Sean. CLX. The EvilofCorrupt Communication. 3 95, to be a mighty obligation upon us, to employ this gift of God in the fervice, and tó the glory of the giver, and make us very careful not to offend him bd it, or by any defilement of it, to render it unfit for one of the principal ufes for which' God bellowed it upon us.. Another great endof Speech is to edifie our Neighbour. So the Apoftle here tells us in the Text, that nothing fhould proceed out of our mouths, but what is goodfor the ufe of edifying, that it mayminer grace to the hearers. But inftead of that, corrupt Communication offends the chafte and virtuous,and corrupts them who have vicious inclinations, byexciting and cherifhing lewd imaginations in them, and making them that are filthy more filthy flill. ., III. Corrupt Communication is an evidenceof a corrupt and impure heart, as polluted ftreams are a fign that the Fountain is impure from whence they came. An impure mind may be covered and difguis'd by natural fhame and outward re- verence, in regard to the Company, or from fome other particular defign,; but when it breaks out at any time in lewd talk, our Speech betrays us, and difcovers the inward thoughts of our hearts, and makes them vifible to every eye. For as our Saviour fays, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth fpeaketh, Matth. a2. 34, 35. How can ye, being evil, fpeak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth fpeaketh. A good man, out of the good treafure of the heart, bringethforth good things : and an evil man out ofthe evil treafure, bringeth forth evil things. t There is not, fays an excellent Divine ofour own, Dr. Barrow; a more certain fign of a mindutterly debauch'd from pietyand virtue, than al ;Ming fuch talk. A vain mindnaturally venteth it felfin frothy difcourfe; and lull boiling within, foams out in filthy talk. It is St.7ude's Metaphor, when he defcribes that impureSe& of the Gnoflicks, he fays ofthem, that they were continually foamingout theirown fhame, ver. t3. that is, by their lewd words and deeds they difcovered the inward filthinefs of their hearts. And therefore it is Tully's advice to him that would be perfeftly virtuous, and not defeftive in any part of his Duty, Imprimis provideat, ne fez= vitium aliquod indicet ine e moribu-s ; deOfftc. lib. i. Let bim in the ftr[f place, fays he, take great care, that his fpeech betray not fame vice or fault in his manners. 'Aphis 26aeSGIL p ¿a Adyv/¡ Weg£Tai, Aman's charatler is commonly taken from his talk; "Sze. ó Tp'7r©., rwsT(q. 6 I My04, fays Amides, fuch as are the manners of a man,.fuch is his difcourfe ; and Ouintilian, Lib. II, c. i. Profert enim mores plerumque oratio, & animi fecreta detegit , nec fine Caufa Greed prodiderunt; ut vivit, quenquam etiam dicere. Our fpeech, for the moll part, declares our man- ners, and difcovers the fecrets of our hearts; fo that not without caufe was it be- come a proverbial faying among the Greeks, that, As the man lives,fo elfohe fpeaks. And to the fame purpofe the wife Son of Sárach, Ecclus. 27. 6, 7. The fruit de- clareth, ifthe tree loath been dreffed; fo is the utterance of a conceit in the heart of man. Praife no man before thdu hearejl him fpeak : for this is the tryal ofmen. And ver. 13. The difcourfe of fools is irkfome, and their fport is in the wantonnefs of fin. Immodeft Speech is not only an indication of an unchaft mind; but draws like- wife a great fufpicion upon a Man's life. So drift a connexion commonly is there between a Man's thoughts and words,and between his words and actions, that they are generally prefumed to be all of a piece, and agreeable to one another. IV. Corrupt Communication doth debauch and defile the minds of Men, and that not only ofthe fpeaker, but likewife of the hearer of fuch Difcourfe; becaufe it gratifies and feeds a corrupt humour, and a vitiated appetite, befide that it difpo- feth and inclines to lewd and filthyalions A fmutty tongue and unchafte deeds, are feldom far afunder, and do very often go together; for filthy talk and lewd 'pra&ices feem only to differ in the occafion and opportunity ; and he that makes no Confcience of the one, will hardly flick at the other, when it can be done with fecrefie and fafety. The Law of God forbids both alike, and his eye beholds both ; For there is not a word in my tongue, fays David, Pfal. x39, 4. but thou, 0 Lord; knowefi it altogether. So that whatever may deter us from lewd praftice E e e 2 (the
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