[494] Saith Fitzherbert, 1. 1. c. 23. n. 17, I cannot but lament, that so great an impiety as blasphemy is, being so common, doth pass unpunished: whereas in other countries the least blasphemies are severely chastened: insomuch that in Spain I have known a man set in the market-place, the greatest part of a day, gaping with a gag in his mouth, for swearing only by the life of God.
[495] See Jer. v. 21, 22; Job xlii. 5, 6; and xxxviii. 2, 3, &c.
[496] Psal. xxix. 2; lxvi. 2; lxviii. 4; xxxiv. 3; xcvi. 2; Isa. ix. 6; xii. 4; xli. 25; Jer. xxxiv. 16; Ezek. xxxvi. 22, 23; 1 Kings viii. 16, 18, 19, 29; ix. 3, 7; 2 Sam. vii. 13; Deut xiv. 23; Psal. cxlv. 1, 2; Isa. xxvi. 8, 13; Psal. lxxxvi. 9, 12; cxxxv. 13; Cant. i. 3; John xii. 28.
[497] Vid. Aquin. de Veritat.
[498] Matt. xxvi. 63; Mark xiv. 61; xv. 5; Luke xxiii. 9; John xix. 9; Jer. xxxviii. 26, 27.
[499] Acts xxiii. 6-9. Licitum est aliquando salva veritate, illa verba proferre, ex quibus probabiliter novimus auditores aliquid conclusores falsi. Hoc enim non est mentiri vel falsum testari, sed tantum occasionem alteri præbere errandi non ad peccatum committendum sed potius vitandum. Ames. Cas. Consc. 1. 5. c. 53. See Luke xxiv. 28; John vii. 8, 10.
[500] Tolle voluntatem, nec erit discrimen in actu.
[501] Verba propterea instituta sunt, non ut per ea se invicem homines fallant, sed ut eis quisque in alterius notitiam cogitationes suas proferat. Verbis ergo uti ad fallaciam, non ad quod sunt instituta, peccatum est. Aug. Enchirid.
[502] Every lie is evil and to be avoided, saith Aristot. Ethic. 1. 4. See Psal. v. 7; Prov. vi. 17, 19; xii. 22; xix. 5, 9; xxi. 18; Rev. xxi. 27; xxii. 15; John viii. 44; Col. iii. 9.
[503] Numb. xxiii. 19; 1 Sam. xv. 29; 1 John v. 10.