nishment of the Sin of Murder, or some other notorious Crime. This Office of Punishment, or Vengeance, God has very juftly taken out of all private Hands, and lodged it in the Publick Magiftrate, who is God's Revenger, to execute his Wrath upon Evil-doers. And I know but one Cafe wherein, without the formal Sentence of this Magiftrate or Judge, it is lawful to take away our Neighbour's Life, and that is a Cafe allowed by this Judge himself; namely, whenever we, or our Neighbour, are unjustly and fuddenly Affaulted, that there is no Time for the Magiftrate's Rescue and Affiftance; if in that just Defence of our Selves or Neighbours, we should happen to kill the Aggreffor, whether that Aggreffor be Robber or Murderer, or publick or private Enemy, in this Cafe, the Laws of God and Man give every Man a Power thus far to use the Sword, to defend his own Life, Goods and Liberty, and thofe of his Neighbours, against the unjuft Invader. Now the chief Inftances of the Tranfgreffion of this Law, Thou shalt not kill, are thefe following.

1. The worst of all is deliberate Murder, when either by Force or Fraud we deliberately fet upon our Neighbour and kill him. Nothing can justify fuch an Action as this is; for fuppofing this Neighbour had given us ever fo great Provocation; fuppofe we judged our felves to be ever fo much endangered by him; there are Laws and Judges to right us; and if there were none, we fhould choofe rather to withdraw our felves from that Neighbourhood or Country, than flee to fuch a desperate, unlawful Remedy. For if this Gap were once opened, that private Revenge

were allowed inftead of publick Juftice, this would run the World into fo great Confufion, that there would be no living in it, Mankind .would be all Bears and Tygers to one another, and we should be like the Fishes of the Sea, the greater devouring the leffer. It is abfolutely neceffary then, for the good of Mankind, that the Lives of Men be left in God's Hands; and for private Men to offer to take them away, is an invading of his Prerogative.

2. Next to Deliberate Murder, another great Breach of this Commandment is, the being fo far tranfported with fudden Anger upon any Provocation, as to kill our Neighbour, though we did not beforehand design it. But still, this being a Perverting of God's Defign in this Law, and the Expofing the Lives of Men to all fudden Freaks and Paffions, which God would have kept facred in his own Hands; it is no doubt a very great Sin against this Commandment.

3. All Infurrections and Rebellions of Subjects against their lawful Magiftrates, are Tranfgreffions of this Commandment; and I do not fee the Difference between the Murders committed in fuch an Infurrection, and private Murders, as to the Sin of them; but that in the private Murders there is perhaps but one Perfon, or a very few concerned; whereas in Infurrections and Rebellions great Numbers combine; which is fo far from extenuating the Crime, that in this refpect it aggravates it, by fo many more as it involves in it.

4. All Unjuft Ufe of the Sword in the Publick Magiftrate, or Injustice in Jurors, or Witnesses, which Occafions the Lofs of Life, falls under the

Breach

Breach of this Law. If an innocent Perfon is fworn out of his Life by the Calumnies of falfe Witneffes; if a corrupt Jury finds an innocent Perfon guilty; if an unjust Judge makes use of his publick Capacity to execute his private Revenge; if a lawful Prince turns Tyrant, and makes War upon an innocent People, to deprive them of their Lives, Liberties, or Fortunes; or if an Ambitious Prince invades a peaceable Country, in order to make a Conqueft of it; in all thefe Cafes, the innocent Lives that are loft, will be charged by God Almighty to thofe falfe Witneffes, thofe corrupt Juries, thofe unjust Judges, thofe encroaching Tyrants, and those invading Conquerors: For they are all Breaches of this Sixth Commandment.

5. Though erroneous Judgments, which occafion the Lofs of Mens Lives, are not near fo Criminal, as those which are wilfully unjust; yet they cannot be exempted from being Breaches of this Commandment. Particularly, the many Perfecutions which have been raised in the World upon Account of Religion, though they who raised them, might perhaps think that they did God good Service; yet certainly are so many Murders in the Sight of God, who never commanded or allowed Men to be killed for the Errors of their Understanding, if thofe Errors do not lead them into wicked Actions worthy of Death, as they fometimes do.

6. All high Acts of Oppreffion, which have a Tendency to impoverish and ftarve poor People, to that Degree, that they are not able to fubfift or live, are Breaches of this Commandment. They who are fo fordid and niggardly,

that they with-hold from Servants neceffary Food and Raiment; they who by ill-ufage, over-working, or over-correcting, or be-grudging the Coft, neglect to provide Help in time for the Sick under their Charge, prove acceffary to the Death of others; I fee not how they can excufe themselves from an Hand in this Sin. Efpecially this fhould be confidered by fome habitually cruel Mafters and Miftreffes, who, by ill-ufage, break their Servants Hearts, and fometimes, by their cruel Correction, prove their actual Murderers.

7. All private Fighting, Striking, Maiming, and Wounding; in fhort, all Violence to our Neighbour, except what is inflicted by thofe who have Authority, and is defigned by them either for the Amendment of the Delinquent, or as a Punishment for the Example of others; and all drunken Quarrels, and deliberate Duels, are deep in the Tranfgreffion of this Commandment.

8. Lastly, All unlawful Actions which occafion the Shortening of our Neighbour's Life, are reducible to the Breach of this Commandment. And therefore they who by their Talebearing, and other Aggravations of their Neighbours Faults, do fo exafperate Mens Minds one against another, that Quarrels and Murders enfue; and even they who induftriously promote the Practice of high Drinking, and other Irregularities and Exceffes, which commonly ruin Mens Health, and haften their Death, what they call Living Fast; had best in time confider, and amend, left they be found guilty of what it is like they might not defign, the Death of their Neighbour; for whom they pretend often the highest Friendhip.

There

There is one Species of Murder I have not yet fpoken of, namely, Self-Murder. The unhappy Perfons who are inclinable to this Sin, flatter themselves, as if they had injured none but Themselves; and if it were fo, fuch an irreparable Injury to Themselves, which cuts off all Opportunity of Repentance, were enough to deter all Confiderate People from it. But befides all this, the Injury reaches to a great Many others; the State lofes a Subject; an Hufband lofes a Wife, or a Wife an Hufband; a Parent lofes a Child, or a-Child a Parent; and the Scandal of the bad Example reaches as far as the thing is known, and leaves a dreadful Stain on the Family, Society, and even Religion to which they belonged. And befides, if it injured: no others, do they make nothing of the Sin against Almighty God, who hath allotted.. us our Stations and Business in this World, which we are not to relinquish without his leave? Shalla poor Soldier be condemned to Death for deferting the Service in which he is engaged; and fhall: we think to escape unpunished, when we take upon us to make an efcape from all Duty; and to cut-off that Life, of which God alone is the right. Owner;

So much for the firft Thing, of which I propofed the Explication, what Sins are prohibited by thefe Words, Thou shalt not kill.

I proceed in the next Place, as I likewife propofed, to offer fome Confiderations to deter from them.

you

1. First then, It is confiderable, that this Practice of making away with our Neighbour out of private Revenge, is utterly inconfiftent with allSociety and Government; for if this were permitted

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