy him8 ,such a conceit1 ,i say1 too many have of swearing1 because a custom thereof1 together with divers other fond and base qualities1 hath prevailed among some people1 bearing the name and garb of gentlemen4 ,but in truth1 there is no practice more crossing the genuine nature of genteelness1 or misbecoming persons well born and well bred2 who should excel the rude vulgar in goodness1 in courtesy1 in nobleness of heart1 in unwillingness to offend1 and readiness to oblige those with whom they converse1 in steady composedness of mind and manners1 in disdaining to say or do any unworthy1 any unhandsome things4 ,for this practice is not only a gross rudeness toward the main body of men1 who justly reverence the name of ,god1 and detest such an abuse thereof2 not only further an insolent defiance of the common profession1 the religion1 the law of our country1 which disalloweth and condemneth it1 but it is very odious and offensive to any particular society or company1 at least1 wherein there is any sober person1 any who retaineth a sense of goodness1 or is anywise concerned for ,god's honour3 for to any such person no language can be more disgustful2 nothing can more grate his ears1 or fret his heart1 than to hear the sovereign object of his love and esteem so mocked and slighted2 to see the law of his ,prince so disloyally infringed1 so contemptuously trampled on2 to find his best ,friend and ,benefactor so outrageously abused4 ,to give him the lie were a compliment1 to spit in his face were an obligation1 in comparison to this usage4 ,wherefore 'tis a wonder that any person of rank1 any that hath in him a spark of ingenuity1 or doth at all pretend to good manners1 should find in his heart or deign to comply with so scurvy a fashion3 a fashion much more befitting the scum of the people than the flower of the gentry2 yea1 rather much below any man endued with a scrap of reason or a grain of goodness4 ,would we bethink ourselves1 modest1 sober1 and pertinent discourse would appear far more generous and masculine than such mad hectoring the ,almighty1 such boisterous insulting over the received laws and general notions of mankind1 such ruffianly swaggering against sobriety and goodness4 ,if gentlemen would regard the virtues of their ancestors1 the founders of their quality--that gallant courage and solid wisdom1 that noble courtesy1 which advanced their families and severed them from the vulgar--this degenerate wantonness and forbidness of language would return to the dunghill1 or rather1 which ,god grant1 be quite banished from the world1 the vulgar following their example4 ,,xii4 ,further1 the words of our ,lord1 when ,he forbade this practice1 do suggest another consideration against it1 deducible from the causes and sources of it2 from whence it cometh1 that men are so inclined or addicted thereto4 ,let1 saith ,he1 your communication be ,yea1 yea1 ,nay1 nay2 for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil4 ,the roots of it1 ,he assureth us1 are evil1 and therefore the fruit cannot be good3 it is no grape which groweth from thorns1 or fig from thistles4 ,consult experience1 and observe whence it doth proceed4 ,sometimes it ariseth from exorbitant heats of spirit1 or transports of unbridled passion4 ,when a man is keenly peevish1 or fiercely angry1 or eagerly contentious1 then he blustereth1 and dischargeth his choler in most tragical strains2 then he would fright the objects of his displeasure by the most violent expressions thereof4 ,this is sometime alleged in excuse of rash swearing3 ,i was provoked1 the swearer will say1 ,i was in passion2 but it is strange that a bad cause should justify a bad effect1 that one crime should warrant another1 that what would spoil a good action should excuse a bad one4 ,sometimes it proceedeth from arrogant conceit1 and a tyrannical humour2 when a man fondly admireth his own opinion1 and affecting to impose it on others1 is thence moved to thwack it on with lusty asseverations4 ,sometimes it issueth from wantonness and levity of mind1 disposing a man to sport with anything1 how serious1 how grave1 how sacred and venerable soever4 ,sometimes its rise is from stupid inadvertency1 or heady precipitancy2 when the man doth not heed what he saith1 or consider the nature and consequence of his words1 but snatcheth any expression which cometh next1 or which his roving fancy doth offer1 for want of that caution of the psalmist1 ,i said1 ,i will take heed to my ways1 that ,i sin not with my tongue2 ,i will keep my mouth with a bridle1 while the wicked is before me4 ,sometimes 7alas6 how often in this miserable age67 it doth spring from profane boldness2 when men design to put affronts on religion1 and to display their scorn and spite against conscience1 affecting the reputation of stout blades1 of gallant hectors1 of resolute giants1 who dare do anything1 who are not afraid to defy ,heaven1 and brave ,god ,almighty ,himself4 ,sometimes it is derived from apish imitation1 or a humour to comply with a fashion current among vain and dissolute persons4 ,it always doth come from a great defect in conscience1 of reverence to ,god1 of love to goodness1 of discretion and sober regard to the welfare of a man's soul4 ,from such evidently vicious and unworthy sources it proceedeth1 and therefore must needs be very culpable4 ,no good1 no wise man can like actions drawn from such principles4 ,further-- ,,xiii4 ,this offence may be particularly aggravated by considering that it hath no strong temptation alluring to it1 that it yieldeth no sensible advantage1 that it most easily may be avoided or corrected4 ,every sin1 saith ,st4 ,chrysostom1 hath not the same punishment2 but those things which may easily be reformed do bring on us greater punishment3 and what can be more easy than to reform this fault8 ,tell me1 saith he1 what difficulty1 what sweat1 what art1 what hazard1 what more doth it require beside a little care to abstain wholly from it8 ,it is but willing1 or resolving on it1 and it is instantly done2 for there is not any natural inclination disposing to it1 any strong appetite to detain us under its power4 ,it gratifieth no sense1 it yieldeth no profit1 it procureth no honour2 for the sound of it is not very melodious1 and no man surely did ever get an estate by it1 or was preferred to dignity for it4 ,it rather to any good ear maketh a horrid and jarring noise2 it rather with the best part of the world produceth displeasure1 damage1 and disgrace4 ,what therefore1 beside monstrous vanity and unaccountable perverseness1 should hold men so devoted thereto8 ,surely of all dealers in sin the swearer is palpably the silliest1 and maketh the worst bargains for himself1 for he sinneth gratis1 and1 like those in the prophet1 selleth his soul for nothing4 ,an epicure hath some reason to allege1 an extortioner is a man of wisdom1 and acteth prudently in comparison to him2 for they enjoy some pleasure1 or acquire some gain here1 in lieu of their salvation hereafter1 but this fondling offendeth ,heaven1 and abandoneth happiness1 he knoweth not why or for what4 ,he hath not so much as the common plea of human infirmity to excuse him2 he can hardly say that he was tempted thereto by any bait4 ,a fantastic humour possesseth him of spurning at piety and soberness2 he inconsiderately followeth a herd of wild fops1 he affecteth to play the ape4 ,what more than this can he say for himself8 ,,xiv4 ,finally1 let us consider that as we ourselves1 with all our members and powers1 were chiefly designed and framed to glorify our ,maker1 the which to do is indeed the greatest perfection and noblest privilege of our nature1 so our tongue and speaking faculty were given to us to declare our admiration and reverence of ,him1 to exhibit our due love and gratitude toward ,him1 to profess our trust and confidence in ,him1 to celebrate ,his praises1 to avow ,his benefits1 to address our supplications to ,him1 to maintain all kinds of devotional intercourse with ,him1 to propagate our knowledge1 fear1 love1 and obedience to ,him1 in all such ways to promote ,his honour and service4 ,this is the most proper1 worthy1 and due use of our tongue1 for which it was created1 to which it is dedicated1 from whence it becometh1 as it is so often styled1 our glory1 and the best member that we have2 that whereby we excel all creatures here below1 and whereby we are no less discriminated from them1 than by our reason2 that whereby we consort with the blessed angels above in the distinct utterance of praise and communication of glory to our ,creator4 ,wherefore1 applying this to any impious discourse with which to profane ,god's blessed name1 with this to violate ,his holy commands1 with this to unhallow ,his sacred ordinance1 with this to offer dishonour and indignity to ,him1 is a most unnatural abuse1 a horrid ingratitude toward ,him4 ,it is that indeed whereby we render this noble organ incapable of any good use4 ,for how1 as the excellent father doth often urge1 can we pray to ,god for mercies1 or praise ,god for ,his benefits1 or heartily confess our sins1 or cheerfully partake of the holy mysteries1 with a mouth defiled by impious oaths1 with a heart guilty of so heinous disobedience4 ,likewise1 whereas a secondary very worthy use of our speech is to promote the good of our neighbour1 and especially to edify him in piety1 according to that wholesome precept of the ,apostle1 ,let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth1 but that which is good to the use of edifying1 that it may administer grace unto the hearers4 ,the practice of swearing is an abuse very contrary to that good purpose1 serving to corrupt our neighbour1 and to instil into him a contempt of religion2 or however grievously to scandalise him4 ,,xv4 ,i shall add but two words more4 ,one is1 that we would seriously consider that our ,blessed ,saviour1 who loved us so dearly1 who did and suffered so much for us1 who redeemed us by ,his blood1 who said unto us1 ,if ye love ,me1 keep ,my commandments1 ,he thus positively hath enjoined1 ,but ,i say unto you1 ,swear not at all2 and how then can we find in our heart directly to thwart ,his word4 ,the other is1 that we would lay to heart the reason whereby ,st4 ,james doth enforce the point1 and the sting in the close of our text1 wherewith ,i conclude3 ,but above all things1 my brethren1 swear not1 neither by heaven1 neither by the earth1 neither by any other oath2 but let your yea be yea1 and your nay nay1 lest ye fall into condemnation1 or1 lest ye fall under damnation4 ,from the which infinite mischief1 and from all sin that may cause it1 ,god in mercy deliver us through our ,blessed ,redeemer ,jesus1 to whom for ever be all glory and praise4 ,,of ,,evil-,,speaking ,,in ,,general4 ,to speak evil of no man4--,titus iii4 #b4 ,these words do imply a double duty2 one incumbent on teachers1 another on the people who are to be instructed by them4 ,the teacher's duty appeareth from reflecting on the words of the context1 which govern these1 and make them up an entire sentence3 put them in mind1 or1 rub up their memory to do thus4 ,it is ,st4 ,paul's injunction to ,titus1 a bishop and pastor of the ,church1 that he should admonish the people committed to his care and instruction1 as of other great duties 7of yielding obedience to magistrates1 of behaving themselves peaceably1 of practising meekness and equity towards all men1 of being readily disposed to every good work71 so particularly of this1 ,greek1 to revile or speak evil of no man4 ,whence it is apparent that this is one of the principal duties that preachers are obliged to mind people of1 and to press upon them4 ,and if this were needful then1 when charity1 kindled by such instructions and examples1 was so lively2 when ,christians1 by their sufferings1 were so inured to meekness and patience2 even every one1 for the honour of his religion1 and the safety of his person1 was concerned in all respects to demean himself innocently and inoffensively2 then is it now especially requisite1 when 7such engagements and restraints being taken off1 love being cooled1 persecution being extinct1 the tongue being set loose from all extraordinary curbs7 the transgression of this duty is grown so prevalent and rife1 that evil-speaking is almost as common as speaking1 ordinary conversation extremely abounding therewith1 that ministers should discharge their office in dehorting and dissuading from it4 ,well indeed it were1 if by their example of using mild and moderate discourse1 of abstaining from virulent invectives1 tauntings1 and scoffings1 good for little but to inflame anger1 and infuse ill- will1 they would lead men to good practice of this sort3 for no examples can be so wholesome1 or so mischievous to this purpose1 as those which come down from the pulpit1 the place of edification1 backed with special authority and advantage4 ,however1 it is to preachers a ground of assurance and matter of satisfaction1 that in pressing this duty they shall perform their duty3 their text being not so much of their own choosing1 as given them by ,st4 ,paul2 they can surely scarce find a better to discourse upon3 it cannot be a matter of small moment or use1 which this great master and guide so expressly directeth us to insist upon4 ,and to the observance of his precept1 so far as concerneth me1 ,i shall immediately apply myself4 ,it is then the duty of all ,christian people 7to be taught and pressed on them7 not to reproach1 or speak evil of any man4 ,the which duty1 for your instruction1 ,i shall first endeavour somewhat to explain1 declaring its import and extent2 then1 for your further edification1 ,i shall inculcate it1 proposing several inducements persuasive to the observance of it4 ,i4 ,for explication1 we may first consider the object of it1 no man2 then the act itself1 which is prohibited1 to blaspheme1 that is1 to reproach1 to revile1 or 7as we have it rendered7 to speak evil4 ,no man4 ,st4 ,paul questionless did especially mean hereby to hinder the ,christians at that time from reproaching the ,jews and the pagans among whom they lived1 men in their lives very wicked and corrupt1 men in opinion extremely dissenting from them1 men who greatly did hate1 and cruelly did persecute them2 of whom therefore they had mighty provocations and temptations to speak ill2 their judgment of the persons1 and their resentment of injuries1 making it difficult to abstain from doing so4 ,whence by a manifest analogy may be inferred that the object of duty is very large1 indeed universal and unlimited3 that we must forbear reproach not only against pious and virtuous persons1 against persons of our own judgment or party1 against those who never did harm or offend us1 against our relations1 our friends1 our benefactors1 in respect of whom there is no ground or temptation of evil-speaking2 but even against the most unworthy and wicked persons1 against those who most differ in opinion and practice from us1 against those who never did oblige us1 yea1 those who have most disobliged us1 even against our most bitter and spiteful enemies4 ,there is no exception or excuse to be admitted from the quality1 state1 relation1 or demeanour of men2 the duty 7according to the proper sense1 or due qualifications and limits of the act7 doth extend to all men3 for1 ,speak evil of no man4 ,as for the act1 it may be inquired what the word ,greek 7to blaspheme7 doth import4 ,i answer1 that it is to vent words concerning any person which do signify in us ill-opinion1 or contempt1 anger1 hatred1 enmity conceived in our minds towards him2 which are apt in him to kindle wrath1 and breed ill-blood towards us2 which tend to beget in others that hear ill-conceit or ill-will towards him2 which are much destructive of his reputation1 prejudicial to his interests1 productive of damage or mischief to him4 ,it is otherwise in ,scripture termed ,greek1 to rail or revile1 7to use bitter and ignominious language72 ,greek1 to speak contumeliously2 ,greek1 to bring railing accusation 7or reproachful censure72 ,greek1 to use obloquy1 or detraction2 ,greek1 to curse1 that is1 to speak words importing that we do wish ill to a person4 ,such is the language we are prohibited to use4 ,to which purpose we may observe that whereas1 in our conversation and commerce with men1 there do frequently often occur occasions to speak of men and to men words apparently disadvantageous to them1 expressing our dissent in opinion from them1 or a dislike in us of their proceedings1 we may do this in different ways and terms2 some of them gentle and moderate1 signifying no ill mind or disaffection towards them2 others harsh and sharp1 arguing height of disdain1 disgust1 or despite1 whereby we bid them defiance1 and show that we mean to exasperate them4 ,thus1 telling a man that we differ in judgment from him1 or conceive him not to be in the right1 and calling him a liar1 a deceiver1 a fool1 saying that he doeth amiss1 taketh a wrong course1 transgresseth the rule1 and calling him dishonest1 unjust1 wicked1 to omit more odious and provoking names1 unbecoming this place1 and not deserving our notice1 are several ways of expressing the same things whereof the latter1 in relating passages concerning our neighbour1 or in debating cases with him1 is prohibited3 for thus the words reproaching1 reviling1 railing1 cursing1 and the like do signify1 and thus our ,lord ,himself doth explain them in ,his divine sermon1 wherein he doth enact this law3 ,whosoever1 saith ,he1 shall say to his brother1 ,raca 7that is1 vain man1 or liar71 shall be in danger of the council2 but whosoever shall say1 ,thou fool1 shall be in danger of hell-fire2 that is1 he rendereth himself liable to a strict account1 and to severe condemnation before ,god1 who useth contemptuous and contumelious expressions towards his neighbour1 in proportion to the malignity of such expressions4 ,the reason of things also doth help to explain those words1 and to show why they are prohibited because those harsh terms are needless1 mild words serving as well to express the same things3 because they are commonly unjust1 loading men with greater defect or blame than they can be proved to deserve1 or their actions do import2 for every man that speaketh falsehood is not therefore a liar1 every man that erreth is not thence a fool1 every man that doeth amiss is not consequently dishonest or wicked2 the secret intentions and habitual dispositions of men not being always to be collected from their outward actions2 because they are uncharitable1 signifying that we entertain the worst opinions of men1 and make the worst construction of their doings1 and are disposed to show them no favour or kindness3 because1 also1 they produce mischievous effects1 such as spring from the worst passions raised by them4 ,this in gross is the meaning of the precept4 ,but since there are some other precepts seeming to clash with this2 since there are cases wherein we are allowed to use the harsher sort of terms1 there are great examples in appearance thwarting this rule2 therefore it may be requisite for determining the limits of our duty1 and distinguishing it from transgression1 that such exceptions or restrictions should be somewhat declared4 #a4 ,first1 then1 we may observe that it may be allowable to persons in anywise concerned in the prosecution or administration of justice1 to speak words which in private intercourse would be reproachful4 ,a witness may impeach of crimes hurtful to justice1 or public tranquillity2 a judge may challenge1 may rebuke1 may condemn an offender in proper terms 7or forms of speech prescribed by law71 although most disgraceful and distasteful to the guilty3 for it belongeth to the majesty of public justice to be bold1 blunt1 severe2 little regarding the concerns or passions of particular persons1 in comparison to the public welfare4 ,a testimony1 therefore1 or sentence against a criminal1 which materially is a reproach1 and morally would be such in a private mouth1 is not yet formally so according to the intent of this rule4 ,for practices of this kind1 which serve the exigencies of justice1 are not to be interpreted as proceeding from anger1 hatred1 revenge1 any bad passion or humour2 but in way of needful discipline for ,god's service1 and common benefit of men4 ,it is not1 indeed1 so much the minister of justice1 as ,god ,himself1 our absolute ,lord2 as the ,sovereign1 ,god's representative1 acting in the public behalf2 as the commonwealth itself1 who by ,his mouth do rebuke the obnoxious person4 #b4 ,god's ministers in religious affairs1 to whom the care of men's instruction and edification is committed1 are enabled to inveigh against sin and vice1 whoever consequentially may be touched thereby3 yea1 sometimes it is their duty with severity and sharpness to reprove particular persons1 not only privately1 but publicly1 for their correction1 and for the edification of others4 ,thus ,st4 ,paul directeth ,timothy3 ,them that sin 7notoriously and scandalously1 he meaneth71 rebuke before all1 that others may fear3 that is1 in a manner apt to make impression on the minds of the hearers1 so as to scare them from like offences4 ,and to ,titus he writes1 ,rebuke them sharply1 that they may be found in the faith4 ,and1 ,cry aloud1 spare not1 lift up thy voice like a trumpet1 and show my people their transgressions1 and the house of ,jacob their sins1 saith the ,lord to the prophet4 ,such are the charges and commissions laid on and granted to ,his messengers4 ,thus we may observe that ,god's prophets of old1 ,st4 ,john the ,baptist1 our ,lord ,himself1 the holy apostles did in terms most vehement and biting reprove the age in which they lived1 and some particular persons in them4 ,the prophets are full of declamations and invectives against the general corruption of their times1 and against the particular manners of some persons in them4 ,ah1 sinful nation2 people laden with iniquity1 a seed of evil-doers1 children that are corrupters6 ,they are all adulterers1 an assembly of treacherous men2 and they bend their tongues like their bow for lies4 ,thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves2 every one loveth gifts1 and followeth after rewards3 they judge not the fatherless1 neither doth the cause of the widow come before them4 ,the prophets prophesy falsely1 and the priests rule by their means4 ,as troops of robbers wait for a man1 so the company of priests murder in the way by consent1 and commit lewdness4 ,such is their style commonly4 ,st4 ,john the ,baptist calleth the ,scribes and ,pharisees a generation of vipers4 ,our ,saviour speaketh of them in the same terms2 calleth them an evil and adulterous generation1 serpents1 and children of vipers4 ,hypocrites1 painted sepulchres1 obscure graves 7,greek71 blind guides2 fools and blind1 children of the devil4 ,st4 ,paul likewise calleth the schismatical heretical teachers dogs1 false apostles1 evil and deceitful workers1 men of corrupt minds1 reprobates and abominable4 ,with the like colours do ,st4 ,peter1 ,st4 ,jude1 and other apostles paint them4 ,which sort of speeches are to be supposed to proceed1 not from private passion or design1 but out of holy zeal for ,god's honour1 and from earnest charity towards men1 for to work their amendment and common edification4 ,they were uttered also by special wisdom and peculiar order2 from ,god's authority1 and in ,his name2 so that1 as ,god by them is said to preach1 to entreat1 to warn1 and to exhort1 so by them also ,he may be said to reprehend and reproach4 #c4 ,even private persons in due season1 with discretion and temper1 may reprove others1 whom they observe to commit sin1 or follow bad courses1 out of charitable design1 and with hope to reclaim them4 ,this was an office of charity imposed anciently even upon the ,jews2 much more doth it lie upon ,christians1 who are obliged more earnestly to tender the spiritual good of those who by the stricter and more holy bands of brotherhood are allied to them4 ,thou shalt not hate thy brother2 thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour1 and not suffer sin upon him1 was a precept of the old law3 and1 ,greek1 to admonish the disorderly1 is an evangelical rule4 ,such persons we are enjoined to shun and decline2 but first we must endeavour by sober advice and admonition to reclaim them2 we must not thus reject them till they appear contumacious and incorrigible1 refusing to hear us1 or becoming deaf to reproof4 ,this1 although it necessarily doth include setting out their faults1 and charging blame on them 7answerable to their offences71 is not the culpable reproach here meant1 it being needful towards a wholesome effect1 and proceeding from charitable intention4 #d4 ,some vehemency1 some smartness and sharpness of speech may sometimes be used in defence of truth1 and impugning errors of bad consequence2 especially when it concerneth the interest of truth1 that the reputation and authority of its adversaries should somewhat be abased or abated4 ,if by partial opinion or reverence towards them1 however begotten in the minds of men1 they strive to overbear or discountenance a good cause1 their faults 7so far as truth permitteth and need requireth7 may be detected and displayed4 ,for this cause particularly may we presume our ,lord 7otherwise so meek in ,his temper1 and mild in ,his carriage towards all men7 did characterise the ,jewish scribes in such terms1 that their authority1 being then so prevalent with the people1 might not prejudice the truth1 and hinder the efficacy of ,his doctrine4 ,this is part of that ,greek1 that duty of contending earnestly for the faith1 which is incumbent on us4 #e4 ,it may be excusable upon particular emergent occasions1 with some heat of language to express dislike of notorious wickedness4 ,as our ,lord doth against the perverse incredulity and stupidity in the ,pharisees1 their profane misconstruction of ,his words and actions1 their malicious opposing truth1 and obstructing ,his endeavours in ,god's service4 ,as ,st4 ,peter did to ,simon ,magus1 telling him that he was in the gall of bitterness1 and in the bond of iniquity4 ,as ,st4 ,paul to ,elymas the sorcerer1 when he withstood him1 and desired to turn away the ,deputy ,sergius from the faith2 ,o1 said he1 stirred with a holy zeal and indignation1 thou full of all subtilty and all mischief1 thou child of the devil1 thou enemy of all righteousness1 wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the ,lord8 ,the same spirit which enabled him to inflict a sore punishment on that wicked wretch1 did prompt him to use that sharp language towards him2 unquestionably deserved1 and seasonably pronounced4 ,as also when the high priest commanded him illegally and unjustly to be misused1 that speech from a mind justly sensible of such outrage broke forth1 ,god shall smite thee1 thou whited wall4 ,so when ,st4 ,peter presumptuously would have dissuaded our ,lord from compliance with ,god's will1 in undergoing those crosses which were appointed to ,him by ,god's decree1 our ,lord calleth him ,satan2 4 4 4 4 ,greek1 ,avaunt1 ,satan1 thou art an offence unto ,me2 for thou savourest not the things that be of ,god1 but those that are of men4 ,these sort of speeches1 issuing from just and honest indignation1 are sometimes excusable1 oftentimes commendable2 especially when they come from persons eminent in authority1 of notable integrity1 endued with special measures of ,divine grace1 of wisdom1 of goodness2 such as cannot be suspected of intemperate anger1 of ill- nature1 of ill-will1 or of ill-design4 ,in such cases as are above mentioned1 a sort of evil-speaking about our neighbour may be allowable or excusable4 ,but1 for fear of overdoing1 great caution and temper is to be used2 and we should never apply any such limitations as cloaks to palliate unjust or uncharitable dealing4 ,generally it is more advisable to suppress such eruptions of passion than to vent it2 for seldom passion hath not inordinate motions joined with it1 or tendeth to good ends4 ,and1 however1 it will do well to reflect on those cases1 and to remark some particulars about them4 ,first1 we may observe that in all these cases all possible moderation1 equity1 and candour are to be used2 so that no ill- speaking be practised beyond what is needful or convenient4 ,even in prosecution of offences1 the bounds of truth1 of equity1 of humanity and clemency are not to be transgressed4 ,a judge must not lay on the most criminal person more blame or contumely than the case will bear1 or than serveth the designs of justice4 ,however our neighbour doth incur the calamities of sin and of punishment1 we must not be insolent or contemptuous towards him4 ,so we may learn by that law of ,moses1 backed with a notable reason3 ,and it shall be1 if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten1 that the judge cause him to lie down1 and to be beaten before his face1 according to his fault by a certain number4 ,forty stripes he may give him1 and not exceed2 lest if he should exceed1 and beat him above those stripes1 then thy brother should seem vile unto thee4 ,whence appears that we should be careful of not vilifying an offender beyond measure4 ,and how mildly governors should proceed in the administration of justice1 the example of ,joshua may teach us1 who thus examineth ,achan1 the cause of so great mischief to the public3 ,my son1 give1 ,i pray thee1 glory to the ,lord ,god of ,israel1 and make confession unto ,him2 and tell me now what thou hast done1 and hide it not from me4 ,my son2 what compellation could be more benign and kind8 ,i pray thee2 what language could be more courteous and gentle8 give glory to ,god1 and make confession2 what words could be more inoffensively pertinent8 ,and when he sentenced that great malefactor1 the cause of so much mischief1 this was all he said1 ,why hast thou troubled us8 the ,lord will trouble thee2 words void of contumely or insulting1 containing only a close intimation of the cause1 and a simple declaration of the event he was to undergo4 ,secondly1 likewise ministers1 in the taxing sin and sinners1 are to proceed with great discretion and caution1 with much gentleness and meekness2 signifying a tender pity of their infirmities1 charitable desires for their good1 the best opinion of them1 and the best hopes for them1 that may consist with any reason2 according to those apostolical rules3 ,brethren1 if a man be overtaken in a fault1 ye which are spiritual1 restore such an one in the spirit of meekness2 considering thyself1 lest thou also be tempted2 and1 ,we that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak1 and not to please ourselves3 and1 more expressly1 ,a servant of the ,lord must not fight1 but be gentle toward all1 apt to teach1 patient1 in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves4 ,thus did ,st4 ,peter temper his reproof of ,simon ,magus with this wholesome and comfortable advice3 ,repent1 therefore1 from this thy wickedness1 and pray ,god if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee4 ,thirdly1 as for fraternal censure and reproof of faults 7when it is just and expedient to use it71 ordinarily the calmest and mildest way is the most proper1 and most likely to obtain good success2 it commonly doth in a more kindly manner convey the sense thereof into the heart1 and therein more powerfully worketh remorse1 than the fierce and harsh way4 ,clearly to show a man his fault1 with the reason proving it such1 so that he becometh thoroughly convinced of it1 is sufficient to breed in him regret1 and to shame him before his own mind3 to do more 7in way of aggravation1 of insulting on him1 of inveighing against him71 as it doth often not well consist with humanity1 so it is seldom consonant to discretion1 if we do1 as we ought1 seek his health and amendment4 ,humanity requireth that when we undertake to reform our neighbour1 we should take care not to deform him 7not to