ir oath. And
this indulgence towards them is continued to them by law to the present
day.

The Quakers have an objection to oaths, as solemn appeals to God,
because they are unnecessary.

It is an old saying among the Quaker writers, that "truth was before all
oaths." By this they mean, there was a time, when men's words were
received as truths, without the intervention of an oath. Ancient fable,
indeed, tells us, that there were no oaths in the golden age, but that,
when men departed from their primitive simplicity, and began to quarrel
with one another, they had recourse to falsehood to substantiate their
own case, after which it became necessary, that some expedient should be
devised, in the case of disputes, for the ascertaining the truth. Hence
Hesiod makes the god of oaths the son of Esis or of contention. This,
account differs but little from that of Polybuis, who says, that the use
of oaths in judgment was rare among the ancients, but that, as perfidy
grew, oaths increased.

And as it is a saying of the Quakers, that "truth was before all oaths,"
so they believe, that truth would be spoken, if oaths were done away.
Thus, that which is called honour by the world, will bind men to the
truth, who perhaps know but little of religion. But if so, then he, who
makes Christianity his guide, will not be found knowingly in a
falsehood, though he be deprived of the opportunity of swearing.

But if it be true, that truth existed before the invention of oaths, and
that truth would still be spoken, even if all oaths were abolished, then
the Quakers say, that oaths are not so necessary as some have imagined,
because they have but a secondary effect in the production of the truth.
This conclusion they consider also as the result of reason. For good men
will speak truth without an oath, and bad men will hardly be influenced
by one. And where oaths are regarded, it is probable that truth is
forced out of men, not so much, because they consider them as solemn
appeals to God, as that they consider the penalties, which will follow
their violation; so that a simple affirmation, under the same pains and
penalties, would be equally productive of the truth.

The Quakers consider oaths again as very injurious to morality. For
first, they conceive it to be great presumption in men to summon God as
a witness in their trilling and earthly concerns.

They believe, secondly, that, if men accustom themselves to call upon
God on civil oc