A plain discourse upon uprightness showing the properties and privileges of an upright man…A plain discourse upon uprightness shewing the properties and priviledges of an upright man…

3. An upright man hates all Equivocations and mental Reservations. That is, ⟨p. 62⟩he speaks his words in a sense that he would have them construed in, and keeps no part of a sentence in his mind, to contradict what he pronounced with his mouth, especially with an intent to injure another. Such was that juggling trick we read of Cydias, that being betrusted by Archetimus with a sum of money, afterwards flatly denies it. There being no witness to prove the truth, Cydias is summoned to his Oath before the Altar, and a great Assembly; he quilts the money in his staff, and going to take his Oath, gives Archetimus his staff to hold the while, and then confidently swears he had given him back his money: But this deceit lasted not long, for Archetimus seeing his perjury, in a rage throws down his staff; it breaks and the fraud is found. And such is the usual issue of such Equivocations. The upright man hath no skill at this; he knows if the plain truth will not bear him out, these cunning shifts never can. My brethren, it beseems not the plain-heartedness of a Christian to speak like the Delphian Oracle, to be understood in two contrary sentences.

3. An upright man hates all Equivocations and mental Reservations. That is, ⟨p. 62⟩he speaks his words in a sense that he would have them construed in, and keeps no part of a sentence in his mind, to contradict what he pronounced with his mouth, especially with an intent to injure another. Such was that jugling trick we read of Cydias, that being betrusted by Archetimus with a sum of mony, afterwards flatly denies it. There being no witness to prove the truth, Cydias is summon'd to his Oath before the Altar, and a great Assembly; he quilts the mony in his staffe, and going to take his Oath, gives Archetimus his staffe to hold the while, and then confidently swears he had given him back his money: But this deceit lasted not long, for Archetimus seeing his perjury, in a rage throws down his staffe; it breaks and the fraud is found. And such is the usual issue of such Equivocations. The upright man hath no skill at this; he knows if the plain truth will not bear him out, these cunning shifts never can. My brethren, it beseems not the plain-heartedness of a Christian to speak like the Delphian Oracle, to be understood in two contrary sentences.