discourage or displease him more than is necessary72 when we would correct his manners1 that we should also consider his modesty1 and consult his reputation2 curam agentes1 as ,seneca speaketh1 non tantum salutis1 sed et honestae cicatricis 7having care not only to heal the wound1 but to leave a comely scar behind74 ,be1 adviseth ,st4 ,austin1 so displeased with iniquity1 as to consider and consult humanity2 for1 ,zeal void of humanity is not1 saith ,st4 ,chrysostom1 zeal1 but rather animosity2 and reproof not mixed with good-will appeareth a kind of malignity4 ,we should so rebuke those who1 by frailty or folly incident to mankind1 have fallen into misdemeanours1 that they may perceive we do sincerely pity their ill case1 and tender their good2 that we mean not to upbraid their weakness or insult upon their misfortune2 that we delight not to inflict on them more grief than is plainly needful and unavoidable2 that we are conscious and sensible of our own obnoxiousness to the like slips or falls1 and do consider that we also may be tempted1 and being tempted1 may be overborne4 ,this they cannot perceive or be persuaded of1 except we temper our speech with benignity and mildness4 ,such speech prudence also dictateth1 as most useful and hopeful for producing the good ends honest reprehension doth aim at2 it mollifieth and it melteth a stubborn heart1 it subdueth and winneth a perverse will1 it healeth distempered affections4 ,whereas roughly handling is apt to defeat or obstruct the cure3 rubbing the sore doth tend to exasperate and inflame it4 ,harsh speech rendereth advice odious and unsavoury2 driveth from it and depriveth it of efficacy2 it turneth regret for a fault into displeasure and disdain against the reprover2 it looks not like the dealing of a kind friend1 but like the persecution of a spiteful enemy2 it seemeth rather an ebullition of gall1 or a defluxion from rancour1 than an expression of good-will2 the offender will take it for a needless and pitiless tormenting1 or for a proud and tyrannical domineering over him4 ,he that can bear a friendly touch1 will not endure to be lashed with angry and reproachful words4 ,in fine1 all reproof ought to be seasoned with discretion1 with candour1 with moderation1 and meekness4 ,fourthly1 likewise in defence of truth1 and maintenance of a good cause1 we may observe that commonly the fairest language is most proper and advantageous1 and that reproachful or foul terms are most improper and prejudicial4 ,a calm and meek way of discoursing doth much advantage a good cause1 as arguing the patron thereof to have confidence in the cause itself1 and to rely upon his strength3 that he is in a temper fit to apprehend it himself1 and to maintain it2 that he propoundeth it as a friend1 wishing the hearer for his own good to follow it1 leaving him the liberty to judge1 and choose for himself4 ,but rude speech1 and contemptuous reflections on persons1 as they do signify nothing to the question1 so they commonly bring much disadvantage and damage to the cause1 creating mighty prejudices against it2 they argue much impotency in the advocate1 and consequently little strength in what he maintains2 that he is little able to judge well1 and altogether unapt to teach others2 they intimate a diffidence in himself concerning his cause1 and that1 despairing to maintain it by reason1 he seeks to uphold it by passion2 that not being able to convince by fair means1 he would bear down by noise and clamour3 that not skilling to get his suit quietly1 he would extort it by force1 obtruding his conceits violently as an enemy1 or imposing them arbitrarily as a tyrant4 ,thus doth he really disparage and slur his cause1 however good and defensible in itself4 ,a modest and friendly style doth suit truth2 it1 like its author1 doth usually reside 7not in the rumbling wind1 nor in the shaking earthquake1 nor in the raging fire1 but7 in the small still voice2 sounding in this1 it is most audible1 most penetrant1 and most effectual2 thus propounded1 it is willingly hearkened to3 for men have no aversion from hearing those who seem to love them1 and wish them well4 ,it is easily conceived1 no prejudice or passion clouding the apprehensive faculties2 it is readily embraced1 no animosity withstanding or obstructing it4 ,it is the sweetness of the lips1 which1 as the wise man telleth us1 increaseth learning2 disposing a man to hear lessons of good doctrine1 rendering him capable to understand them1 insinuating and impressing them upon the mind2 the affections being thereby unlocked1 the passage becomes open to the reason4 ,but it is plainly a preposterous method of instructing1 of deciding controversies1 of begetting peace1 to vex and anger those concerned by ill language4 ,nothing surely doth more hinder the efficacy of discourse1 and prevent conviction1 than doth this course1 upon many obvious accounts4 ,it doth first put in a strong bar to attention3 for no man willingly doth afford an ear to him whom he conceiveth disaffected towards him3 which opinion harsh words infallibly will produce2 no man can expect to hear truth from him whom he apprehendeth disordered in his own mind1 whom he seeth rude in his proceedings1 whom he taketh to be unjust in his dealing2 as men certainly will take those to be1 who presume to revile others for using their own judgment freely1 and dissenting from them in opinion4 ,again1 this course doth blind the hearer's mind1 so that he cannot discern what he that pretends to instruct him doth mean1 or how he doth assert his doctrine4 ,truth will not be discerned through the smoke of wrathful expressions2 right being defaced by foul language will not appear1 passion being excited will not suffer a man to perceive the sense or the force of an argument4 ,the will also thereby is hardened and hindered from submitting to truth4 ,in such a case1 non persuadebis1 etiamsi persuaseris2 although you stop his mouth1 you cannot subdue his heart2 although he can no longer fight1 yet he never will yield3 animosity raised by such usage rendereth him invincibly obstinate in his conceits and courses4 ,briefly1 from this proceeding men become unwilling to mark1 unfit to apprehend1 indisposed to embrace any good instruction or advice2 it maketh them indocile and intractable1 averse from better instruction1 pertinacious in their opinions1 and refractory in their ways4 ,every man1 saith the wise man1 shall kiss his lips that giveth a right answer2 but no man surely will be ready to kiss those lips which are embittered with reproach1 or defiled with dirty language4 ,it is said of ,pericles1 that with thundering and lightning he put ,greece into confusion2 such discourse may serve to confound things1 it seldom tendeth to compose them4 ,if reason will not pierce1 rage will scarce avail to drive it in4 ,satirical virulency may vex men sorely1 but it hardly ever soundly converts them4 ,few become wiser or better by ill words4 ,children may be frightened into compliance by loud and severe reprimands2 but men are to be allured by rational persuasion backed with courteous usage2 they may be sweetly drawn1 they cannot be violently driven to change their judgment and practice4 ,whence that advice of the apostle1 ,with meekness instruct those that oppose themselves1 doth no less savour of wisdom than of goodness4 ,fifthly1 as for examples of extraordinary persons1 which in some cases do seem to authorise the practice of evil-speaking1 we may consider that1 as they had especial commission enabling them to do some things beyond ordinary standing rules1 wherein they are not to be imitated3 as they had especial illumination and direction1 which preserved them from swerving in particular cases from truth and equity2 so the tenor of their life did evidence that it was the glory of ,god1 the good of men1 the necessity of the case1 which moved them to it4 ,and of them also we may observe1 that on divers occasions 7yea1 generally1 whenever only their private credit or interest was concerned71 although grievously provoked1 they did out of meekness1 patience1 and charity1 wholly forbear reproachful speech4 ,our ,saviour1 who sometimes upon special reason in ,his discourses used such harsh words1 yet when ,he was most spitefully accused1 reproached1 and persecuted1 did not open ,his mouth1 or return one angry word3 ,being reviled1 ,he did not1 as ,st4 ,peter1 proposing ,his example to us1 telleth us1 revile again2 suffering1 ,he did not threaten4 ,he used the softest language to ,judas1 to the soldiers1 to ,pilate and ,herod1 to the priests1 etc4 ,and the apostles1 who sometimes inveigh so zealously against the opposers and perverters of truth1 did in their private conversation and demeanour strictly observe their own rules1 of abstinence from reproach3 ,being reviled1 we bless2 being persecuted1 we suffer it2 so doth ,st4 ,paul represent their practice4 ,and in reason we should rather follow them in this their ordinary course1 than in their extraordinary sallies of practice4 ,in fine1 however in some cases and circumstances the matter may admit such exceptions1 so that all language disgraceful to our neighbour is not ever culpable2 yet the cases are so few and rare in comparison1 the practice commonly so dangerous and ticklish1 that worthily forbearing to reproach doth bear the style of a general rule2 and particularly 7for clearer direction7 we are in the following cases obliged carefully to shun it2 or in speaking about our neighbour we must observe these cautions4 #a4 ,we should never in severe terms inveigh against any man without reasonable warrant1 or presuming upon a good call and commission thereto4 ,as every man should not assume to himself the power of administering justice 7of trying1 sentencing1 and punishing offenders71 so must not every man take upon him to speak against those who seem to do ill2 which is a sort of punishment1 including the infliction of smart and damage upon the persons concerned4 ,every man hath indeed a commission1 in due place and season1 with discretion and moderation to admonish his neighbour offending2 but otherwise to speak ill of him1 no private man hath just right or authority1 and therefore1 in presuming to do it1 he is disorderly and irregular1 trespassing beyond his bounds1 usurping an undue power to himself4 #b4 ,we should never speak ill of any man without apparent just cause4 ,it must be just2 we must not reproach men for things innocent or indifferent2 for not concurring in disputable opinions with us1 for not complying with our humour1 for not serving our interest1 for not doing anything to which they are not obliged1 or for using their liberty in any case3 it must be at least some considerable fault1 which we can so much as tax4 ,it must also be clear and certain1 notorious and palpable2 for to speak ill upon slender conjectures1 or doubtful suspicions1 is full of iniquity4 ,greek1 ,they rail at things which they know not1 is part of those wicked men's character1 whom ,st4 ,jude doth so severely reprehend4 ,if1 indeed1 these conditions being wanting1 we presume to reproach any man1 we do therein no less than slander him2 which to do is unlawful in any case1 is in truth a most diabolical and detestable crime4 ,to impose odious names and characters on any person1 which he deserveth not1 or without ground of truth1 is to play the devil2 and hell itself scarce will own a fouler practice4 #c4 ,we should not cast reproach upon any man without some necessary reason4 ,in charity 7that charity which covereth all sins1 which covereth a multitude of sins7 we are bound to connive at the defects1 and to conceal the faults of our brethren2 to extenuate and excuse them1 when apparent1 so far as we may in truth and equity4 ,we must not therefore ever produce them to light1 or prosecute them with severity1 except very needful occasion urgeth--such as is the glory and service of ,god1 the maintenance of truth1 the vindication of innocence1 the preservation of public justice and peace2 the amendment of our neighbour himself1 or securing others from contagion4 ,barring such reasons 7really being1 not affectedly pretended71 we are bound not so much as to disclose1 as to touch our neighbour's faults2 much more1 not to blaze them about1 not to exaggerate them by vehement invectives4 #d4 ,we should never speak ill of any man beyond measure2 be the cause never so just1 the occasion never so necessary1 we should yet nowise be immoderate therein1 exceeding the bounds prescribed by truth1 equity1 and humanity4 ,we should never speak worse of any man whatever than he certainly deserveth1 according to the most favourable construction of his doings2 never more than the cause absolutely requireth4 ,we should rather be careful to fall short of what in rigorous truth might be said against him1 than in the least to pass beyond it4 ,the best cause had better seem to suffer a little by our reservedness in its defence1 than any man be wronged by our aspersing him2 for ,god1 the patron of truth and right1 is ever able to secure them without the succour of our unjust and uncharitable dealing4 ,the contrary practice hath indeed within it a spice of slander1 that is1 of the worst iniquity4 #e4 ,we must never speak ill of any man out of bad principles1 or for bad ends4 ,no sudden or rash anger should instigate us thereto4 ,for1 ,let all bitterness1 and wrath1 and anger1 and clamour1 and evil-speaking be put away from you1 with all malice1 is the apostolical precept2 they are all associates and kindred1 which are to be cast away together4 ,such anger itself is culpable1 as a work of the flesh1 and therefore to be suppressed2 and all its brood therefore is also to be smothered2 the daughter of such a mother cannot be legitimate4 ,the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of ,god4 ,we must not speak ill out of inveterate hatred or ill-will4 ,for this murderous1 this viperous disposition should itself be rooted out of our hearts3 whatever issueth from it cannot be otherwise than very bad2 it must be a poisonous breath that exhaleth from that foul source4 ,we must not be provoked thereto by any revengeful disposition1 or rancorous spleen1 in regard to any injuries or discourtesies received4 ,for1 as we must not revenge ourselves1 or render evil in any other way1 so particularly not in this1 which is commonly the special instance expressly prohibited4 ,render not evil for evil1 saith ,st4 ,peter1 nor railing for railing2 but contrariwise bless1 or speak well2 and ,bless them1 saith the ,lord1 which curse you2 ,bless1 saith ,st4 ,paul1 and curse not4 ,we must not also do it out of contempt2 for we are not to slight our brethren in our hearts4 ,no man really1 considering what he is1 whence he came1 how he is related1 what he is capable of1 can be despicable4 ,extreme naughtiness is indeed contemptible2 but the unhappy person that is engaged therein is rather to be pitied than despised4 ,however1 charity bindeth us to stifle contemptuous motions of heart1 and not to vent them in vilifying expression4 ,particularly1 it is a barbarous practice1 out of contempt to reproach persons for natural imperfections1 for meanness of condition1 for unlucky disasters1 for any involuntary defects2 this being indeed to reproach mankind1 unto which such things are incident2 to reproach ,providence1 from the disposal whereof they do proceed4 ,whoso mocketh the poor1 despiseth his ,maker1 saith the wise man2 and the same may be said of him that reproachfully mocketh him that is dull in parts1 deformed in body1 weak in health or strength1 defective in any such way4 ,likewise we must not speak ill out of envy2 because others do excel us in any good quality1 or exceed us in fortune4 ,to harbour this base and ugly disposition in our minds is unworthy of a man 7who should delight in all good springing up anywhere1 and befalling any man1 naturally allied unto him72 it is most unworthy of a ,christian1 who should tender his brother's good as his own1 and