An Invective Against Swearing, Appendix 1 – Appendix 2
¶Actes agaynst customable swearers made in tymes past by dyuers excellent Prynces, and theyr honorable councell.
¶Kynge Henry the fyfte.
KYnge Henry the fyste made a statute for swearers in his owne Palace,Vvaldenus in quo dam sermone. yt if he were a Duke y• dyd swere, he shuld forfyt for eueryevery tyme xl.s̄. to the aydyng of poore people.Wolde god thys statute were obserued and kept… now adayes, not only in the courte but also thorowout Englōd If he were a Lorde or Barone. xx.s̄ If he were a Knyght or an Esquyer x.s̄. If he were a Yeman. xl. d If he were a Page or a Lackey, or a slaue, to be scourged naked eyther wyth a rodde or els wyth a whyppe.
¶Kynge Edmunde.
KYnge Edmūde made thys law, that they, whyche were proued, once falsly forsworne, shuld for euer be seperated frō Gods cōgregaciō.
¶Donaldus Kynge of Skottes.
DOnaldus Kynge of Skottes made thys acte wtin hys lond,… Botius in historia Scotorum. that all Periurers & common swearers shulde hauehave theyr lippes feared wyth a burnyng whot yron.
¶Sayncte Lodowycke Kynge of Fraunce.
THys lawe aforsayd dyd Saynt Lodowycke Kynge of Fraunce enacte also,A godly pr… clamacion god send … many … and put it once in execuciō at Paris vponupon a Cytezyn there for blasphemyng the name of Christ vntounto the exāple of other, and so caused it to be proclamed thorowe oute hys Realme for a generall ponyshement.
¶Philip Kynge of Fraunce.
PHilippe Kyng of Fraūce, whom so euer he perceaued to blaspheme the name of God eyther in Tauerne, or ony where els, yea althogh he were a great man of dignite,Vincētius in speculo historiali. commaunded, that he shuld be drowned. And caused a strōge acte to be made of it a lytle before hys death, & leafte it vntounto hys successours.
¶Philippe Earle of Flaunders.
PHilip Earle of Flaunders made thys constitucion wythe…n hysIacobus Mayer9 in chromeis Flā driae. Earledome in the yere of our Lorde M. Clxxviij. that he that dydde forsweare hymselfe, shuld loose his lyfe and goodes.
¶Marimilianus the Emperour.
MAximilianus the Emperoure made also a decre,In Paralip. rerū memorabilium. that who so euer he were, that was a comō swearer, shulde for the fyrste tyme loose a marke. And if he were not content wyth that, he shulde loose his heade, whyche acte he & the nobilitie of the Empyre commaunded to be publyshed foure tymes in the yere, at Easter, Whytsondaye, Assumpcion of our Lady and Christmas.
¶The councell of Iosephus.
THe councel of Iosephus is this that he,Lib▪ iiiii. Antiq. Cap. vi. which blasphemeth god & vnreuerently vse his name, shulde be stoned vntounto deathe, and than hā ged vp by the space of one daye, and so taken downe, and buryed wtoute all manner of honour.
Diuers other moost noble Princes made diuers other mooste holye lawes, for the exchewing of customable swearyng & Periury. Wolde god that theyse theyr moost godly actes myght ether be renued among christen men, or elles some other deuised for the abolyshyng and puttynge awaye of the moost wycked and detestable custome of swearynge, eueryevery Prynce as he shall thynke moost cō ueniēt for the state of hys Realme. Lawes are made, and penaltees appoynted for diuers meane thynges, whiche only concerne worldly matges…, why than do not Christē Prynces also make lawes, actes and decrees for y• glory of god, y• his name may be had in honour & reuerēce as most worthy of all it is? Worldlye matters maye not so be estemed, yt thynges pertaynynge vntounto the glorye of God and the saluacion of Christen mennes soules shall be neglected.
For rulares are appoynted of God not only to looke vponupon mundayne & worldly, but also diuine & spirituall matters. And it is theyr duty no les to tender the glory of GOD, and to make actes cōcernyng the same, thē to se that publique tranquilite & all thynges decent & comely for an honest outward order be mayntayned, preserued & kepte. And as they are the supreme heades & chefe Rulars both of y• Spiritualte & Tēporalte, so ought they to trauayle no lesse in spiritual thā in tēporalmatters. Loke what enormities, wyckednesses, vngodly customes, supersticious vnrighteous manners▪ &c. reygne in Realmes, all these ought to be abolyshed and put away by the terrene Potentates and earthely Rulars. God graūt that we maye se it shortely, not only in thys Realme, but in the kyngedomes of so many as professe Christ.
AMEN.
¶Remedies agaynst swearyng.
IF thou be bent to leaue the wycked custome of swearynge, fyrste praye feruentely vntounto God, that he wyl take away that thy hart, which is defyled on suche sorte, & so hardened wythe the customable vsage of synnyng, that there canne enter no vertue nor godlynes into it.
Secōdly desyre hym for hys great mercies sake to create in the a newe harte, & to poure hys spirite so abundantly into thy breste, that by the influence of it, thou mayste be able to dryncke in vertue, and all that euer shalbe plesasit to the diuine ma…este.
Thyrdly be so at defyaunce wyth all vice & synne, that by no meanes at any tyme thou hauehave pleasure eyther to thynke, heare or talke of it, so farre let it be from the to medle ony thyng at all wt it in thought, worde or dede.
Fortely set thys sayeng of Christ euer before thyne eyes,… … the third chapter of S. Iames …pistle. that at the daye of iudgement accōptes shall be gyuē of eueryevery idle word, that is spoken. Thys shall bryng vntounto thy remembraunce, howe gre…ous accoū tes shal be required of them, y• customably sweare, vaynely vsurpe the name of God, blaspheme GOD, be falsly forsworne. &c.
Fyftly, that thou mayst the more easly exchewe swearyng, flye the cō pany of them, that vse customablye to sweare, or hauehave a pleasure to enterlase theyr talke wt blasphemous oothes. And what so euer thou hatest in other, looke that by no means thou doste the same.
Syxtely, busy thy selfe cōtinually in gyuyng praysesvnto God, and in settyng forth the glory of his name. Delyght thou in no thyng so moch, as in doynge those thynges, y• make vntounto the auauncemēt of the diuine maieste. This shal not a lytyll make vntounto y• deposiciō of swering, & make the to hauehave a mouth, whiche shall be the organ and instrument of the holy Ghost, to sette for the and publysh the glory of God.
Finally, let nothyng come forthe of thy mouthe, vntyll it be thorowly soddē in thy breste, as Epictetus the Greke Philososopher warneth, and so order both thy tong and thyn actes in all thy conuersaciō, that it neuer repente the afterwarde of onye thynge that thou haste done. So shalte thou not only exchew the dā nable custome of swearynge, but also garnysh thy lyfe wyth all kynde of vertues vntounto the great glory of God and the healthe of thy soule. So be it.
TELOS.