But

the honest part of mankind, and their property, into the hands of robbers and cut-throats, with impunity, for the most part, to the latter; and that the oath of God must, by that means, be prostituted into a tool in the hands of the devil and his servants, to oppress the servants of God. To these objections a full and satisfactory answer is here given. In the first place, there neither is, nor can be, any such thing as a compulsory oath, because, if the man to whom the oath is tendered may take or refuse it as he pleases, he is not compelled to take it; even if he must take it, or die; there is a choice given him, and he is not, nay cannot be, forced. This was the case with all the ancient martyrs, who had a choice, and chose to die, rather than offer incense to an idol. Every man must die some time or other, and it is certain, no man can die better, than as a martyr to God and his conscience; this however is said, in case the matter of the oath is unlawful. when the oath tendered is only for the surrender of a man's worldly substance, or some part of it, such surrender is lawful, and the man may save his life, if he pleases, by that surrender. If however the robber should threaten him with immediate death if he does not swear to conceal the fact, here again he hath a choice, to swear or die, and is not compelled to either; and is only to consider whether the concealment is lawful, or not, and to die, if it is not in his judgment, for he must not do evil, that good may come of it.' And by the same maxim of the Holy Spirit, he is not to swear, and violate his oath, to save the honest part of mankind from the hands of robbers. He should leave them to the protection of Providence, and not impiously suppose, that they cannot be otherwise defended, but by the violation of his conscience. Codrus might die for his country; but who would be damned for it? It is farther to be considered, that if the oath of secrecy in this case is generally to pass for nothing, the robbers will provide for secrecy and impunity another way, that is, by murdering all they rob. Hence it may appear, that the oath of secrecy, both taken and kept, will contribute more to the safety of honest men, than thousands of prosecutions. In answer to the last objection, that keeping the aforesaid oaths would prostitute them into tools in the hands of the devil, &c. it is granted, that good men would suffer in their property by it, but would save their lives. If honest and good men were not, by providential permission, exposed here below to thousands of other hardships and trials, we might with the more reason think it our duty to

provide against this, if to be done with a safe conscience. But is the conscience no way concerned in an oath? In solemnly calling on God to attest our truth and sincerity, when, to save our lives, we engage to give up our property, and to be silent as to an injury, which our religion obliges us to forgive, and to return with a benefit? It is to be feared, the devil may rejoice in the conversion of an instrument, lately pointed at our worldly goods, into a dagger, that pierces the very soul. If at the time we take the oath we mean to break it, which the objectors themselves apparently suppose, nothing can be more horribly impious. Although it was by craft and lies, that the Gibeonites obtained a covenant and oath of peace from Joshua and the Israelites, yet, that covenant was kept by the latter, for some hundreds of years, and not violated, but by Saul, whose family were punished for the infraction, and the Israelites afflicted, afterward, with three years' famine, for the part they took with him in the breach of their oath, considered as the descendants of those that had sworn. But acting according to my arguments is, it may be said, compounding a felony, and exposing a man to the penalty of the law. It may be so. I am not a lawyer, but only a clergyman, whose duty it is to prefer the laws of God to those of men. If the good Christian is sued and amerced, he will let the fine go with that which the robber carried off, and be content that his life and conscience are still left him. But how he can be sued if he holds his tongue, I cannot see, as the robber will not appear against him in a hempen cravat. The law against compounding felonies is certainly a wise and excellent law; but if in this case it clashes with the law of God, as I hope it does not, I cannot allow it to be pleadable in foro conscientia. The good man, of whom I have been speaking, swears, to save his life, which the laws of his country could not ensure to him, and keeps his oath, to save his soul. So far I may speak as a barrister in my own line, and must add, that all other barristers may as well hold their tongues, if the sacredness of oaths is not preserved inviolable.

174. A very sensible gentlewoman, having read the two first volumes of sermons I had the presumption to publish, asked me, If my own life and conversation were strictly conformable to the rules I had laid down in those discourses? Startled at the question, I answered, No; but that I did my best to act, as well as I wrote; and that I sometimes read over my own discourses, not that I thought them equal to those of other writers on the same

subjects, but to upbraid and excite myself, on the footing of her question, to a greater degree of watchfulness over my own ways. Two of them, I said, had been of singular use to me for this purpose, more than the most excellent performances of Barrow, Tillotson, or Stanhope, could have been, because they stared my own failings in the face, like an additional conscience, with greater sternness, than the better writings of other men could do. I confessed, there was no necessity for my publishing, or ever writing new sermons, had no new crops of heresies, infidelities, and vices sprung up, which ought to be weeded out; or had not my zeal, perhaps my vanity, persuaded me, that my particular manner might have been of some use in checking the pernicious growth. New attacks on religion and virtue seemed to call for new defences, especially as the older defences had been, in a too great degree, antiquated to the attention of an age, almost wholly given up to a taste for new things. The reproofs of Christ, uttered against those who say, and do not,' all along, flew in the face of my conscience, and induced me to do somewhat, though far short of what I ought to have done. I considered too, that men, not angels, have been chosen for the ministry of God's word; that the apostles confess themselves to be of 'like infirmities with other men;' and that they, and we all, have our gifts in earthen vessels;' that we are not at liberty to speak, or write, down to the standard of human opinions or vices, as if they were, in any degree, to be tolerated; but making the word of God our guide, to inculcate the most perfect rules of thinking and acting, knowing the infinite danger of qualifying and relaxing the rules of God to a people, so prone to content themselves with loose principles, and unwarrantable latitudes in action. All that have gone before me, have written with as much strictness as I, or have been false to the trust reposed in them. In regard to your question, madam, they should have written with a precision equal to mine, or not written at all. But, as to the conformity of their lives and mine with our writings, we all stand in great, I will not say equal, need of infinite mercy in our Master and Judge. Whatever the laws of men may be, those of God are perfect; but in neither are we ever told, what salvos, qualifications, or subterfuges, may be allowed us; nor how much of any law we may transgress with impunity. The same is to be said, and with equal reason and truth, of sermons, which are, or should be, nothing else but commentaries on the law, or gospel, of God. The clergyman in the

