relating to these affairs, was only to "allow a DIVORCE, which was a provifo " for the hardness of the hearts of the

Ifraelites. Every man was bound to "maintain whom he had firft married; left, therefore, fuch as defigned ano"ther wife, and could not maintain a former, might ufe indirect ways to be "rid of them, this fair one of divorce "was allowed by GoD; and their polygamy was practifed, without either al"lowance or controul, as the natural pri

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*

vilege of mankind. Neither is it any "where marked among the blemishes of "the patriarchs; David's wives, and ftore of them he had, are termed by "the prophet, GoD's gift to him: yea polygamy was made in fome cafes a duty by Mofes's law;-when any died with"out iffue, his brother, or nearest kinfman, was to marry his wife, for raising 66 up feed to him; and all were obliged "to obey this, under the hazard of infamy, if they refufed it; neither is "there any exceptions made for fuch as were married. From whence I may

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*I juft take the liberty to obferve, that it is beft to keep to the expreffion of fcripture. Our BLESSED SAVIOUR doth not fay, that GoD allowed divorcebut-Mofes allowed or permitted it ;-fo the Bishop expreffes himself a few lines higher.

"faithfully

faithfully conclude, that what God "made neceffary in fome cafes to any degree, can in no cafe be finful in itself; "fince GOD is holy in all His ways.

"But it is now to be examined, if it " is forbidden by the gofpel. It is cer“tain, that our LORD defigned to raise "mankind to the highest degrees of pu

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rity and chastity; and therefore OUR

LORD and St. PAUL do prefer a single "life to a married ftate *, as that which

qualifies us for the kingdom of heaven, "and was loaded with the feweft in"cumbrances; and by this rule, a fingle marriage being next to none at all, was certainly more suitable to the goSpel" [he means the times of the goSpel.] "But a fimple and exprefs difcharge of polygamy is no where to be

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"found.

"It is true, our LORD difcharges di"vorces, except in the case of adultery; adding, that whofoever puts away his wife upon any other account, commits adultery: fo St. Luke and St. Matthew "in one place have it-or commits adultery against her; fo St. Mark has it

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"This was meant only with refpect to parti"cular perfons in particular circumftances, fuch as an apoftle; which is the reason why St. Paul applies it chiefly to himself." I Cor. vii.

or caufes her to commit adultery: fo St. "Matthew in another place.

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If it be adultery then to take another woman after an unjust divorce, ' it will follow that the wife has that right over the husband's body, that he • must touch no other.'-This is indeed plaufible, and it is all that can be brought from the New Testament, which feems "convincing; yet it will not be found of • weight.

"For it is to be confidered, that if our Lord had been to antiquate polygamy, it being fo deeply rooted in the 66 men of that age, confirmed by fuch "fashions and unquestioned precedents, " and riveted by fo long a practice, he "must have done it plainly and autho

ritatively, and not in fuch an involved "manner, as to be fought out of his "words by the fearch of logick.

"Neither are thefe dark words made more clear by any of the apostles in "their writings: words are to be carried no farther, than the defign upon which

they were written will lead them to; "fo that our LORD being, in that place, "to ftrike out divorce fo explicitly, we "muft not, by a confequence, condemn

polygamy; fince it seems not to have fall"en within the Scope of what our LORD "does there difapprove.

"Befide,

"Befide, the term adultery may be "taken in general, for fuch a breach of "wedlock as is equivalent to adultery; "and fuch is an unjust divorce. This may "be the importance of the phrase used by St. Mark, viz.-be committeth adul

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86

tery against her; or all may be better explained by the phrase St. Matthew "ufes about it, in one place-be caufes "ber to commit adultery; fince he that expofeth or tempteth to fin, fhares in "the guilt with the perfon that fuc"cumbs: and from this it appears, that polygamy is not declared adultery, nei"ther in the place cited, nor any other

"that I know of.

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But it is true that polygamy falls 'fhort of the intendment of marriage, "in innocency, to which ftate, we that are under the gospel muft return as near

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6

as it is poffible. It is to be confessed "that polygamy was much condemned by "the ancients, though I think I have "met with something about it, that is "little noticed; but of that I can ad

venture to say nothing at this * distance " from my books and papers.

"But

* How unfairly Dean Delaney reprefents this paffage in the Bishop's paper, may be feen before, p. 262. where we are to fuppofe his Lordship making "the

best

"But all that being granted, it is to be confidered that the antients were unjuft and fevere against marriage (itself), and did exceffively favour the celibate, or fingle (life); fo that in fome places, they who married a fecond time, were put to do penance for it; and, indeed, "both Jew and Gentile had run into

fuch excess by their free commixtures, "that it is no wonder if the holy men "of thofe ages, being provoked to a juft

zeal, againft fuch unjuft practices, "must have been carried, through im"moderate fwaying of the counterpoize, "into fome extremes on the other hand. "Therefore, to conclude this short anfwer, wherein many things are hinted, which might have been enlarged into a volume, I fee nothing "fo ftrong against polygamy, as to balance the great and vifible imminent "hazards that hang over fo many thoufands, if it be not allowed."

The author cannot help expreffing the highest fatisfaction in finding, that in

"best excufe he could, for giving a rash opinion" -whereas, he feems to give the circumftance of being at a diftance from his books and papers,' as a reason for not producing teftimonies from the antients "little noticed," but which, if produced, would tend to fhew, that fome of them thought as his Lordship did upon the subject.

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what