liS Cafes about ContraE1s. and refolution,_ yea, though it add the con~~ent pcrfw~fion·_that you_r will filall not change; yet thls no further obhgeth )'Ou, than you are obh~d· to connnue m that w11l; And a mans confident refo.· lutions may lawfully be changed upon fufficient caufe. But if you intended to alienate the title to another, ?r to give him prcfent righ~, or to oblige your felf for ~he future to him by that prornife; or to obhge your felf to God to do 1t by.way of peremptory afl'eruon, as one that will be guilty of a lye tf you perform tt not; or 1f you dedicate the thmg to God by thofe words as a Vow, then you are obliged to do accordingly ( fuppofing nothing dfe to prohibit it. ) J2.!!rft. 16. 9· 23· Quefi. 16. Doth au. inward promifeoftbe mind, uot .·xpnffed, oblige? p Anfw. ln a Vow to God it d01h: And if you intend it as an affertion obliging you in point ofVe~ racity, it doth fo oblige you, that you mull not lye. But it is no contract, nor giveth any man a ~ ~ title to what you tacitely thought of. Oueft. , 7 , §. 24· Q:efi. '7· May Ip;omife an unlawful thi11g (/imply fo) withoitt all intention of performing -....:; it, to fave my life from a tbuf or pufecutor l A;ifi.v. No: Becaufc iris a lyt, when the tongue agteerh not with the heart. Indeed rhofe that think a lye is no fin, when it hurrcrh not another, may juHifie this, if that would hold good: But 1 have before confuted it T om. 1. in the Chapter againfl Lying. 0!_eft, 1 S. §. 2 5· Q!cfl. 18. May a11y thing othrrwife unlawful become a duty upon a promife to do it l Anfw. This is anfwered before 'tom. I. Chapter ofPerjury and Vows: A thing fimply unlawful will be {o fiill, notwithflanding a Vow or promife: And fome fay fo of that alfo which is unlawful antece– dently but by accident ! As e. g. It is not fimply unlawful to ea£\ away a cup of Wine or a piece of Silver : (for it is lawful upon a fufficient caufe ). But it is unlawful to do it without any fufficient caufe. Now fuppofe I fhould contract with another that I will do it; am I bo!'nd by fuch a con– tract? Many fay, No, becaufe the matter is unlawful, though but by accident; and the contract can· not make it lawful. I rather think that I am bound in fuch a cafe : But yet that my obligation doth not excufe me wholly from fin .: It was a fin before I promifed it (or Vowed it) to call away a farthing caufdelly. And if I oaufelclly promifed it, I finned in that promife: But yet there may be caufe for the performance: And if I have entangled my fell in a neceflity of finning wherh'er 1do it or not, I mu!1 choofc the le/fer fin : for that is then my duty. ( Though I ilJould have chofen nei– tbcr, as long as I could avoid it. ) In a great and hurtful fin, I may be obliged rather to break my Covenant, than to commit it, yet it is hard to fay fo of every accidental evil : My reafons are, 1 • Bc– caufe the Promife or Covenant, is now an accident, to be put into the balla.nce; and may weigh down a lighter accident on ~he other fide: ( But I know that t~1e great difficulty is ti difcern which is in· deed the preponderatmg acc1dent.) 2.I thmk Jfa Magiftrate command me to do any thmg which by a fmall accident is evil (as to fpend an hour in vain, to give a penny in vain, to fpeak a wora which ( antecedently) was vain ) that I mull do it ; and that then it is mt vain, becaufe it m<lni~ lefleth my obedience. ( Otherwife obedience would be greatly firaightned:) Therefore my own Con– trall may make it my duty: becaufe I am able to oblige my fclf as well as a Magifirate is. 3· Bccaufc Covenant-breaking ( and Perjury) is really a greater fin, than fpeaking a vain word : And my error dorh not make it no fin ; bur only entangle me in a necdfiry of finning which way foever I take. !!<!!eft• l9· sS· 26. ~ell. IS>· If a ma;t make a contrali to promote the /ilt of another for a reward (as a cor._ rupt Judge, or LaR'ytr, Officer or Clerk.. to promote . injujfice ; or a refetter to help a Thief ; ·or a Bawd or 1Jihore, for the price of fornication,) may he tal<.e the reward, rvhen the fin ii committed, (fuppofe it repentedof) ? An[w. The offender that promifed the reward, bath parted with his title to the money: Therefore you may receive it of him (and ought, except he will rightly difpofe of it himfelf: ) But withal to confcfs the fin, and pcrfwadc him alfo to repent: But you may not take any of that money as your own i ( For no man can purchafe true propriety by iniquity ) But either give it to the party injured (to whom youarc bound to make fatisfad:ion ), or to the Magifirate or the poor, according as the cafe particularly requirerh. ~eft. zo. ~· 27. ~cfl. :1:0. IfI contra{l, orb{lrgain,or promife .lo anotbtr, betwew Ill two, withom any legal form or w;tne{r, doth it bind me lo'he perfarmance I A11 jiv. Yes, in foro confcienti£, fuppofing the thing lawful: But if the thing be unlawful in foro D<i and fuch as the Law of the Land only would lay hold of you about, or force you to, if it had bee~ witnelfed, then the Law of the Law of the Land may well be avoided, by the want of legal forms and witnelfc.s. !f0eft. 2I• 9· z8. Q!efi.zt. May I buy an Office for money in a Court of]uftict? Anfw. Some Offices you may buy, (where the Law alloweth it, and it tendeth not to injullice) : But other Offices you may not ; The difference the Lawyers may tell you better than I, and it would be tedious to purfue infiances. 9· 29• ~e{l. 22· May one buy 8 place of Magijh·.acy~ or Judicature for money? . ~eft. 22 ' AnjW. Not when your own honour or comrnodtty IS your end: Becaufe the common good IS the end of Government; and to a faithful Governour, it is a place of great labour and fuffering, and re~ quireth much felf-denyal and pa[ience ; Therefore they that purchafc it as a place of honour, gain or pleafure, either know not what they undertake, or have carnal ends: Elfe they would rather pur– chat(: their liberty and avoid it. But if aKing, or Judge, or other Magifirate, fee that a bad man (more unfitto Govern) is likero be put in, if he be put by, it is lawful for him to purchafe the peoples de– liverance at a very dear rare; (even by a lawful War whi'h is more chan money, when the Soveraign
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