and imprecations, by pleading that he knows SERM.
not when he utters them; it is himself XIII.
alone, who is to blame for having attained
to such a pitch of proflicacy: though from
the frequency of his presumption, he may
not always take notice of it himself, he
may be assured God does; and notwith-
standing the inattention and forgetfulness,
which the custom of doing this frequently
produces, there is a day coming when every
repeated instance of his guilt must be ac-
counted for.

Another excuse of the common swearer
is, that he really means no harm;-this is
a curious plea: he is daily and hourly per-
haps acting in defiance to an express com-
mand of his Creator, and insulting his
God to his face, and he thinks to atone
for it by saying that he means no harm!
Even if the vice, of which he is guilty,
were not so strictly forbidden, it is of the
most prejudicial consequences both to him-

self

SERM. self and others; it tends to lessen, both in XIII. his own breast and in the estimation of

those around him, that awful veneration for the divine majesty, which is the surest guardian of his laws. And surely, if this be the effect of a practice, it is not the pretence that our intentions are innocent, and will exculpate or procure us forgive

ness.

A third set of swearers are those who profess that they are obliged to it, that they mean by it to gain observance of what they say, that their oaths are merely intended to procure belief to their assertions, or give importance to their commands, reproofs, and menaces. To say nothing of the very great reflection which, by such a defence, these persons throw on their own veracity and dignity, it is much to be suspected that the very end, which they propose to themselves by the violation of a plain precept of their religion, is not attained.

tained. The most solemn things, when SERM.

frequently used, lose much of their consequence; one of the reasons why so great a stress is laid upon an oath in a court of justice, is, that it is a mode of affirmation which is uncommon: and therefore he who binds himself by it, is by so much the less likely to be guilty of a falsity.

Now when the same appeal to God is observed on every trifling occasion in our familiar conversation, oaths become of no greater importance than other assertions; and if I would not believe the common swearer on his bare word, so neither would I believe him, whatever imprecation he might add to it, since he is constantly furnishing me with proof that he himself sets no higher value on the one than he does on the other. Is not this the case? Let the blasphemer deny it if he can!-to himself I would refer it, whether the simple affirmation of a serious person does

not

XIII.

SERM. not meet with at least equal credit with

XIII.

his oath?

As to the plea-that the orders, the reproofs, or the threats of a person in authority, are more efficacious from being attended with imprecations, it is liable to the same objection which I have just made; when oaths and curses are used on every occasion, they are no more regarded than other words, they are looked on as coming of course, and those to whom they are directed are not influenced by them in any additional degree. But if the case were otherwise, supposing them to have all the weight that they were expected, it is worth our consideration, whether the acquisition of a little temporary authority with our fellow-creatures be worth purchasing at the expence of our eternal salvation.

These are the chief reasons and arguments, which men bring in support of this heinous and too common vice: you see how little there is in them.

XIII.

I shall conclude with observing, that SERM. there are many to be met with, who would be shocked at the idea of plain, downright swearing, with whom it is yet grown into a custom to approach věry near to it; they dare not take the name of their Creator in vain in a direct manner, but shew the badness of their intentions by disguising solemn words, till they are less disgusting to the ear, though equally offensive to the judgment. These half-bred 'reprobates prove that they would be wicked, if they durst; and I know not whether the consciousness of being wrong, which their caution declares, does not augment their criminality. Abstain from all Abstain from all appearance of evil; let us not only be virtuous, but let us endeavour to appear so. He who ventures, in defiance of the remonstrances of his conscience, to approach the borders of any vice, and, much more, he who delights to put on its semblance, too clearly evinces

his