rejoice with those that rejoice4 ,from thence to be drawn to cast reproach upon any man1 is horrible and heinous wickedness4 ,neither should we ever use reproach as a means of compassing any design we do affect or aim at2 'tis an unwarrantable engine of raising us to wealth1 dignity1 or repute4 ,to grow by the diminution1 to rise by the depression1 to shine by the eclipse of others1 to build a fortune upon the ruins of our neighbour's reputation1 is that which no honourable mind can affect1 no honest man will endeavour4 ,our own wit1 courage1 and industry1 managed with ,god's assistance and blessing1 are sufficient1 and only lawful instruments of prosecuting honest enterprises2 we need not1 we must not instead of them employ our neighbour's disgrace2 no worldly good is worth purchasing at such a rate1 no project worth achieving by such foul ways4 ,neither should we out of malignity1 to cherish or gratify ill humour1 use this practice4 ,it is observable of some persons1 that not out of any formed displeasure1 grudge1 or particular disaffection1 nor out of any particular design1 but merely out of a ,greek1 an ill disposition1 springing up from nature1 or contracted by use1 they are apt to carp at any action1 and with sharp reproach to bite any man that comes in their way1 thereby feeding and soothing that evil inclination4 ,but as this inhuman and currish humour should be corrected1 and extirpated from our hearts2 so should the issues thereof at our mouths be stopped2 the bespattering our neighbour's good name should never afford any satisfaction or delight unto us4 ,nor out of wantonness should we speak ill1 for our divertisement or sport4 ,for our neighbour's reputation is too great and precious a thing to be played with1 or offered up to sport2 we are very foolish in so disvaluing it1 very naughty in so misusing it4 ,our wits are very barren1 our brains are ill furnished with store of knowledge1 if we can find no other matter of conversation4 ,nor out of negligence and inadvertency should we sputter out reproachful speech2 shooting ill words at rovers1 or not regarding who stands in our way4 ,among all temerities this is one of the most noxious1 and therefore very culpable4 ,in fine1 we should never speak concerning our neighbour from any other principle than charity1 or to any other intent but what is charitable2 such as tendeth to his good1 or at least is consistent therewith4 ,let all your things1 saith ,st4 ,paul1 be done in charity2 and words are most of the ,,things we do concerning our neighbour1 wherein we may express charity4 ,in all our speeches1 therefore1 touching him1 we should plainly show that we have a care of his reputation1 that we tender his interest1 that we even desire his content and repose4 ,even when reason and need do so require that we should disclose and reprehend his faults1 we may1 we should by the manner and scope of our speech signify thus much4 ,which rule1 were it observed1 if we should never speak ill otherwise than out of charity1 surely most ill-speaking would be cut off2 most1 ,i fear1 of our tattling about others1 much of our gossiping would be marred4 ,indeed1 so far from bitter or sour our language should be1 that it ought to be sweet and pleasant2 so far from rough and harsh1 that it should be courteous and obliging2 so far from signifying wrath1 ill- will1 contempt1 or animosity1 that it should express tender affection1 good esteem1 sincere respect towards our brethren2 and be apt to produce the like in them towards us4 ,the sense of them should be grateful to the heart2 the very sound and accent of them should be delightful to the ear4 ,every one should please his neighbour for his good to edification4 ,our words should always be ,greek1 with grace1 seasoned with salt2 they should have the grace of courtesy1 they should be seasoned with the salt of discretion1 so as to be sweet and savoury to the hearers4 ,commonly ill language is a certain sign of inward enmity and ill-will4 ,good-will is wont to show itself in good terms2 it clotheth even its grief handsomely1 and its displeasure carrieth favour in its face2 its rigour is civil and gentle1 tempered with pity for the faults and errors which it disliketh1 with the desire of their amendment and recovery whom it reprehendeth4 ,it would inflict no more evil than is necessary2 it would cure its neighbour's disease without exasperating his patience1 troubling his modesty1 or impairing his credit4 ,as it always judgeth candidly1 so it never condemneth extremely4 ,,ii4 ,but so much for the explication of this precept1 and the directive part of our discourse4 ,i shall now briefly propound some inducements to the observance thereof4 #a4 ,let us consider that nothing more than railing and reviling is opposite to the nature1 and inconsistent with the tenor of our religion2 which 7as even a heathen did observe of it7 nil nisi justum suadet1 et lene1 doth recommend nothing but what is very just and mild2 which propoundeth the practices of charity1 meekness1 patience1 peaceableness1 moderation1 equity1 alacrity1 or good humour1 as its principal laws1 and declareth them the chief fruits of the ,divine spirit and grace2 which chargeth us to curb and compose all our passions2 more particularly to restrain and repress anger1 animosity1 envy1 malice1 and such-like dispositions1 as the fruits of carnality and corrupt lust2 which consequently drieth up all the sources or dammeth up the sluices of bad language4 ,as it doth above all things oblige us to bear no ill-will in our hearts1 so it chargeth us to vent none with our mouths4 #b4 ,it is therefore often expressly condemned and prohibited as evil4 ',tis the property of the wicked2 a character of those who work iniquity1 to whet their tongues like a sword1 and bend their bows to shoot their arrows1 even bitter words4 #c4 ,no practice hath more severe punishments denounced to it than this4 ,the railer 7and it is indeed a very proper and fit punishment for him1 he being exceedingly bad company7 is to be banished out of all good society2 thereto ,st4 ,paul adjudgeth him3 ,i have1 saith he1 now written unto you1 not to keep company1 if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator1 or covetous1 or an idolater1 or a railer1 or a drunkard1 or an extortioner1 with such an one not to eat4 ,ye see what company the railer hath in the text1 and with what a crew of people he is coupled2 but no good company he is allowed elsewhere2 every good ,christian should avoid him as a blot1 and a pest of conversation2 and finally he is sure to be excluded from the blessed society above in heaven2 for neither thieves1 nor covetous1 nor drunkards1 nor revilers1 nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of ,god2 and without 7without the heavenly city7 are dogs1 saith ,st4 ,john in his ,revelation2 that is1 those chiefly who out of currish spite or malignity do frowardly bark at their neighbours1 or cruelly bite them with reproachful language4 #d4 ,if we look upon such language in its own nature1 what is it but a symptom of a foul1 a weak1 a disordered and a distempered mind8 ',tis the smoke of inward rage and malice3 'tis a stream that cannot issue from a sweet spring2 'tis a storm that cannot bluster out of a calm region4 ,the words of the pure are pleasant words1 as the wise man saith4 #e4 ,this practice doth plainly signify low spirit1 ill-breeding1 and bad manners2 and thence misbecometh any wise1 any honest1 any honourable person4 ,it agreeth to children1 who are unapt and unaccustomed to deal in matters considerable1 to squabble2 to women of meanest rank 7apt1 by nature1 or custom1 to be transported with passion7 to scold4 ,in our modern languages it is termed villainy1 as being proper for rustic boors1 or men of coarsest education and employment2 who1 having their minds debased by being conversant in meanest affairs1 do vent their sorry passions1 and bicker about their petty concernments1 in such strains2 who also1 being not capable of a fair reputation1 or sensible of disgrace to themselves1 do little value the credit of others1 or care for aspersing it4 ,but such language is unworthy of those persons1 and cannot easily be drawn from them1 who are wont to exercise their thoughts about nobler matters1 who are versed in affairs manageable only by calm deliberation and fair persuasion1 not by impetuous and provocative rudeness2 which do never work otherwise upon masculine souls than so as to procure disdain and resistance4 ,such persons1 knowing the benefit of a good name1 being wont to possess a good repute1 prizing their own credit as a considerable good1 will never be prone to bereave others of the like by opprobrious speech4 ,a noble enemy will never speak of his enemy in bad terms4 ,we may further consider that all wise1 all honest1 all ingenuous persons have an aversion from ill-speaking1 and cannot entertain it with any acceptance or complacence2 that only ill-natured1 unworthy1 and naughty people are its willing auditors1 or do abet it with applause4 ,the good man1 in ,psalm xv41 non accipit opprobrium1 doth not take up1 or accept1 a reproach against his neighbour3 but a wicked doer1 saith the wise man1 giveth heed to false lips1 and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue4 ,and what reasonable man will do that which is disgustful to the wise and good1 is grateful only to the foolish and baser sort of men8 ,i pretermit that using this sort of language doth incapacitate a man for benefiting his neighbour1 and defeateth his endeavours for his edification1 disparaging a good cause1 prejudicing the defence of truth1 obstructing the effects of good instruction and wholesome reproof2 as we did before remark and declare4 ,further-- #f4 ,he that useth this kind of speech doth1 as harm and trouble others1 so create many great inconveniences and mischiefs to himself thereby4 ,nothing so inflameth the wrath of men1 so provoketh their enmity1 so breedeth lasting hatred and spite1 as do contumelious words4 ,they are often called swords and arrows2 and as such they pierce deeply1 and cause most grievous smart2 which men feeling are enraged1 and accordingly will strive to requite them in the like manner and in all other obvious ways of revenge4 ,hence strife1 clamour1 and tumult1 care1 suspicion1 and fear1 danger and trouble1 sorrow and regret1 do seize on the reviler2 and he is sufficiently punished for this dealing4 ,no man can otherwise live than in perpetual fear of reciprocal like usage from him whom he is conscious of having so abused4 ,whence1 if not justice1 or charity towards others1 yet love and pity of ourselves should persuade us to forbear it as disquietful1 incommodious1 and mischievous to us4 ,we should indeed certainly enjoy much love1 much concord1 much quiet1 we should live in great safety and security1 we should be exempted from much care and fear1 if we would restrain ourselves from abusing and offending our neighbour in this kind3 being conscious of so just and innocent demeanour towards him1 we should converse with him in a pleasant freedom and confidence1 not suspecting any bad language or ill usage from him4 #g4 ,hence with evidently good reason is he that useth such language called a fool3 and he that abstaineth from it is commended as wise4 ,a fool's lips enter into contention1 and his mouth calleth for strokes4 ,a fool's mouth is his destruction1 and his lips are the snare of his soul4 ,he that refraineth his tongue is wise4 ,in the tongue of the wise is health4 ,he that keepeth his lips1 keepeth his life3 but he that openeth wide his mouth 7that is1 in evil- speaking1 gaping with clamour and vehemency7 shall have destruction4 ,the words of a wise man's mouth are gracious3 but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself4 ,death and life are in the power of the tongue2 and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof2 that is1 of the one or the other1 answerably to the kind of speech they choose4 ,in fine1 very remarkable is that advice1 or resolution of the grand point concerning the best way of living happily1 in the psalmist3 ,what man is he that desireth life1 and loveth many days1 that he may see good8 ,keep thy tongue from evil1 and thy lips from speaking guile4 ,abstinence from ill-speaking he seemeth to propose as the first step towards the fruition of a durably happy life4 #h4 ,lastly1 we may consider that it is a grievous perverting of the design of speech1 that excellent faculty1 which so much distinguisheth us from1 so highly advanceth us above other creatures1 to use it to the defaming and disquieting of our neighbour4 ,it was given us as an instrument of beneficial commerce and delectable conversation2 that with it we might assist and advise1 might cheer and comfort one another3 we1 therefore1 in employing it to the disgrace1 vexation1 damage or prejudice in any kind of our neighbour1 do foully abuse it2 and so doing1 render ourselves indeed worse than dumb beasts3 for better far it were that we could say nothing1 than that we should speak ill4 ,now the ,god of grace and peace 4 4 4 make us perfect in every good work to do ,his will1 working in us that which is well-pleasing in ,his sight1 through ,jesus ,christ2 to whom be glory for ever and ever4 ,amen4 ,,the ,,folly ,,of ,,slander4 ,part #a4 ,he that uttereth slander is a fool4--,prov4 x4 #ah4 ,general declamations against vice and sin are indeed excellently useful1 as rousing men to consider and look about them3 but they do often want effect1 because they only raise confused apprehensions of things1 and indeterminate propensions to action2 which usually1 before men thoroughly perceive or resolve what they should practise1 do decay and vanish4 ,as he that cries out ,fire6 doth stir up people1 and inspireth them with a kind of hovering tendency every way1 yet no man thence to purpose moveth until he be distinctly informed where the mischief is2 then do they1 who apprehend themselves concerned1 run hastily to oppose it3 so1 till we particularly discern where our offences lie 7till we distinctly know the heinous nature and the mischievous consequences of them71 we scarce will effectually apply ourselves to correct them4 ,whence it is requisite that men should be particularly acquainted with their sins1 and by proper arguments be dissuaded from them4 ,in order whereto ,i have now selected one sin to describe1 and dissuade from1 being in nature as vile1 and in practice as common1 as any other whatever that hath prevailed among men4 ,it is slander1 a sin which in all times and places hath been epidemical and rife2 but which especially doth seem to reign and rage in our age and country4 ,there are principles innate to men1 which ever have1 and ever will incline them to this offence4 ,eager appetites to secular and sensual goods2 violent passions1 urging the prosecution of what men affect2 wrath and displeasure against those who stand in the way of compassing their desires2 emulation and envy towards those who happen to succeed better1 or to attain a greater share in such things2 excessive self-love2 unaccountable malignity and vanity1 are in some degrees connatural to all men1 and ever prompt them to this dealing1 as appearing the most efficacious1 compendious1 and easy way of satisfying such appetites1 of promoting such designs1 of discharging such passions4 ,slander thence hath always been a principal engine whereby covetous1 ambitious1 envious1 ill-natured1 and vain persons have striven to supplant their competitors1 and advance themselves2 meaning thereby to procure1 what they chiefly prize and like1 wealth1 or dignity1 or reputation1 favour and power in the court1 respect and interest with the people4 ,but from especial causes our age peculiarly doth abound in this practice2 for1 besides the common dispositions inclining thereto1 there are conceits newly coined1 and greedily entertained by many1 which seem purposely levelled at the disparagement of piety1 charity1 and justice1 substituting