The priviledge of our saints in the business of perjury useful for grandjuries / by the author of Hudibras. Butler, Samuel, 1612-1680. 1681 Approx. 7 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 2 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2003-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A30776 Wing B6328 ESTC R5054 12270075 ocm 12270075 58207 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A30776) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 58207) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 861:33) The priviledge of our saints in the business of perjury useful for grandjuries / by the author of Hudibras. Butler, Samuel, 1612-1680. 1 sheet (2 p.). Printed for Benj. Tooke, London : 1681. Reproduction of original in Huntington Library. Broadside. Attributed to Samuel Butler. cf. NUC. In verse; extracts from Hudibras. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Broadsides 2002-06 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2002-07 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2002-08 Mona Logarbo Sampled and proofread 2002-08 Mona Logarbo Text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion The Priviledge of our SAINTS In the business of PERJURY . Useful for GRAND-JURIES . By the Author of HUDIBRAS . THat Saints may claim a Dispensation To Swear and Forswear on occasion , I doubt not but it will appear With pregnant light , the point is clear : Oaths are but words , and words but wind , Too feeble Implements to bind . And Saints whom Oaths or Vows oblige , Know little of their Priviledge : Further , I mean , than carrying on Some self-advantage of their own : For if the Devil , to serve his turn , Can tell Truth , why the Saints should scorn When it serves theirs , to Swear and Lye , I think there 's little reason why : Else h' has a greater pow'r than they , Which 't were Impiety to say . W' are not commanded to forbear Indefinitely , at all to Swear , But to Swear idly and in vain , Without Self-interest or Gain . For breaking of an Oath , and Lying , Is but a kind of Self-denying ; A Saint-like vertue , and from hence . Some have broke Oaths by Providence : Some , to the glory of the Lord Perjur'd themselves , and broke their word ; And this the constant rule and practice Of all our late Apostles Acts is . Was not the Cause at first begun With Perjury , and carried on ? Was there an Oath the Godly took , But in due time and place they broke ? Did not our Worthies of the House , Before they broke the Peace , break Vows ? For having freed us first from both Th' Allegiance and Supremacy Oath , Did they not next compel the Nation To take and break the Protestation ? To take th' Engagement and disclaim it , Enforc'd by those who first did frame it ? Did they not Swear at first to Fight For the Kings Safety and his Right ? And after march'd to find him out , And charg'd him home with Horse and Foot ; And yet still had the confidence To swear it was in his Defence . Did they not Swear to Live and Die With Essex , and straight laid him by ? Did they not Swear to maintain Law , In which that Swearing made a Flaw ? For Protestant Religion Vow , Which did that vowing disallow ? For Priviledge of Parliament , In which that Swearing made a Rent ? And since , of all the three not one Was left in being , 't is well known . Did they not Swear in express words , To prop and back the House of Lords ? And after turn'd out the whole Houseful , Of Peers as dangerous and unuseful ? This tells us plainly what they thought , That Oaths and Swearing go for nought . And that by them th'were only meant To serve for an expedient . Oaths were not purpos'd more than Law , To keep the Good and Just in awe , But to confine the bad and sinful , Like moral Cattel in a Pinfold . A Saint's of th' heavenly Realm a Peer ; And as no Peer is bound to Swear , But on the Gospel of his Honor , Of which he may dispose as owner ; It follows though the thing be forgery , And false , they affirm it is no Perjury , But a meer ceremony , and a breach Of nothing , but a form of speech , And goes for no more when 't is took , Than meer saluting of the Book . Suppose the Scriptures are of force , They 're but Commissions of course , And Saints have freedom to digress , And vary from 'em as they please , Or mis-interpret them by privat Instructions to all Aims they drive at ; Then why should we ourselves abridge , And curtail our own Priviledge ? 'T is the temptation of the Devil That makes all humane actons evil : For Saints may do the same things by The Spirit in sincerity , Which other men are tempted to , And at the Devils instance do ; And yet the action be contrary , Just as the Saints and Wicked vary . But as on Land there is no Beast , But in some Fish at Sea 's exprest , So in the Wicked there 's no Vice , Of which the Saints have not a spice ; And yet that thing that 's pious in The one , in th' other is a sin . Is 't not ridiculous and non-sense A Saint should be a slave to Conscience ? That ought to be above such Fancies As far , as above Ordinances . The Rabbins write , when any Jew Did make to God or Man a Vow , Which afterwards he found untoward , And stubborn to be kept , or too hard , Any three other Jews o' th' Nation Might free him from the Obligation ; And have not two SS — power to use A greater priviledge than three Jews ? The Court of Conscience which in man , Should be supreme and sovereign ; Is 't fit should be subordinate To every petty Court i' th' State , And have no power at all , nor shift To help it self at a dead lift ? Why should not Conscience have Vacation , As well as other Courts o' th' Nation ? Have equal power to Adjourn , Appoint Appearance and Return ? Do not your Juries give their Verdict As if they felt the Cause not heard it ? And as they please make matter of Fact Run all on one side as they 're packt . When each man Swears to do his best To Damn and Perjure all the rest , And bids the Devil take the hinmost , Which at this Race is like to win most . Nature has made man's breast no windores To publish what he does within doors , Nor what dark Secrets there inhabit , Unless his own rash Folly blab it . If Oaths can do a man no good , In his own business , why they shou'd In other matters do him hurt , I think there 's little reason for 't : He that imposes an Oath makes it , Not he that for convenience takes it : Then how can any man be said To break an Oath he never made ? These reasons may perhaps look odly To th' Wicked , though they evince the Godly For if we should defend the Cause By the strict Rule of Gospel-Laws , And only do what they call just , The Cause would quickly fall to dust . This we among our selves may speak , But to the wicked or the weak We must be cautious to declare Perfection Truths , such as these are . London , Printed for Benj. Tooke , 1681.