certain, is a Lyar alfo; or if he do not report Sunday XIII it as a Certainty, but only as a Probability, yet then, tho' he be not guilty of the Lye, yet he is of the Injuftice of robbing his Neighbour of his Credit; for there is fuch an aptness in Men to believe Ill of others, that any the lighteft Jealoufy will, if once it be fpread Abroad, ferve for that purpose; and fure it is a moft horrible Injustice, upon every flight Surmise and Fancy, to hazard the bringing fo great an Evil upon another especially when it is confider'd, that those Surmifes commonly fpring rather from fome Cenforiousness, Peevishness, or Malice in the Surmifer, than from any real Fault in the Perfon fo fufpected. 2. The manner of fpreading the falfe False Wi Reports of both kinds, is not always the s fame; fometimes it is more open and avowed, fometimes more close and private: The open is many times by falfe Witness before the Court of Juftice; and this not only hurts a Man in his Credit, but in other refpects alfo : 'tis the delivering him up to the Punishment of the Law, and according to the nature of the Crime pretended, does him more or lefs Mischief; but if it be of the highest kind, it may concern his Life, as we fee it did in Naboth's Cafe, 1 Kings xxi. How great and crying a Sin it is in this refpect, as also in that of the Perjury, you may learn from what hath been faid of both those Sins. I am now Sunday to confider it only as it touches the Credit XIII. and to that it is a moft grievous Wound, thus Publick to have a Crime publickly witneffed against one, and fuch as is fcarce curable by any thing that can afterwards be done to clear him; and therefore, whoever is guilty of this, doth a most outrageous Injustice to his Neighbour; this is that which is exprefly forbidden in the Ninth Commandment, and was by God appointed to be punish'd, by the inflicting of the very fame Suffering upon him, which his false Testimony aimed to bring upon the other, Deut. xix. 16. 3. The Second open way of spreading these Standers. Reports, is, by a publick and common declaring of them, tho' not before the Magitrate, as in the other cafe, yet in all Companies, and before fuch as are likely to carry it farther; and this is ufually done with bitter Railings and Reproaches; it being an ordinary Art of Slanderers, to revile those whom they Slander; that fo, by the fharpness of the Accufation, they may have the greater Impreffion on the Minds of the Hearers: this, both in refpect of the Slander and the Railing, is a high Injury, and both of them such as debar the Committers from Heaven; Thus Pfal. xv. where the upright Man is defcribed, that hall have his Part there, this is one fpecial thing, ver. 3. That he flandereth not his Neighbour. And for Railing, the Apoftle, in feveral Places, reckons it amongst thofe Works of the Flef, XIII. Flesh, which are to fhut Men out both from Sunday the Church here, by Excommunication, as you may fee 1 Cor. XV. 11. and from the Kingdom of God hereafter, as it is 1 Cor. vi. 10. 4. The other more close and private way Whispering. of fpreading fuch Reports, is that of the Whif perer; he that goes about from one to another, and privately vents his Slanders, not out of an Intent by that means to make them lefs publick, but rather more: This Trick of delivering them by way of Secret, being the way to make them both more believed, and more fpoken of too; for he that receives fuch a Tale as a Secret from one, thinks to please fome-body else by delivering it as a Secret to him alfo; and fo it paffes from one hand to another, till at laft it spread over a whole Town. This fort of Slander is of all others the most dangerous, for he works in the dark, tyes all he speaks to, not to own him as the Author; fo that whereas in the more publick Accufations, the Party may have some means of clearing himself, and detecting his Accufer, here he shall have no poffibility of that; the Slander, like a fecret Poison, works incurable Effects, before ever the Man discern it. This Sin of Whispering, is by St. Paul mentioned among thofe great Crimes which are the Effects of a reprobate Mind, Rom. i. 29. It is indeed one of the most incurable Wounds of this Sword of the Tongue, the very Bane and Pest of Humane Society, and that which not only Sunday robs fingle Perfons of their good Names, but XIII. oftentimes whole Families, nay, publick So Several Sin. cieties of Men, of their Peace; what Ruins, what Confufions, hath this one Sin wrought in the World! 'Tis Solomon's Obfervation, Prov. xviii. 28. that a Whisperer separateth chief Friends and fure one may truly fay of Tongues thus employed, that they are fet on fire of Hell, as St. James faith, chap iii. 6. 5. This is fuch a Guilt, that we are to beware of all the degrees of approach to it, of wards this which there are feveral Steps; the firft is, The giving ear to, and cherishing of those that come with Slanders; for they that entertain and receive them, encourage them in the Practice; for, as our common Proverb fays, If there were no Receivers, there would be no Thief; o, if there were none that would give an ear to Tales, there would be no Tale-bearers. A fecond Step is, The giving too eafie credit to them; for this helps them to attain part of their End. They defire to get a general ill Opinion of fuch a Man; but the way of doing it muft be, by causing it firft in particular Men; and if thou fuffer them to do it in thee, they have fo far profpered in their aim. And for thy own part, thou do'ft a great Injustice to thy Neighbour, to believe Ill of him, withput a juft ground, which the Accufation of fuch a Perfon certainly is not. A Third Step s, The reporting to others, what is thus told thee; by which thou makeft thy felf directly a Party in the Slander; and after thou haft Sunday XIII. unjustly withdrawn from thy Neighbour thy own good Opinion, endeavoureft to rob him alfo of that of others. This is very little below the Guilt of the firft Whisperer, and tends as much to the Ruin of our Neighbour's Credit. And these feveral degrees have fo close a dependance one upon another, that it will be very hard for him that allows himfelf the first, to escape the other: And indeed, he that can take delight to hear his Neighbour defamed, may well be prefumed of fo malicious a Humour, that it is not likely he fhould ftick at fpreading the Slander. He therefore that will preferve his Innocence in this matter, must never, in the leaft degree, cherish or countenance any that brings these falfe Reports. And it is not lefs neceffary to his Peace, than to his Innocency; for he that once entertains them, muft never expect quiet, but fhall be continually incited and ftirred up, even against his nearest and deareft Relation; fo that this Whisperer and Slanderer is to be look'd on by all as a common Enemy, he being fo as well to those to whom, as of whom, he speaks. ing. 6. But befides this groffer way of Slander- Defpifing ing, there is another, whereby we may im- and Scoffpair and leffen the Credit of our Neighbour," and that is, by Contempt and Defpifing, one common effect whereof is Scoffing and Deri ding him. This is very injurious to a Man's Reputa |