interest in the room of conscience1 authorising and commending for good and wise1 all ways serving to private advantage4 ,there are implacable dissensions1 fierce animosities1 and bitter zeals sprung up2 there is an extreme curiosity1 niceness1 and delicacy of judgment3 there is a mighty affectation of seeming wise and witty by any means2 there is a great unsettlement of mind1 and corruption of manners1 generally diffused over people3 from which sources it is no wonder that this flood hath so overflown1 that no banks can restrain it1 no fences are able to resist it2 so that ordinary conversation is full of it1 and no demeanour can be secure from it4 ,if we do mark what is done in many 7might ,i not say1 in most87 companies1 what is it but one telling malicious stories of1 or fastening odious characters upon another8 ,what do men commonly please themselves in so much1 as in carping and harshly censuring1 in defaming and abusing their neighbours8 ,is it not the sport and divertisement of many1 to cast dirt in the faces of all they meet with2 to bespatter any man with foul imputations8 ,doth not in every corner a ,momus lurk1 from the venom of whose spiteful or petulant tongue no eminency of rank1 dignity of place1 or sacredness of office1 no innocence or integrity of life1 no wisdom or circumspection in behaviour1 no good-nature or benignity in dealing and carriage1 can protect any person8 ,do not men assume to themselves a liberty of telling romances1 and framing characters concerning their neighbour1 as freely as a poet doth about ,hector or ,turnus1 ,thersites or ,draucus8 ,do they not usurp a power of playing with1 or tossing about1 of tearing in pieces their neighbour's good name1 as if it were the veriest toy in the world8 ,do not many having a form of godliness 7some of them1 demurely1 others confidently1 both without any sense of1 or remorse for what they do7 backbite their brethren8 ,is it not grown so common a thing to asperse causelessly that no man wonders at it1 that few dislike1 that scarce any detest it8 that most notorious calumniators are heard1 not only with patience1 but with pleasure2 yea1 are even held in vogue and reverence as men of a notable talent1 and very serviceable to their party8 so that slander seemeth to have lost its nature1 and not to be now an odious sin1 but a fashionable humour1 a way of pleasing entertainment1 a fine knack1 or curious feat of policy2 so that no man at least taketh himself or others to be accountable for what is said in this way8 ,is not1 in fine1 the case become such1 that whoever hath in him any love of truth1 any sense of justice or honesty1 any spark of charity towards his brethren1 shall hardly be able to satisfy himself in the conversations he meeteth2 but will be tempted1 with the holy prophet1 to wish himself sequestered from society1 and cast into solitude2 repeating those words of his1 ,oh1 that ,i had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men1 that ,i might leave my people1 and go from them3 for they are 4 4 4 4 an assembly of treacherous men1 and they bend their tongues like their bow for lies8 ,this he wished in an age so resembling ours1 that ,i fear the description with equal patness may suit both3 ,take ye heed 7said he then1 and may we not advise the like now87 every one of his neighbour1 and trust ye not in any brother3 for every brother will utterly supplant1 and every neighbour will walk with slanders4 ,they will deceive every one his neighbour1 and will not speak the truth2 they have taught their tongue to speak lies1 and weary themselves to commit iniquity4 ,such being the state of things1 obvious to experience1 no discourse may seem more needful1 or more useful1 than that which serveth to correct or check this practice3 which ,i shall endeavour to do 7#a7 by describing the nature1 7#b7 by declaring the folly of it3 or showing it to be very true which the wise man here asserteth1 ,he that uttereth slander is a fool4 ,which particulars ,i hope so to prosecute1 that any man shall be able easily to discern1 and ready heartily to detest this practice4 ,i4 ,for explication of its nature1 we may describe slander to be the uttering false 7or equivalent to false1 morally false7 speech against our neighbour1 in prejudice to his fame1 his safety1 his welfare1 or concernment in any kind1 out of malignity1 vanity1 rashness1 ill-nature1 or bad design4 ,that which is in ,holy ,scripture forbidden and reproved under several names and notions3 of bearing false witness1 false accusation1 railing censure1 sycophantry1 tale-bearing1 whispering1 backbiting1 supplanting1 taking up reproach3 which terms some of them do signify the nature1 others denote the special kinds1 others imply the manners1 others suggest the ends of this practice4 ,but it seemeth most fully intelligible by observing the several kinds and degrees thereof2 as also by reflecting on the divers ways and manners of practising it4 ,the principal kinds thereof ,i observe to be these3 #a4 ,the grossest kind of slander is that which in the ,decalogue is called1 bearing false testimony against our neighbour2 that is1 flatly charging him with facts which he never committed1 and is nowise guilty of4 ,as in the case of ,naboth1 when men were suborned to say1 ,naboth did blaspheme ,god and the king3 and as was ,david's case1 when he thus complained1 ,false witnesses did rise up1 they laid to my charge things that ,i knew not of4 ,this kind in the highest way 7that is1 in judicial proceedings7 is more rare2 and of all men1 they who are detected to practise it1 are held most vile and infamous2 as being plainly the most pernicious and perilous instruments of injustice1 the most desperate enemies of all men's right and safety that can be4 ,but also out of the court there are many knights-errant of the post1 whose business it is to run about scattering false reports2 sometimes loudly proclaiming them in open companies1 sometimes closely whispering them in dark corners2 thus infecting conversation with their poisonous breath3 these no less notoriously are guilty of this kind1 as bearing always the same malice1 and sometimes breeding as ill effects4 #b4 ,another kind is1 affixing scandalous names1 injurious epithets1 and odious characters upon persons1 which they deserve not4 ,as when ,corah and his accomplices did accuse ,moses of being ambitious1 unjust1 and tyrannical3 when the ,pharisees called our ,lord an impostor1 a blasphemer1 a sorcerer1 a glutton and wine-bibber1 an incendiary and perverter of the people1 one that spake against ,caesar1 and forbade to give tribute3 when the apostles were charged with being pestilent1 turbulent1 factious and seditious fellows4 ,this sort being very common1 and thence in ordinary repute not so bad1 yet in just estimation may be judged1 even worse than the former2 as doing to our neighbour more heavy and more irreparable wrong4 ,for it imposeth on him really more blame1 and that such which he can hardly shake off3 because the charge signifieth habit of evil1 and includeth many acts2 then1 being general and indefinite1 can scarce be disproved4 ,he1 for instance1 that calleth a sober man drunkard1 doth impute to him many acts of such intemperance 7some really past1 others probably future71 and no particular time or place being specified1 how can a man clear himself of that imputation1 especially with those who are not thoroughly acquainted with his conversation8 ,so he that calleth a man unjust1 proud1 perverse1 hypocritical1 doth load him with most grievous faults1 which it is not possible that the most innocent person should discharge himself from4 #c4 ,like to that kind is this3 aspersing a man's actions with harsh censures and foul terms1 importing that they proceed from ill principles1 or tend to bad ends2 so as it doth not or cannot appear4 ,thus when we say of him that is generously hospitable1 that he is profuse2 of him that is prudently frugal1 that he is niggardly2 of him that is cheerful and free in his conversation1 that he is vain or loose2 of him that is serious and resolute in a good way1 that he is sullen or morose2 of him that is conspicuous and brisk in virtuous practice1 that it is ambition or ostentation which prompts him2 of him that is close and bashful in the like good way1 that it is sneaking stupidity1 or want of spirit2 of him that is reserved1 that it is craft2 of him that is open1 that it is simplicity in him2 when we ascribe a man's liberality and charity to vainglory1 or popularity2 his strictness of life1 and constancy1 in devotion1 to superstition1 or hypocrisy4 ,when1 ,i say1 we pass such censures1 or impose such characters on the laudable or innocent practice of our neighbours1 we are indeed slanderers1 imitating therein the great calumniator1 who thus did slander even ,god ,himself1 imputing ,his prohibition of the fruit unto envy towards men2 ,god1 said he1 doth know that in the day ye eat thereof1 your eyes shall be opened1 and ye shall be as gods1 knowing good and evil2 who thus did ascribe the steady piety of ,job1 not to a conscientious love and fear of ,god1 but to policy and selfish design3 ,doth ,job fear ,god for nought8 ,whoever1 indeed1 pronounceth concerning his neighbour's intentions otherwise than as they are evidently expressed by words1 or signified by overt actions1 is a slanderer2 because he pretendeth to know1 and dareth to aver1 that which he nowise possibly can tell whether it be true2 because the heart is exempt from all jurisdiction here1 is only subject to the government and trial of another world2 because no man can judge concerning the truth of such accusations1 because no man can exempt or defend himself from them3 so that apparently such practice doth thwart all course of justice and equity4 #d4 ,another kind is1 perverting a man's words or actions disadvantageously by affected misconstruction4 ,all words are ambiguous1 and capable of different senses1 some fair1 some more foul2 all actions have two handles1 one that candour and charity will1 another that disingenuity and spite may lay hold on2 and in such cases to misapprehend is a calumnious procedure1 arguing malignant disposition and mischievous design4 ,thus when two men did witness that our ,lord affirmed1 ,he could demolish the temple1 and rear it again in three days--although ,he did indeed speak words to that purpose1 meaning them in a figurative sense1 discernible enough to those who would candidly have minded ,his drift and way of speaking--yet they who crudely alleged them against ,him are called false witnesses4 ,at last1 saith the ,gospel1 came two false witnesses1 and said1 ,this fellow said1 ,i am able to destroy the temple1 etc4 ,thus also when some certified of ,st4 ,stephen1 as having said that ,jesus of ,nazareth should destroy that place1 and change the customs that ,moses delivered2 although probably he did speak words near to that purpose1 yet are those men called false witnesses3 ,and1 saith ,st4 ,luke1 they set up false witnesses1 which said1 ,this man ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words1 etc4 ,which instances plainly do show1 if we would avoid the guilt of slander1 how careful we should be to interpret fairly and favourably the words and the actions of our neighbour4 #e4 ,another sort of this practice is1 partial and lame representation of men's discourse1 or their practice2 suppressing some part of the truth in them1 or concealing some circumstances about them which might serve to explain1 to excuse1 or to extenuate them4 ,in such a manner easily1 without uttering any logical untruth1 one may yet grievously calumniate4 ,thus suppose a man speaketh a thing upon supposition1 or with exception1 or in way of objection1 or merely for disputation sake1 in order to the discussion or clearing of truth2 he that should report him asserting it absolutely1 unlimitedly1 positively and peremptorily1 as his own settled judgment1 would notoriously calumniate4 ,if one should be inveigled by fraud1 or driven by violence1 or slip by chance into a bad place or bad company1 he that should so represent the gross of that accident1 as to breed an opinion of that person1 that out of pure disposition and design he did put himself there1 doth slanderously abuse that innocent person4 ,the reporter in such cases must not think to defend himself by pretending that he spake nothing false2 for such propositions1 however true in logic1 may justly be deemed lies in morality1 being uttered with a malicious and deceitful 7that is1 with a calumnious7 mind1 being apt to impress false conceits and to produce hurtful effects concerning our neighbour4 ,there are slanderous truths as well as slanderous falsehoods3 when truth is uttered with a deceitful heart1 and to a base end1 it becomes a lie4 ,he that speaketh truth1 saith the wise man1 showeth forth righteousness3 but a false witness deceit4 ,deceiving is the proper work of slander3 and truth abused to that end putteth on its nature1 and will engage into like guilt4 #f4 ,another kind of calumny is1 by instilling sly suggestions2 which although they do not downrightly assert falsehoods1 yet they breed sinister opinions in the hearers2 especially in those who1 from weakness or credulity1 from jealousy or prejudice1 from negligence or inadvertency1 are prone to entertain them4 ,this is done many ways3 by propounding wily suppositions1 shrewd insinuations1 crafty questions1 and specious comparisons1 intimating a possibility1 or inferring some likelihood of1 and thence inducing to believe the fact4 ,doth not1 saith this kind of slanderer1 his temper incline him to do thus8 may not his interest have swayed him thereto8 had he not fair opportunity and strong temptation to it8 hath he not acted so in like cases8 ,judge you therefore whether he did it not4 ,thus the close slanderer argueth2 and a weak or prejudiced person is thereby so caught1 that he presently is ready thence to conclude the thing done4 ,again3 ,he doeth well1 saith the sycophant1 it is true2 but why1 and to what end8 ,is it not1 as most men do1 out of ill design8 may he not dissemble now8 may he not recoil hereafter8 have not others made as fair a show8 yet we know what came of it4 ,thus do calumnious tongues pervert the judgments of men to think ill of the most innocent1 and meanly of the worthiest actions4 ,even commendation itself is often used calumniously1 with intent to breed dislike and ill-will towards a person commended in envious or jealous ears2 or so as to give passage to dispraises1 and render the accusations following more credible4 ',tis an artifice commonly observed to be much in use there1 where the finest tricks of supplanting are practised1 with greatest effect2 so that pessimum inimicorum genus1 laudantes2 there is no more pestilent enemy than a malevolent praiser4 ,all these kinds of dealing1 as they issue from the principles of slander1 and perform its work1 so they deservedly bear the guilt thereof4 #g4 ,a like kind is that of oblique and covert reflections2 when a man doth not directly or expressly charge his neighbour with faults1 but yet so speaketh that he is understood1 or reasonably presumed to do it4 ,this is a very cunning and very mischievous way of slandering2 for therein the skulking calumniator keepeth a reserve for himself1 and cutteth off from the person concerned the means of defence4 ,if he goeth to clear himself from the matter of such aspersions3 ,what need1 saith this insidious speaker1 of that8 must ,i needs mean you8 did ,i name you8 why do you then assume it to yourself8 do you not prejudge yourself guilty8 ,i did not1 but your own conscience1 it seemeth1 doth accuse you4 ,you are so jealous and suspicious1 as persons overwise or guilty use to be4 ,so meaneth this serpent out of the hedge securely and unavoidably to bite his neighbour1 and is in that respect more base and more hurtful than the most flat and positive slanderer4 #h4 ,another kind is that of magnifying and aggravating the faults of