SUMMARY OF SERMON XVIII. PROVERBS, CHAP. X.-VERSE 18. In the second place the folly of slander is declared. 1. Slander is foolish, as sinful and wicked. All sin is foolish on many accounts, as proceeding from ignorance, error, vanity, &c. What can be more egregiously absurd than to dissent in our opinion and choice from infinite wisdom, to disoblige our best friend, on whom our all depends? If then this practice be proved extremely sinful, it will thence be demonstrated no less foolish; and that it is extremely sinful may easily be shown. It is so described in holy Scripture; it is that which gives to the grand fiend his names, and which best expresses his nature. To lie simply is a great fault, highly disagreeable to the God of truth; and of all lies those are the worst which proceed from malice, or vanity, or both; and which work mischief, such as slander does. Again, to bear hatred or illwill, to exercise enmity towards any man, to design mischief against our neighbor, whose good, by many laws, and for many reasons, we are obliged to tender as our own, is a heinous fault; and of this the slanderer is apparently most guilty. All injustice is abominable: it is that crime which tends more immediately to the dissolution of society, and the disturbance of human life; which God therefore most loathes, and men have most reason to detest; but the slanderer violates all the rules of justice, and commits all sorts of wrong against his neighbor. He may perhaps conceive it no great matter if he does not act in a boisterous and bloody manner, but only by means of words, which are subtile transient things, and on his neighbor's credit only, which is neither substantial nor visible: but we are not to estimate things by our fancy; we must not reckon that a trifle which he prizes as a jewel: moreover the injustice we commit is not to be corrected or cured: thefts may be restored and wounds healed; but a good name lost, cannot so easily be recovered. Nor is the thing itself contemptible; for as Solomon says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches: this point enlarged on. 2. But more particularly the slanderer is plainly a fool, because he makes wrong judgments and valuations of things, and accordingly drives silly bargains for himself, whereby he becomes a great loser. He means by his calumnies either to vent some passion boiling within him, or to compass some design, or to please some humor with which he is possessed; but is any of these things worth purchasing at so dear a rate? Can there be any fair exchange for our honesty? But the slanderer may pretend that it is not to assuage a private passion, or to promote his own concerns, that he deals thus with his neighbor; but for the sake of orthodox doctrine, or for the advancement of the public good; and in truth zeal for some opinion or some party is often the covert of innumerable slanders; but truth, equity, candor, and charity, are to be observed not only towards those who dissent from us in opinion, but even towards declared enemies of truth; for truth must ever support itself by fair means: this point enlarged on. 3. The slanderer is a fool, because he uses improper means and preposterous methods of effecting his purposes. As there is no design worth carrying on by ways of falsehood and iniquity, so there is scarcely any (at least any good or lawful one) which may not be more surely and cleverly achieved by means of truth and justice. He that has recourse to base means, and maketh lies his refuge, forfeits all hopes of God's assistance, and so cannot reasonably expect success. 4. The slanderer is a very fool, as bringing many great inconveniences and troubles on himself. 1. A fool's mouth, saith the wise man, is his destruction, his lips are the snare of his soul; and if any kind of speech be dangerous, this is certainly most so, for men will more easily pardon one who robs them of their goods, than the defamer of their good name. 2. Such an one is odious not only to the person immediately concerned, but generally to all men that observe his practice: so that the slanderer is reckoned a common enemy. 3. All wise, noble, ingenuous persons have an aversion to this practice, and cannot entertain it with any complacency : a righteous man hateth lying. 4. The slanderer banishes himself from all good conversation and company, or intruding becomes disgusting unto it. 5. He also derogates wholly from his own credit in all matters of discourse; for when he dares thus to injure his neighbor, who can trust him in any thing he speaks? 6. This practice is perpetually accompanied with troublesome companions, inward regret, self-condemnation, fear, and disquiet. 7. The consequence of it is commonly shameful disgrace, with an obligation to retract and render satisfaction; for seldom does calumny pass long without detection. 8. To this in all likelihood the concernments of men, and the powers that guard justice, will forcibly bring him; and certainly his conscience will bind him thereto; God will indispensably exact it from him. 9. This practice doth also certainly revenge itself, imposing on its actor a perfect retaliation; a tooth for a tooth; an irrevocable infamy to himself for the infamy which he has caused to others. 10. In fine, the slanderer (unless by serious repentance he retracts his practice) banishes himself from heaven and happi BAR. VOL. II. B ness, exposes himself to endless miseries and sorrows: for St. Paul declares that no railer or evil-speaker shall inherit the kingdom of God: and if for every idle or vain word we must render a strict account, how much more so for such as are positively evil? The nature of this sin, and the folly of it having been declared, much need not be said for dissuading it; especially to persons of a generous and honest mind: it may suffice to observe that, since our faculty of speech (in which we excel all other creatures) was given us, as in the first place to praise and glorify our Maker, so in the next to benefit, help, and delight our neighbor, it is an unnatural perversion and irrational abuse of it, to employ it for his damage or disgrace. Conclusion. SERMON XVIII. THE FOLLY OF SLANDER. PROVERBS, CHAP. X.-VERSE 18. He that uttereth slander is a fool. . I HAVE formerly in this place, discoursing on this text, explained the nature of the sin here condemned, with its several kinds and ways of practising. II. I shall now proceed to declare the folly of it; and to make good by divers reasons the assertion of the wise man, that <he who uttereth slander is a fool.' 1. Slandering is foolish, as sinful and wicked. All sin is foolish on many accounts; as proceeding from ignorance, error, inconsiderateness, vanity; as implying weak judgment and irrational choice; as thwarting the dictates of reason and best rules of wisdom; as producing very mischievous effects to ourselves, bereaving us of the chief goods, and exposing us to the worst evils. What can be more egregiously absurd than to dissent in our opinion and discord in our choice from infinite wisdom; to provoke by our actions sovereign justice and immutable severity; to oppose almighty power, and offend immense goodness; to render ourselves unlike, and contrary in our doings, our disposition, our state, to absolute perfection and felicity? What can be more desperately wild than to disoblige our best friend, to forfeit his love and favor, to render him our enemy, who is our Lord and our Judge, on whose mere will and disposal all our subsistence, all our welfare does absolutely depend? What greater madness can be conceived than to de |