Q. How does it appear in Patience?

A. When we suffer without murmuring, and willingly, the afflictions which God is pleased to send us.

Q. How does it appear in Obedience?

A. When we fulfil with pleasure all the duties appointed of God, even such as are contrary to our inclinations, and when we abstain from what he has forbidden, though it be agreeable to us.

Q. In what consists resignation?

A. It is to renounce our own will, and to wish only for that which it pleases God to ordain— to submit to all events with the assurance that God loves us, and that he knows infinitely better than we do, what is good for us.

Q. What are the sins opposed to this?

A. Impatience, murmuring in affliction, inordinate attachment to our own will and desires.

SEET. 4.-Of Swearing or taking of Oaths. Q. Why is swearing or taking of oaths placed among duties to God?

A. It is one of the most solemn acts of Religion-it is a particular testimony of reverence to God-as such Moses enjoins it.

"Thou

shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name." Deut. vi. 13. And the 3d Commandment has reference to this. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Q. In what manner is God's name taken in vain?

A. In profane swearing, and in giving that holy name to idols.

Q. Are all oaths forbidden ?

A. No; the Scriptures not only allow, but enjoin them.

Q. For what purposes were oaths establish

ed?

A. To bring men under a solemn obligation to speak the truth, and to adhere to their engagements.

Q. What is it that we do when we take an oath?

A. We take God as witness of what we affirm, and we incur his vengeance if we adhere not to the truth.

Q. Ought we to swear by any other than God?

A. No; for none but God can perfectly know if we speak truth, or if we adhere to the obligation to which the oath binds us?

Q. What oaths are forbidden?

A. False oaths, rash oaths, and vain oaths. Q. What is a false oath ?

A. It is a false oath when we swear to what is not true, as is likewise one which is not fulfilled.

Q. What are the different circumstances of false swearing?

A. When we affirm things we know to be false; when we deny or withhold any part of the truth that we are obliged to declare; when we add to the truth, or mix falsehood with it; when we give any false colour to the truth, either to weaken or aggravate it.

Q. When we are summoned to give evi

dence against any one, are we bound to declare what we know, when it will produce their punishment or condemnation ?

A. Yes; we must obey the magistrate, and must conclude, that it is the will of God that truth shall be given in evidence, and justice exercised; and we are called upon to be impartial, whether we testify respecting friends or

enemies.

Q. When can we be dispensed from the obligation of an oath ?

A. When we have engaged to do a wicked action; but we should not consider ourselves dispensed from it, without being assured that the thing would be sinful.

Q. Is there any other case in which an oath. can be dispensed with?

A. We are not obliged to the fulfilment of an engagement, when he with whom it is made sets us free from it, if he do it without constraint.

Q. Is it allowed to equivocate, or make any mental reservation in swearing?

A. This is highly criminal; it is an abuse of an oath, and a breach of that reverence due to God.

Q. How then are we to understand and explain oaths?

A. We must explain them according to the sense in which they are understood by those who require us to swear.

Q. How are we to consider perjury?

A. It is a crime of the most awful kind; for in swearing we invoke the vengeance of 0

God and renounce his mercy, if we swear falsely.

Q. When is an oath rash?

A. We swear rashly, when we swear to that of which we are ignorant; when we engage to do any thing displeasing to God; any thing impracticable, or which we are doubtful of performing; if we swear without due deliberation, without a conviction of what we affirm, without a belief that what we promise is just, or without a sincere intention of fulfilling our oath. Q. How can we be released from a rash oath?

A. We should not attempt this lightly; without reflexion, prayer, and the counsels of those qualified to aid us; and it should be done with the knowledge of those who were witness to the oath, the better to prove our repentance.

Q. What is meant by vain oaths?

A. Those that are made without necessity, and on frivolous occasions, and such as are mingled in familiar discourse.

Q. When are oaths allowable ?

A. On serious and important occasions, and particularly when called upon by the civil authority.

Q. In what manner has Christ forbidden perjury and vain oaths ?

A. He says, "Ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I say unto you, swear not at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor

by the earth, for it is his footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be yea yea, nay nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." Matth. v. 34, 35, 36, 37.

Q. What are we to think of those imprecations which a person makes on himself or others?

A. They are things which a Christian should hold in abhorrence, as they are utterly inconsistent with piety and Christian charity.

Q. What is meant by "Let your communieations be yea yea, nay nay."?

A. That to affirm or deny should be considered as good testimony of our veracity as if we

swore.

Q. What is the sin of vain oaths?

A. It violates the command of Christ, and evinces a want of reverence for God.

Q. How then should we regard the too common practice of profane swearing?

A. We should abhor, discountenance, and avoid it.

Q. Is it a sin difficult to be eradicated ?

A. Before it is a confirmed habit it cannot be difficult to refrain from this practice, since it offers no temptation of pleasure or advantage, which greatly aggravates this sin.

Q. What means should be used to destroy this sinful practice?:

A. To seek God's grace-to cherish a sense