48 AN HUMBLE ATTBMPT, &C. picion ? Wherein soccer our fathers have been in the right in this strict profession and practice, we doubtless are more abundantly obliged to awaken ourselves to a pious imitation of them, and to do more than Others in our day,' as they did in theirs. Give me leave here to mention a few particulars in which our fathers eminently distinguished themselves from the bulk of their neighbours, and this shall be the subject of the follow- ing section. SECT. V.Peculiar Practices of Virtue and Piety among the ancient Nonconformists. L Our ancestors the puritans and conconformists distin- guished themselves by their great reverence of the name of God, and keeping a constant jealousy and watchfulness over their words, lest they took that holy name in vain. This has been your character in days past, in the age of your predecessors, and I" hope this honour remains still amongst you. When persons, even such as appear sober and virtuous, have made free with the sacred namesof God and Christ on trivial occasions, when upon some strange story related in company, or some new occurrence in life, they cry out, O Lord, good God, God bless me, without any appearances of solemnity or a serious air ; when in their daily language and discourse, they can hardly ask each other . a common question, or request a commonkindness, but they en- force their request or enquiry 'with some divine name, for God's sake tell me, for Christ's sake do this for me: I say, when we hear such speeches, we have been wont to take it for granted that these persons are not dissenters, for we were never suffered in the days of our younger education to take those holy names into our lips in so thoughtless or irreligious a manner. Or in the usual language of life, persons have been wont to confirm the truth of what they speak by these sort of oaths, by my faith,' or opon my salvation, or as I live, or as I hope to be saved, or as sore as God is in heaven, we could readily pro- nounce that whatever religion they were of, and whatsoever sect they pretended to, they could not be protestant dissenters; for we were never indulged to use such asseverations, nor to make such trifling mention of things that relate to our infinite ands everlasting interest : we were never suffered, while we were under the government and education of our parents, thus to break . the command of Christ, who forbids us in our common discourse to practise swearing, but requires that our communica- tien be maintained with plain yes or no; for whatsoever forms or words or asseveration we use that border upon swearing by God or creatures, whether at full length or in abridgment, carry some danger of guilt in them, and comefrom the evil one; Mat. v. 37., Now I think it would very ill become us to depart from
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