others2 raising any small miscarriage into a heinous crime1 any slender defect into an odious vice1 and any common infirmity into a strange enormity2 turning a small mote in the eye of our neighbour into a huge beam1 a little dimple in his face into a monstrous wen4 ,this is plainly slander1 at least in degree1 and according to the surplusage whereby the censure doth exceed the fault4 ,as he that1 upon the score of a small debt1 doth extort a great sum1 is no less a thief1 in regard to what amounts beyond his due1 than if without any pretence he had violently or fraudulently seized on it3 so he is a slanderer that1 by heightening faults or imperfections1 doth charge his neighbour with greater blame1 or load him with more disgrace than he deserves4 ',tis not only slander to pick a hole where there is none1 but to make that wider which is1 so that it appeareth more ugly1 and cannot so easily be mended4 ,for charity is wont to extenuate faults1 justice doth never exaggerate them4 ,as no man is exempt from some defects1 or can live free from some misdemeanours1 so by this practice every man may be rendered very odious and infamous4 #i4 ,another kind of slander is1 imputing to our neighbour's practice1 judgment1 or profession1 evil consequences 7apt to render him odious1 or despicable7 which have no dependence on them1 or connection with them4 ,there do in every age occur disorders and mishaps1 springing from various complications of causes1 working some of them in a more open and discernible1 others in a more secret and subtle way 7especially from ,divine judgment and providence checking or chastising sin73 from such occurrences it is common to snatch occasion and matter of calumny4 ,those who are disposed this way1 are ready peremptorily to charge them upon whomsoever they dislike or dissent from1 although without any apparent cause1 or upon most frivolous and senseless pretences2 yea1 often when reason showeth quite the contrary1 and they who are so charged are in just esteem of all men the least obnoxious to such accusations4 ,so usually the best friends of mankind1 those who most heartily wish the peace and prosperity of the world and most earnestly to their power strive to promote them1 have all the disturbances and disasters happening charged on them by those fiery vixens1 who 7in pursuance of their base designs1 or gratification of their wild passions7 really do themselve embroil things1 and raise miserable combustions in the world4 ,so it is that they who have the conscience to do mischief1 will have the confidence also to disavow the blame and the iniquity1 to lay the burden of it on those who are most innocent4 ,thus1 whereas nothing more disposeth men to live orderly and peaceably1 nothing more conduceth to the settlement and safety of the public1 nothing so much draweth blessings down from heaven upon the commonwealth1 as true religion2 yet nothing hath been more ordinary than to attribute all the miscarriages and mischiefs that happened unto it2 even those are laid at his door1 which plainly do arise from the contempt or neglect of it2 being the natural fruits or the just punishments of irreligion4 ,king ,ahab by forsaking ,god's commandments1 and following wicked superstitions1 had troubled ,israel1 drawing sore judgments and calamities thereon2 yet had he the heart and the face to charge those events on the great assertor of piety1 ,elias3 ,art thou he that troubleth ,israel8 ,the ,jews by provocation of ,divine justice had set themselves in a fair way towards desolation and ruin2 this event to come they had the presumption to lay upon the faith of our ,lord's doctrine3 ,if1 said they1 we let ,him alone1 all men will believe on ,him1 and the ,romans shall come1 and take away our place and nation3 whereas1 in truth1 a compliance with ,his directions and admonitions had been the only means to prevent those presaged mischiefs4 ,and1 si ,tibris ascenderit in maenia1 if any public calamity did appear1 then ,christianos ad leones1 ,christians must be charged and persecuted as the causes thereof4 ,to them it was that ,julian and other pagans did impute all the concussions1 confusions1 and devastations falling upon the ,roman ,empire4 ,the sacking of ,rome by the ,goths they cast upon ,christianity2 for the vindication of it from which reproach ,st4 ,austin did write those renowned books de ,civitate ,dei4 ,so liable are the best and most innocent sort of men to be calumniously accused in this manner4 ,another practice 7worthily bearing the guilt of slander7 is1 aiding and being accessory thereto1 by anywise furthering1 cherishing1 abetting it4 ,he that by crafty significations of ill-will doth prompt the slanderer to vent his poison2 he that by a willing audience and attention doth readily suck it up1 or who greedily swalloweth it down by credulous approbation and assent2 he that pleasingly relisheth and smacketh at it1 or expresseth a delightful complacence therein3 as he is a partner in the fact1 so he is a sharer in the guilt4 ,there are not only slanderous throats1 but slanderous ears also2 not only wicked inventions1 which engender and brood lies1 but wicked assents1 which hatch and foster them4 ,not only the spiteful mother that conceiveth such spurious brats1 but the midwife that helpeth to bring them forth1 the nurse that feedeth them1 the guardian that traineth them up to maturity1 and setteth them forth to live in the world2 as they do really contribute to their subsistence1 so deservedly they partake in the blame due to them1 and must be responsible for the mischief they do4 ,for indeed were it not for such free entertainers1 such nourishers1 such encouragers of them1 slanderers commonly would die in the womb1 or prove still-born1 or presently entering into the cold air1 would expire1 or for want of nourishment soon would starve4 ,it is such friends and patrons of them who are the causes that they are so rife2 they it is who set ill-natured1 base1 and designing people upon devising1 searching after1 and picking up malicious and idle stories4 ,were it not for such customers1 the trade of calumniating would fall4 ,many pursue it merely out of servility and flattery1 to tickle the ears1 to soothe the humour1 to gratify the malignant disposition or ill-will of others2 who upon the least discouragement would give over the practice4 ,if therefore we would exempt ourselves from all guilt of slander1 we must not only abstain from venting it1 but forbear to regard or countenance it3 for he is1 saith the wise man1 a wicked doer who giveth heed to false lips1 and a liar who giveth ear to a naughty tongue4 ,yea1 if we thoroughly would be clear from it1 we must show an aversion from hearing it1 an unwillingness to believe it1 an indignation against it2 so either stifling it in the birth1 or condemning it to death1 being uttered4 ,this is the sure way to destroy it1 and to prevent its mischief4 ,if we would stop our ears1 we should stop the slanderer's mouth2 if we would resist the calumniator1 he would fly from us2 if we would reprove him1 we should repel him4 ,for1 as the north wind driveth away rain1 so1 the wise man telleth us1 doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue4 ,these are the chief and most common kinds of slander2 and there are several ways of practising them worthy our observing1 that we may avoid them1 namely these3-- #a4 ,the most notoriously heinous way is1 forging and immediately venting ill stories4 ,as it is said of ,doeg1 ,thy tongue deviseth mischief2 and of another like companion1 ,thou givest thy mouth to evil1 and thy tongue frameth deceit2 and as our ,lord saith of the devil1 ,when he speaketh a lie1 ,greek1 he speaketh of his own2 for he is a liar1 and the father of it4 ,this palpably is the supreme pitch of calumny1 incapable of any qualifications or excuse3 hell cannot go beyond this2 the cursed fiend himself cannot worse employ his wit than in minting wrongful falsehoods4 #b4 ,another way is1 receiving from others1 and venting such stories1 which they who do it certainly know or may reasonably presume to be false2 the becoming hucksters of counterfeit wares1 or factors in this vile trade4 ,there is no false coiner who hath not some accomplices and emissaries ready to take from his hand and put off his money2 and such slanderers at second hand are scarce less guilty than the first authors4 ,he that breweth lies may have more wit and skill1 but the broacher showeth the like malice and wickedness4 ,in this there is no great difference between the great devil1 that frameth scandalous reports1 and the little imps that run about and disperse them4 #c4 ,another way is1 when one without competent examination1 due weighing1 and just reason1 doth admit and spread tales prejudicial to his neighbour's welfare2 relying for his warrant1 as to the truth of them1 upon any slight or slender authority4 ,this is a very common and current practice3 men presume it lawful enough to say over whatever they hear2 to report anything1 if they can quote an author for it4 ,it is not1 say they1 my invention2 ,i tell it as ,i heard it3 sit fides penes authorem2 let him that informed me undergo the blame if it prove false4 ,so do they conceive themselves excusable for being the instruments of injurious disgrace and damage to their neighbours4 ,but they greatly mistake therein2 for as this practice commonly doth arise from the same wicked principles1 at least in some degree1 and produceth altogether the like mischievous effects1 as the wilful devising and conveying slander3 so it no less thwarteth the rules of duty1 the laws of equity2 ,god hath prohibited it1 and reason doth condemn it4 ,thou shalt not1 saith ,god in the ,law1 go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people3 as a talebearer 7as ,rachil1 that is71 as a merchant or trader in ill reports and stories concerning our neighbour1 to his prejudice4 ,not only the framing of them1 but the dealing in them beyond reason or necessity1 is interdicted4 ,and it is part of a good man's character in ,psalm xv41 ,non accipit opprobrium1 ,he taketh not up a reproach against his neighbour2 that is1 he doth not easily entertain it1 much less doth he effectually propagate it3 and in our text1 ,he1 it is said1 that uttereth slander 7not only he that conceiveth it7 is a fool4 ,and in reason1 before exact trial and cognisance1 to meddle with the fame and interest of another1 is evidently a practice full of iniquity1 such as no man can allow in his own case1 or brook being used towards himself without judging himself to be extremely abused by such reporters4 ,in all reason and equity1 yea1 in all discretion1 before we yield credence to any report concerning our neighbour1 or venture to relate it1 many things are carefully to be weighed and scanned4 ,we should1 concerning our author1 consider whether he be not a particular enemy1 or disaffected to him3 whether he be not ill-humoured1 or a delighter in telling bad stories2 whether he be not dishonest1 or unregardful of justice in his dealings and discourse2 whether he be not vain1 or careless of what he saith2 whether he be not light or credulous1 or apt to be imposed upon by any small appearance2 whether1 at least in the present case1 he be not negligent1 or too forward and rash in speaking4 ,we should also1 concerning the matter reported1 mind whether it be possible or probable2 whether suitable to the disposition of our neighbour1 to his principles1 to the constant tenor of his practice2 whether the action imputed to him be not liable to misapprehension1 or his words to misconstruction4 ,all reason and equity do1 ,i say1 exact from us1 diligently to consider such things1 before we do either embrace ourselves or transmit unto others any story concerning our neighbour2 lest unadvisedly we do him irreparable wrong and mischief4 ,briefly1 we should take his case for our own1 and consider whether we ourselves should be content that upon like grounds or testimonies any man should believe1 or report1 disgraceful things concerning us4 ,if we fail to do thus1 we do1 vainly1 or rashly1 or maliciously1 conspire with the slanderer to the wrong of our innocent neighbour2 and that in the psalmist1 by a parity of reason1 may be transferred to us1 ,thou hast consented unto the liar1 and hast partaken with the author of calumny4 #d4 ,of kin to this way is the assenting to popular rumours1 and thence affirming matters of obloquy to our neighbour4 ,every one by experience knows how easily false news do rise1 and how nimbly they scatter themselves2 how often they are raised from nothing1 how soon they from small sparks grow into a great blaze1 how easily from one thing they are transformed into another2 especially news of this kind1 which do suit and feed the bad humour of the vulgar4 ',tis obvious to any man how true that is of ,tacitus1 how void of consideration1 of judgment1 of equity1 the busy and talking part of mankind is4 ,whoever therefore gives heed to flying tales1 and thrusts himself into the herd of those who spread them1 is either strangely injudicious1 or very malignantly disposed4 ,if he want not judgment1 he cannot but know that when he complieth with popular fame1 it is mere chance that he doth not slander1 or rather it is odds that he shall do so2 he consequently showeth himself to be indifferent whether he doeth it or no1 or rather that he doth incline to do it2 whence1 not caring to be otherwise1 or loving to be a slanderer1 he in effect and just esteem is such2 having at least a slanderous heart and inclination4 ,he that puts it to the venture whether he lieth or no1 doth eo ipso lie morally1 as declaring no care or love of truth4 ,thou shalt not1 saith the ,law1 follow a multitude to do evil2 and with like reason we should not follow the multitude in speaking evil of our neighbour4 #e4 ,another slanderous course is1 to build censures and reproaches upon slender conjectures1 or uncertain suspicions 7those ,greek1 evil surmises1 which ,st4 ,paul condemneth74 ,of these occasion can never be wanting to them who seek them1 or are ready to embrace them2 no innocence1 no wisdom can anywise prevent them2 and if they may be admitted as grounds of defamation1 no man's good name can be secure4 ,but he that upon such accounts dareth to asperse his neighbour is in moral computation no less a slanderer than if he did the like out of pure invention1 or without any ground at all3 for doubtful and false in this case differ little2 to devise1 and to divine1 in matters of this nature1 do import near the same4 ,he that will judge or speak ill of others1 ought to be well assured of what he thinks or says2 he that asserteth that which he doth not know to be true1 doth as well lie as he that affirmeth that which he knoweth to be false2 for he deceiveth the hearers1 begetting in them an opinion that he is assured of what he affirms2 especially in dealing with the concernments of others1 whose right and repute justice doth oblige us to beware of infringing1 charity should dispose us to regard and tender as our own4 ,it is not every possibility1 every seeming1 every faint show or glimmering appearance1 which sufficeth to ground bad opinion or reproachful discourse concerning our brother3 the matter should be clear1 notorious and palpable1 before we admit a disadvantageous conceit into our head1 a distasteful resentment into our heart1 a harsh word into our mouth about him4 ,men may fancy themselves sagacious and shrewd1 persons of deep judgment and fine wit they may be taken for1 when they can dive into others' hearts1 and sound their intentions2 when through thick mists or at remote distances they can descry faults in them2 when they collect ill of them by long trains1 and subtle fetches of discourse3 but in truth they do thereby rather betray in themselves small love of truth1 care of justice1 or sense of charity1 together with little wisdom and discretion3 for truth is only seen in a clear light2 justice requireth strict proof4 ,charity thinketh no evil1 and believeth all things for the best2 wisdom is not forward to pronounce before full evidence4 7,he1 saith the wise man1 that answereth a matter before he heareth it1 it is folly and shame unto him47 ,in fine1 they who proceed thus1 as it is usual that they speak falsely1 as it is casual that they ever speak truly1 as they affect to speak ill1 true or false2 so worthily they are to be reckoned among slanderers4 #f4 ,another like way of slandering is1 impetuous or negligent sputtering out of words1 without minding what truth or consequence there is in them1 how they may touch or hurt our neighbour4 ,to avoid this sin1 we must not only be free from intending mischief1 but wary of effecting it2 not only careful of not wronging one distinct person1 but of harming any promiscuously2 not only abstinent from aiming directly1 but provident not to hit casually any person with obloquy4 ,for as he that dischargeth shot into a crowd1 or so as not to look about regarding who may stand in the way1 is no less guilty of doing mischief1 and bound to make satisfaction to them he woundeth1 than if he had aimed at some one person3 so if we sling our bad words at random1 which may light unluckily1 and defame somebody1 we become slanderers unawares1 and before we think on it4 ,this practice hath not ever all the malice of the worst slander1 but it worketh often the effects thereof2 and therefore doth incur its guilt1 and its punishment2 especially it being commonly derived from ill-temper1 or from bad habit1 which we are bound to watch over1 to curb1 and to correct4 ,the tongue is a sharp and perilous weapon1 which we are bound to keep up in the sheath1 or never to draw forth but advisedly1 and upon just occasion2 it must ever be wielded with caution and care3 to brandish it wantonly1 to lay about with it blindly and furiously1 to slash and smite therewith any that happeneth to come in our way1 doth argue malice or madness4 #g4 ,it is an ordinary way of proceeding to calumniate1 for men1 reflecting upon some bad disposition in themselves 7although resulting from their own particular temper1 from their bad principles1 or from their ill custom71 to charge it presently upon others2 presuming others to be like themselves3 like the wicked person in the psalm1 ,thou thoughtest that ,i was altogether such an one as thyself4 ,this is to slander mankind first in the gross2 then in retail1 as occasion serveth1 to asperse any man2 this is the way of half-witted ,machiavellians1 and of desperate reprobates in wickedness1 who having prostituted their consciences to vice1 for their own defence and solace1 would shroud themselves from blame under the shelter of common pravity and infirmity2 accusing all men of that whereof they know themselves guilty4 ,but surely there can be no greater iniquity than this1 that one man should undergo blame for the ill conscience of another4 ,these seem to be the chief kinds of slander1 and most common ways of practising it4 ,in which description1 the folly thereof doth1 ,i suppose1 so clearly shine1 that no man can look thereon without loathing and despising it1 as not only a very ugly1 but a most foolish practice4 ,no man surely can be wise who will suffer himself to be defiled therewith4 ,but to render its folly more apparent1 we shall display it2 declaring it to be extremely foolish upon several accounts4 ,but the doing of this1 in regard to your patience1 we shall forbear at present4 ,,the ,,folly ,,of ,,slander4 ,part #b4 ,he that uttereth slander is a fool4--,prov4 x4 #ah4 ,i have formerly in this place1 discoursing upon this text1 explained the nature of the sin here condemned1 with its several kinds and ways of practising4 ,,ii4 ,i shall now proceed to declare the folly of it2 and to make good by divers reasons the assertion of the wise man1 that ,he who uttereth slander is a fool4 #a4 ,slandering is foolish1 as sinful and wicked4 ,all sin is foolish upon many accounts2 as proceeding from ignorance1 error1 inconsiderateness1 vanity2 as implying weak judgment1 and irrational choice2 as thwarting the dictates of reason1 and best rules of wisdom2 as producing very mischievous effects to ourselves1 bereaving us of the chief goods1 and exposing us to the worst evils4 ,what can be more egregiously absurd than to dissent in our opinion and discord in our choice from infinite wisdom2 to provoke by our actions sovereign justice1 and immutable severity3 to oppose almighty power1 and offend immense goodness2 to render ourselves unlike and contrary in our doings1 our disposition1 our state1 to absolute perfection and felicity8 ,what can be more desperately wild than to disoblige our best ,friend1 to forfeit ,his love and favour1 to render ,him our enemy1 who is our ,lord and our ,judge1 upon whose mere will and disposal all our subsistence1 all our welfare does absolutely depend8 ,what greater madness can be conceived than to deprive our minds of all true content here1 and to separate our souls from eternal bliss hereafter2 to gall our consciences now with sore remorse1 and to engage ourselves for ever in remediless miseries8 ,such folly doth all sin include3 whence in ,scripture style worthily goodness and wisdom are terms equivalent2 sin and folly do signify the same thing4 ,if thence this practice be proved extremely sinful1 it will thence sufficiently be demonstrated no less foolish4 ,and that it is extremely sinful may easily be shown4 ,it is the character of the superlatively wicked man3 ,thou givest thy mouth to evil1 and thy tongue frameth deceit4 ,thou sittest and speakest against thy brother2 thou slanderest thine own mother's son4 ,it is1 indeed1 plainly the blackest and most hellish sin that can be2 that which giveth the grand fiend his names1 and most expresseth his nature4 ,he is ,greek 7the slanderer72 ,satan1 the spiteful adversary2 the old snake or dragon1 hissing out lies1 and spitting forth venom of calumnious accusation2 the accuser of the brethren1 a murderous1 envious1 malicious calumniator2 the father of lies2 the grand defamer of ,god to man1 of man to ,god1 of one man to another4 ,and highly wicked surely must that practice be1 whereby we grow namesakes to him1 conspire in proceeding with him1 resemble his disposition and nature4 ,it is a complication1 a comprisal1 a collection and sum of all wickedness2 opposite to all the principal virtues 7to veracity and sincerity1 to charity and justice71 transgressing all the great commandments1 violating immediately and directly all the duties concerning our neighbour4 ,to lie simply is a great fault1 being a deviation from that good rule which prescribeth truth in all our words2 rendering us unlike and disagreeable to ,god1 who is the ,god of truth 7who loveth truth1 and practiseth it in all ,his doings1 who abominateth all falsehood72 including a treacherous breach of faith towards mankind2 we being all1 in order to the maintenance of society1 by an implicit compact1 obliged by speech to declare our mind1 to inform truly1 and not to impose upon our neighbour2 arguing pusillanimous timorousness and impotency of mind1 a distrust in ,god's help1 and diffidence in all good means to compass our designs2 begetting deception and error1 a foul and ill-favoured brood3 lying1 ,i say1 is upon such accounts a sinful and blamable thing2 and of all lies those certainly are the worst which proceed from malice or from vanity1 or from both1 and which work mischief1 such as slanders are4 ,again1 to bear any hatred or ill-will1 to exercise enmity towards any man1 to design or procure any mischief to our neighbour1 whom even ,jews were commanded to love as themselves1 whose good1 by many laws1 and upon divers scores1 we are obliged to tender as our own1 is a heinous fault2 and of this apparently the slanderer is most guilty in the highest degree4 ,for evidently true it is which the wise man affirmeth1 ,a lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted with it2 there is no surer argument of extreme hatred2 nothing but the height of ill-will can suggest this practice4 ,the slanderer is an enemy1 as the most fierce and outrageous1 so the most base and unworthy that can be2 he fighteth with the most perilous and most unlawful weapon1 in the most furious and foul way that can be4 ,his weapon is an envenomed arrow1 full of deadly poison1 which he shooteth suddenly1 and feareth not3 a weapon which by no force can be resisted1 by no art declined1 whose impression is altogether inevitable and unsustainable4 ,it is a most insidious1 most treacherous and cowardly way of fighting2 wherein manifestly the weakest and basest spirits have extreme advantage1 and may easily prevail against the bravest and worthiest2 for no man of honour or honesty can in way of resistance or requital deign to use it1 but must infallibly without repugnance be borne down thereby4 ,by it the vile practiser achieveth the greatest mischief that can be4 ,his words are1 as the psalmist saith of ,doeg1 devouring words3 ,thou lovest all devouring words1 ,o thou deceitful tongue3 and1 ,a man1 saith the wise man1 that beareth false witness against his neighbour is a maul1 and a sword1 and a sharp arrow2 that is1 he is a complicated instrument of all mischiefs2 he smiteth and bruiseth like a maul1 he cutteth and pierceth like a sword1 he thus doth hurt near at hand2 and at a distance he woundeth like a sharp arrow2 it is hard anywhere to evade him1 or to get out of his reach4 ,many1 saith another wise man1 the imitator of ,solomon1 have fallen by the edge of the sword1 but not so many as have fallen by the tongue4 ,well is he that is defended from it1 and hath not passed through the venom thereof2 who hath not drawn the yoke thereof1 nor hath been bound in its bands4 ,for the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron1 and the bands thereof are bands of brass4 ,the death thereof is an evil death1 the grave were better than it4 ,incurable are the wounds which the slanderer inflicteth1 irreparable the damages which he causeth1 indelible the marks which he leaveth4 ,no balsam can heal the biting of a sycophant2 no thread can stitch up a good name torn by calumnious defamation2 no soap is able to cleanse from the stains aspersed by a foul mouth4 ,aliquid adhaerebit2 somewhat always of suspicion and ill opinion will stick in the minds of those who have given ear to slander4 ,so extremely opposite is this practice unto the queen of virtues1 ,charity4 ,its property indeed is to believe all things1 that is1 all things for the best1 and to the advantage of our neighbour2 not so much as to suspect any evil of him without unavoidably manifest cause2 how much more not to devise any falsehood against him6 ,it covereth all things1 studiously conniving at real defects1 and concealing assured miscarriages3 how much more not divulging imaginary or false scandals6 ,it disposeth to seek and further any the least good concerning him3 how much more will it hinder committing grievous outrage upon his dearest good name6 ,again1 all injustice is abominable2 to do any sort of wrong is a heinous crime2 that crime which of all most immediately tendeth to the dissolution of society1 and disturbance of human life2 which ,god therefore doth most loathe1 and men have reason especially to detest4 ,and of this the slanderer is most deeply guilty4 ,a witness of ,belial scorneth judgment1 and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity1 saith the wise man4 ,he is indeed1 according to just estimation1 guilty of all kinds whatever of injury1 breaking all the second ,table of ,commands respecting our neighbour4 ,most formally and directly he beareth false witness against his neighbour3 he doth covet his neighbour's goods2 for 'tis constantly out of such an irregular desire1 for his own presumed advantage1 to dispossess his neighbour of some good1 and transfer it on himself1 that the slanderer uttereth his tale3 he is ever a thief and robber of his good name1 a deflowerer and defiler of his reputation1 an assassin and murderer of his honour4 ,so doth he violate all the rules of justice1 and perpetrateth all sorts of wrong against his neighbour4 ,he may1 indeed1 perhaps conceive it no great matter that he committeth2 because he doth not act in so boisterous and bloody a way1 but only by words1 which are subtle1 slim1 and transient things3 upon his neighbour's credit only1 which is no substantial or visible matter4 ,he draweth 7thinks he71 no blood1 nor breaketh any bones1 nor impresseth any remarkable scar2 'tis only the soft air he breaketh with his tongue1 'tis only a slight character that he stampeth on the fancy1 'tis only an imaginary stain that he daubeth his neighbour with2 therefore he supposeth no great wrong done1 and seemeth to himself innocent1 or very excusable4 ,but these conceits arise from great inconsiderateness1 or mistake3 nor can they excuse the slanderer from grievous injustice4 ,for in dealing with our neighbour1 and meddling with his property1 we are not to value things according to our fancy1 but according to the price set on them by the owner2 we must not reckon that a trifle1 which he prizeth as a jewel4 ,since1 then1 all men 7especially men of honour and honesty7 do1 from a necessary instinct of nature1 estimate their good name beyond any of their goods--yea1 do commonly hold it more dear and precious than their very lives--we1 by violently or fraudulently bereaving them of it1 do them no less wrong than if we should rob or cozen them of their substance2 yea1 than if we should maim their body1 or spill their blood1 or even stop their breath4 ,if they as grievously feel it1 and resent it as deeply1 as they do any other outrage1 the injury is really as great1 to them4 ,even the slanderer's own judgment and conscience might tell him so much2 for they who most slight another's fame1 are usually very tender of their own1 and can with no patience endure that others should touch it2 which demonstrates the inconsiderateness of their judgment1 and the iniquity of their practice4 ,it is an injustice not to be corrected or cured4 ,thefts may be restored1 wounds may be cured2 but there is no restitution or cure of a lost good name3 it is therefore an irreparable injury4 ,nor is the thing itself1 in true judgment1 contemptible2 but in itself really very considerable4 ,a good name1 saith ,solomon himself 7no fool71 is rather to be chosen than great riches2 and loving favour rather than silver and gold4 ,in its consequences it is much more so2 the chief interests of a man1 the success of his affairs1 his ability to do good 7for himself1 his friends1 his neighbour71 his safety1 the best comforts and conveniences of his life1 sometimes his life itself1 depending thereon2 so that whoever doth snatch or filch it from him1 doth not only according to his opinion1 and in moral value1 but in real effect commonly rob1 sometimes murder1 ever exceedingly wrong his neighbour4 ,it is often the sole reward of a man's virtue and all the fruit of his industry2 so that by depriving him of that1 he is robbed of all his estate1 and left stark naked of all1 excepting a good conscience1 which is beyond the reach of the world1 and which no malice or misfortune can divest him of4 ,full then of iniquity1 full of uncharitableness1 full of all wickedness is this practice2 and consequently full it is of folly4 ,no man1 one would think1 of any tolerable sense1 should dare or deign to incur the guilt of a practice so vile and base1 so indeed diabolical and detestable4 ,but further more particularly-- #b4 ,the slanderer is plainly a fool1 because he maketh wrong judgments and valuations of things1 and accordingly driveth on silly bargains for himself1 in result whereof he proveth a great loser4 ,he means by his calumnious stories either to vent some passion boiling in him1 or to compass some design which he affects1 or to please some humour that he is possessed with3 but is any of these things worth purchasing at so dear a rate8 can