pulpit ought to be a good Christian, and the lawyer at the bar an honest man; but the failures of both, if duly repented of, and amended, will be forgiven, although in both cases, mercy will be put more on the stretch for pardon, than by the sins of other men, because, 'to whom much is given, of him will be much required,' and 'the servant that best knows his duty, and doth it not, is to be beaten with many stripes.' Though I most firmly believe Barrow, Tillotson, and Stanhope, were much better men than me, I should not be a whit comforted, to know they were not. They and I had the same perfect rule to preach and live by, and I hope it will not be among their sins or mine, that we dealt falsely between God and his people, by cooking his word to the vitiated palates of our hearers, than which I know no greater crime; by no means common murder, for this would be to murder souls. When my wise and good father, within a few hours of his death, was giving a charge to his ten children, he ordered me, who had then been but half a year at the Latin school, to study physic, and learn to cure the disorder that was killing my father. As I grew up towards manhood, I was possessed with a strong desire to go into holy orders, to which I was prompted by a very warm and persevering zeal to discharge, with more than ordinary diligence and fidelity, the duties of that sacred function. Considering this as a call from God, I obeyed, I fear, with a small mixture of vanity. Be that as it might have been, as soon as I had by study, qualified myself for the service of a country parish, wherein I was singularly active, I set myself to the study of physic, pursuant to the dying command of my father, that I might relieve the poor of my flock from their disorders, and the more dangerous and expensive practice of ignorant quacks, reflecting, at the same time, that as my great Master had miraculously healed both the mental and corporeal disorders of mankind, so his ministers ought to aim at the natural relief of his people in both respects. For this latter purpose, I gave an application of four years to the best authors, and to the conversations of the most able physicians I had access to. One of these gave me a piece of advice, from which I never departed. I, said he, when I am employed, must prescribe somewhat, were it but horse-dung, or brick-dust, for my fee; but as you mean to prescribe merely from a motive of charity, never prescribe but when you perfectly understand the disorder and its circumstances; nor recommend a medicine, the effect of which you are not as sure of. By following this rule you will

kill none; and if you kill none, and cure but one, you will be a great physician. By strictly adhering to this rule, and by the blessing of God, the lives of many were saved, and their health restored, under my care. Some good, I hope, was done by my instrumentality, in my clerical function. Yet, madam, such have been my sins, that I have often regretted my ever having been a clergyman. My sermons, and other more occasional documents, have frequently stuck in the throat of my conscience. Whatever I have been in other respects, I never accommodated my preachings to my own failings, but to the word of God alone. Now, madam, after all this talk, give me leave to ask you, Whether you always keep strictly up to those rules of life and economy, which you lay down to yourself, your family, and relations. She answered, Touch me not there, till I employ you as my father confessor; not but I could bear to confess to you, so far as the question goes, that my precepts are better than my practice, and that I labour to make my children and servants better people than I am myself. Ask no more of me now. I shudder at the return of my own question, and am afraid both you and I border a little on hypocrisy, for what is hypocrisy, but an endeavour to appear pos'sessed of more piety and goodness, than we feel within? Your readers will hardly suppose you so warm in reality, as your discourses speak you to be. They will, here and there, think they perceive in your writings a great deal of artificial fire used to raise a cold cucumber, and a syllabub hard whipped into froth. If they do, madam, I cannot help it, whether the fault lies in their criticisms, or my performances, or in both. In no one sermon I ever preached, had I one lesson for myself, and another for my hearer. My heart and conscience made always a part of the audience; and the pure word of God, ever dictated to me, what I delivered to them. Whatsoever constitutional warmth was mixed with my zeal, and much there certainly was; and howsoever earnestly I threatened the terrors of the Lord to obstinate sinners, especially such as preach unsound doctrines to his people; I trembled when I did it, and pushed with a weapon, sharp at both ends, that pointed at my own sins, as well as theirs. I can sincerely declare, I write and speak on religious subjects in earnest. I never durst do otherwise. The utmost efforts of human genius, nay, of angelic eloquence, are, in my opinion, utterly inadequate to the infinite dignity, the infinite demand on wonder, on fear, on gratitude, in all points of faith and practice of our religion. Here