Divine Poems, Commandment 6
Commandment VI.
VI Thou ſhalt do no murder. &c.
Murther leaves a bloody ſtain,
Which unpurged will remain,
Till a Flood of Tears it coſt,
Or till blood for blood be loſt.
Nor old age, nor length of time
Cleared Joab of this Crime,
Nor his Power, though great it was,
Nor a priviledged place
Could his head from vengeance hide,
But for this Offence he dy'd.
Command. VI.
Thy Makers Image do not ſpill,
Where God commands thee not to kill.
NOne had been ſafe, unleſs the bloody ſin
Forbidden here, had both reſtrained been,
And ſtill purſued (miſchiefs to prevent)
With open and with ſecret puniſhment.
Therefore Almighty God (who hath decreed
That he who ſheds his Brothers blood, ſhall bleed)
Attends it ſtill with vengeance: and the Sword
(According to the dreadful ſounding word
Pronounc'd long ſince to David) ſhall not leave
Him or his houſe who doth of life bereave
A guiltleſs man; till for that crying guilt,
Some Blood of his untimely ſhall be ſpilt.
For though like him, whom here we repreſent
Men, may by greatneſs, keep off puniſhment,
Till they are old, it will their heels purſue,
And give them at the laſt their bloody due;
For I have rarely heeded one in ten,
Of thoſe raſh-headed, and fool-hardy men,
Who (as they fondly term it) fairly kill;
But, they or theirs, have either ſuffered ſtill,
Deaths violent; or died in their prime,
Or, Iſſueleſs; for this Blood-ſpilling Crime.
Yea, and for ought is known, the ſelf-ſame Doom
On thoſe who yet eſcape, e're long may come.
And if the fair done Murthers have theſe Fates,
How ſhall he ſcape that foul ones perpetrates!
Of this offence, let all men conſcience make
For their own weal, or for their Childrens ſake
Whom they beget: For in the ſame degree
Wherein they murther, it repaid ſhall be,
On their own perſons, or on ſome of thoſe
By whom her due, juſt vengeance may not loſe.
If thou haſt took away the life of Fame
From any, thou ſhall ſuffer in thy Name.
If by unchriſtian Anger, or by hate,
Thou ſhalt occaſion what may ruinate
Anothers Being; in thy Generation,
Or in thy ſelf, expect retaliation;
Unleſs Repentance in a Fount of tears
Shall cleanſe that ſtain, which nothing elſe outwears.
Oppreſſion makes the Poor his life to leeſe
Like Poyſons which deſtroy men by degrees,
With lingring Deaths, and in an age or two
That Sin doth all thoſe Families undo
Which were enrich'd thereby, yea I have ſeen
Their Sons who by oppreſſion rais'd have been,
To fall from large Eſtates by ſome and ſome
Till they to ſuch baſe poverty have come,
As brought them to the Gallows: Therefore they
Act murthers who take means of life away
By an oppreſſing hand; and murther not
The poor alone; but thoſe whom they begot.
He is in Heart a Murtherer who prays
For others deaths; and in effect he ſlays,
Who can, but will not ſave, if to afford
Deliverance, with Juſtice will accord.
Nor from this error are they counted free,
Who, wittingly ſhall an occaſion be
To other men, of that which may intice
By word, or by example to this vice.
Such are thoſe Hackſters, (who themſelves do name
Men of the Sword) (but ſure enough I am)
(Men of a baſe Condition) theſe are they
Who fleſh our blooming Gentry in the way
Of brutiſh Quarrels, and their minds poſſeſs
With Rage inſtead of ſober Manlineſs.
Juſt of their ſtamp, are they who ſhall provoke
Their Friends unto Revenge for what was ſpoke
In drink or paſſion; making them believe
They were diſgraced if they ſhould forgive;
And ſo the Fools are urged to purſue
Thoſe wicked Counſels which at laſt they rue.
Another way as faulty are thoſe men
Who publiſh by the tongue or by the pen
Thoſe Hereſies and Fancies which undo
(Here and for aye) themſelves and others too.
Theſe laſt, are out of queſtion deeply dy'd
In this red Crime, though ſome of them can hide
Their Guilt with holy ſhews. The former ſort
Though well eſteem'd, and ſuch as none report
Or take for Murtherers, would ſoon be caſt
If an impartial verdict ſhould be paſt.
There is a murthering poyſon in ſome words
And Flatteries, are otherwhile the Swords
That Kill their hearers, though when they infect,
They do not murther by a line direct.
Moreover, other while unkindneſs may
Strike dead a Gentle heart; and ſuch as play
Falſe play in Love, (as when they do allure
And cauſleſly reject) may ſoon procure
Untimely Death. But ſuch like youthful Crimes
Though jeſted at, bring vengeance many times.
He that by lawful means doth blood require
For blood unjuſtly Spilt, with more deſire
To ſatisfy his rage, than to prefer
True Juſtice, is a parcel Murtherer.
And ſo are ſuch, who practiſe to encreaſe
A publick Concord, or mens private peace.
In ſome degree of Murtherers are they
Who to their might remove not far away
All ſuch occaſionings as may begin
Or help to perfect this inhumane Sin
And therefore by this Law we are forbidden,
To keep an Enmity in ſecret hidden,
That may provoke Revenge: which to prevent
A Duty doth precede the Sacrament
Of Chriſtian Unity; and they commit
Againſt this Law who fail to practiſe it.
Pride, Wrath, Scorn, Avarice, Wine in exceſs,
Wrongs, Jeers, Neglects, and Jeſts with bitterneſs,
With other ſuch (which either are or draw
Occaſions on, to violate this Law)
Are breaches of it. And though few ſuſpect,
(Becauſe theſe are but breaches indirect)
That ſuch enormities unpuniſh't be
(For that, but ſeldom they inflicted ſee
Immediate ſtripes) yet, queſtionleſs, by ſuch
Thoſe troubles are brought on, that ſhorten much
The life of Man; and thereby finiſh'd are
His numbred years before he is aware.
The Souldier (whom I had almoſt forgot)
Is very peaceful, if he murther not.
To kill is his profeſſion; yet I ſay,
He murthers if his Priſner he ſhall ſlay,
The battel being paſt. The Voluntary
Whom, an ambitious Avarice doth carry,
To hoſtle Actions, when his lawful Prince,
Nor ſends nor calls him, nor the juſt defence
Of his own perſon, or his Countries good
Engageth to become a man of blood.
Ev'n he may be ſuſpected, not to tread
A path ſo noble, and ſo warranted
As he conceives: yet neither praiſe I them,
Nor do I peremptorily condemn
Their practice, but refer what I have ſaid,
In their own conſcience to be rightly weigh'd.
"Lord give us eyes our Secret ſins to ſee,
"While time and place to us vouchſafed be,
"That we may leave them, and that Love embrace
"Which will conceal them with her vail of grace.
"For, if with Joab we grow old in Sin,
"Which hath not really repented bin,
"Till thou growſt angry; vengeance will not tarry
"But ſmites us dead, ev'n in thy Sanctuary.
"Thrice holy Trinity, my Heart poſſeſs,
"And, I, this Precept, never ſhall tranſgreſs.
Amen.