there be any valuable exchange for our honesty8 ,is it not more advisable to suppress our passion1 or to let it evaporate otherwise1 than to discharge it in so foul a way8 ,is it not better to let go a petty interest1 than to further it by committing so notorious and heinous a sin2 to let an ambitious project sink1 than to buoy it up by such base means8 ,is it not wisdom rather to smother or curb our humour1 than by satisfying it thus to forfeit our innocence8 ,can anything in the world be so considerable1 that for its sake we should defile our souls by so foul a practice1 making shipwreck of a good conscience1 abandoning honour and honesty1 incurring all the guilt and all the punishment due to so enormous a crime8 ,is it not far more wisdom1 contentedly to see our neighbour to enjoy credit and success1 to flourish and thrive in the world1 than by such base courses to sully his reputation1 to rifle him of his goods1 to supplant or cross him in his affairs8 ,we do really1 when we think thus to depress him1 and to climb up to wealth or credit by the ruins of his honour1 but debase ourselves4 ,whatever comes of it1 whether he succeeds or is disappointed therein1 assuredly he that useth such courses will himself be the greatest loser1 and deepest sufferer4 ',tis true which the wise man saith1 ,the getting of treasures by a lying tongue1 is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death4 ,and1 ,woe unto them1 saith the prophet1 that draw iniquity with cords of vanity2 that is1 who by falsehood endeavour to compass unjust designs4 ,but it is not1 perhaps he will pretend1 to assuage a private passion1 or to promote his particular concernment1 that he makes so bold with his neighbour1 or deals so harshly with him2 but for the sake of orthodox doctrine1 for advantage of the true ,church1 for the advancement of public good1 he judgeth it expedient to asperse him4 ,this indeed is the covert of innumerable slanders3 zeal for some opinion1 or some party1 beareth out men of sectarian and factious spirits in such practices2 they may do1 they may say anything for those fine ends4 ,what is a little truth1 what is any man's reputation in comparison to the carrying on such brave designs8 ,but 7to omit that men do usually prevaricate in these cases2 that it is not commonly for love of truth1 but of themselves2 not so much for the benefit of their sect1 but for their own interest1 that they calumniate7 this plea will nowise justify such practice4 ,for truth and sincerity1 equity and candour1 meekness and charity are inviolably to be observed1 not only towards dissenters in opinion1 but even towards declared enemies of truth itself2 we are to bless them 7that is1 to speak well of them1 and to wish well to them71 not to curse them 7that is1 not to reproach them1 or to wish them ill1 much less to belie them74 ,truth also1 as it cannot ever need1 so doth it always loathe and scorn the patronage and the succour of lies2 it is able to support and protect itself by fair means2 it will not be killed upon a pretence of saving it1 or thrive by its own ruin4 ,nor indeed can any party be so much strengthened and underpropped1 as it will be weakened and undermined by such courses4 ,no cause can stand firm upon a bottom so loose and slippery as falsehood is4 ,all the good a slanderer can do is1 to disparage what he would maintain4 ,in truth1 no heresy can be worse than that would be which should allow to play the devil in any case4 ,he that can dispense with himself to slander a ,jew or a ,turk1 doth in so doing render himself worse than either of them by profession is3 for even they1 and even pagans themselves1 disallow the practice of inhumanity and iniquity4 ,all men by light of nature avow truth to be honourable1 and faith to be indispensably observed4 ,he doth not understand what it is to be ,christian1 or careth not to practise according thereto1 who can find in his heart in any case1 upon any pretence1 to calumniate4 ,in fine1 to prostitute our conscience1 or sacrifice our honesty1 for any cause1 to any interest whatever1 can never be warrantable or wise4 ,further-- #c4 ,the slanderer is a fool1 because he useth improper means and preposterous methods of effecting his purposes4 ,as there is no design worth the carrying on by ways of falsehood and iniquity1 so is there scarce any1 no good or lawful one at least1 which may not more surely1 more safely1 more cleverly be achieved by means of truth and justice4 ,is not always the straight way more short than the oblique and crooked8 is not the plain way more easy than the rough and cragged8 is not the fair way more pleasant and passable than the foul8 ,is it not better to walk in paths that are open and allowed1 than in those that are shut up and prohibited1 than to clamber over walls1 to break through fences1 to trespass upon enclosures8 ,surely yes3 ,he that walketh uprightly1 walketh surely4 ,using strict veracity and integrity1 candour and equity1 is the best method of accomplishing good designs4 ,our own industry1 good use of the parts and faculties ,god hath given us1 embracing fair opportunities1 ,god's blessing and providence1 are sufficient means to rely upon for procuring1 in an honest way1 whatever is convenient for us4 ,these are ways approved1 and amiable to all men2 they procure the best friends1 and fewest enemies2 they afford to the practises a cheerful courage1 and good hope2 they meet with less disappointment1 and have no regret or shame attending them4 ,he that hath recourse to the other base means1 and maketh lies his refuge1 as he renounceth all just and honest means1 as he disclaimeth all hope in ,god's assistance1 and forfeiteth all pretence to ,his blessing3 so he cannot reasonably expect good success1 or be satisfied in any undertaking4 ,the supplanting way indeed seems the most curt and compendious way of bringing about dishonest or dishonourable designs3 but as good design is certainly dishonoured thereby1 so is it apt thence to be defeated2 it raises up enemies and obstacles1 yielding advantages to whoever is disposed to cross us4 ,as in trade it is notorious that the best course to thrive is by dealing squarely and truly2 any fraud or cozenage appearing there doth overthrow a man's credit1 and drive away custom from him3 so in all other transactions1 as he that dealeth justly and fairly will have his affairs proceed roundly1 and shall find men ready to comply with him1 so he that is observed to practise falsehood will be declined by some1 opposed by others1 disliked by all3 no man scarce willingly will have to do with him2 he is commonly forced to stand out in business1 as one that plays foul play4 #d4 ,lastly1 the slanderer is a very fool1 as bringing many great inconveniences1 troubles1 and mischiefs on himself4 ,first1 ,a fool's mouth1 saith the wise man1 is his destruction1 his lips are the snare of his soul3 and if any kind of speech is destructive and dangerous1 then is this certainly most of all2 for by no means can a man inflame so fierce anger1 impress so stiff hatred1 raise so deadly enmity against himself1 and consequently so endanger his safety1 ease and welfare1 as by this practice4 ,men can more easily endure1 and sooner will forgive1 any sort of abuse than this2 they will rather pardon a robber of their goods1 than a defamer of their good name4 ,secondly1 such an one indeed is not only odious to the person immediately concerned1 but generally to all men that observe his practice2 every man presently will be sensible how easily it may be his own case1 how liable he may be to be thus abused1 in a way against which there is no guard or defence4 ,the slanderer therefore is apprehended a common enemy1 dangerous to all men2 and thence rendereth all men averse from him1 and ready to cross him4 ,love and peace1 tranquillity and security can only be maintained by innocent and true dealing3 so the psalmist hath well taught us3 ,what man is he that desireth life1 and loveth many days1 that he may see good8 ,keep thy tongue from evil1 and thy lips from speaking guile4 ,thirdly1 all wise1 all noble1 all ingenuous and honest persons have an aversion from this practice1 and cannot entertain it with any acceptance or complacence4 ,a righteous man hateth lying1 saith the wise man4 ,it is only ill-natured and ill-nurtured1 unworthy and naughty people that are willing auditors or encouragers thereof4 ,a wicked doer1 saith the wise man again1 giveth heed to false lips2 and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue4 ,all love of truth and regard to justice1 and sense of humanity1 all generosity and ingenuity1 all charity and good-will to men1 must be extinct in those who can with delight1 or indeed with patience1 lend an ear or give any countenance to a slanderer3 and is not he a very fool who chooseth to displease the best1 only soothing the worst of men8 ,fourthly1 the slanderer indeed doth banish himself from all conversation and company1 or intruding into it becomes very disgustful thereto2 for he worthily is not only looked upon as an enemy to those whom he slandereth1 but to those also upon whom he obtrudeth his calumnious discourse4 ,he not only wrongeth the former by the injury1 but he mocketh the latter by the falsehood of his stories2 implicitly charging his hearers with weakness and credulity1 or with injustice and pravity4 ,fifthly1 he also derogateth wholly from his own credit in all matters of discourse4 ,for he that dareth thus to injure his neighbour1 who can trust him in anything he speaks8 what will not he say to please his vile humour1 or further his base interest8 what1 thinks any man1 will he scruple or boggle at1 who hath the heart in thus doing wrong and mischief to imitate the devil8 ,further-- ,sixthly1 this practice is perpetually haunted with most troublesome companions1 inward regret and self-condemnation1 fear and disquiet3 the conscience of dealing so unworthily doth smite and rack him2 he is ever in danger1 and thence in fear to be discovered1 and requited for it4 ,of these passions the manner of his behaviour is a manifest indication3 for men do seldom vent their slanderous reports openly and loudly1 to the face or in the ear of those who are concerned in them2 but do utter them in a low voice1 in dark corners1 out of sight and hearing1 where they conceit themselves at present safe from being called to an account4 ,swords1 saith the psalmist of such persons1 are in their lips3 ,who 7say they7 doth hear8 ,and1 ,whoso privily slandereth his neighbour1 him will ,i cut off1 saith ,david again1 intimating the common manner of this practice4 ,calumny is like the plague1 that walketh in darkness4 ,hence appositely are the practisers thereof termed whisperers and backbiters3 their heart suffers them not openly to avow1 their conscience tells them they cannot fairly defend their practice4 ,again-- ,seventhly1 the consequence of this practice is commonly shameful disgrace1 with an obligation to retract and render satisfaction3 for seldom doth calumny pass long without being detected and confuted4 ,he that walketh uprightly1 walketh surely3 but he that perverteth his ways shall be known3 and1 ,the lip of truth shall be established for ever2 but a lying lip is but for a moment1 saith the great observer of things4 ,and when the slander is disclosed1 the slanderer is obliged to excuse 7that is1 to palliate one lie with another1 if he can do it71 or forced to recant1 with much disgrace and extreme displeasure to himself3 he is also many times constrained1 with his loss and pain1 to repair the mischief he hath done4 ,eighthly1 to this in likelihood the concernments of men1 and the powers which guard justice1 will forcibly bring him2 and certainly his conscience will bind him thereto2 ,god will indispensably exact it from him4 ,he can never have any sound quiet in his mind1 he can never expect pardon from ,heaven1 without acknowledging his fault1 repairing the wrong he hath done1 restoring that good name of which he dispossessed his neighbour3 for in this no less than in other cases conscience cannot be satisfied1 remission will not be granted1 except due restitution be performed2 and of all restitutions this surely is the most difficult1 most laborious1 and most troublesome4 ',tis nowise so hard to restore goods stolen or extorted1 as to recover a good opinion lost1 to wipe off aspersions cast on a man's name1 to cure a wounded reputation3 the most earnest and diligent endeavour can hardly ever effect this1 or spread the plaster so far as the sore hath reached4 ,the slanderer therefore doth engage himself into great straits1 incurring an obligation to repair an almost irreparable mischief4 ,ninthly1 this practice doth also certainly revenge itself1 imposing on its actor a perfect retaliation2 a tooth for a tooth2 an irrecoverable infamy to himself1 for the infamy he causeth to others4 ,who will regard his fame1 who will be concerned to excuse his faults1 who so outrageously abuseth the reputation of others8 ,he suffereth justly1 he is paid in his own coin1 will any man think1 who doth hear him reproached4 ,tenthly1 in fine1 the slanderer1 if he doth not1 by serious and sore repentance retract his practice1 doth banish himself from heaven and happiness1 doth expose himself to endless miseries and sorrows4 ,for1 if none that maketh a lie shall enter into the heavenly city2 if without those mansions of joy and bliss every one must eternally abide that loveth or maketh a lie2 if ,greek1 to all liars their portion is assigned in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone2 then assuredly the capital liar1 the slanderer1 who lieth most injuriously and mischievously1 shall be far excluded from felicity1 and thrust down into the depth of that miserable place4 ,if1 as ,st4 ,paul saith1 no railer1 or evil-speaker1 shall inherit the kingdom of ,god1 how far thence shall they be removed who without any truth or justice do speak ill of and reproach their neighbour8 ,if for every ,greek1 idle1 or vain1 word we must render a strict account1 how much more shall we be severely reckoned with for this sort of words1 so empty of truth and void of equity3 words that are not only negatively vain1 or useless1 but positively vain1 as false and spoken to bad purpose8 ,if slander perhaps here may evade detection1 or escape deserved punishment1 yet infallibly hereafter1 at the dreadful day1 it shall be disclosed1 irreversibly condemned1 inevitably persecuted with condign reward of utter shame and sorrow4 ,is not he then1 he who1 out of malignity1 or vanity1 to serve any design1 or soothe any humour in himself or others1 doth by committing this sin involve himself in all these great evils1 both here and hereafter1 a most desperate and deplorable fool8 ,having thus described the nature of this sin1 and declared the folly thereof1 we need1 ,i suppose1 to say no more for dissuading it2 especially to persons of a generous and honest mind1 who cannot but scorn to debase and defile themselves by so mean and vile a practice2 or to those who seriously do profess ,christianity1 that is1 the religion which peculiarly above all others prescribeth constant truth1 strictest justice1 and highest charity4 ,i shall only add1 that since our faculty of speech 7wherein we do excel all other creatures7 was given us1 as in the first place to praise and glorify our ,maker1 so in the next to benefit and help our neighbour2 as an instrument of mutual succour and delectation1 of friendly commerce and pleasant converse together2 for instructing and advising1 comforting and cheering one another3 it is an unnatural perverting1 and an irrational abuse thereof1 to employ it to the damage1 disgrace1 vexation1 or wrong in any kind of our brother4 ,better indeed had we been as brutes without its use1 than we are1 if so worse than brutishly we abuse it4 ,finally1 all these things being considered1 we may1 ,i think1 reasonably conclude it most evidently true that ,he which uttereth slander is a fool4