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the shame of dying publickly? Vain imagination! What can thefe wretches propofe by falling into the hands of the living God fooner than they need to do, if they lived as long as God would let them live? But what can more resemble madness, than to believe that Chrift died for fuch as repent, and believe the gofpel; and yet to diftruft he died for me, who am fo forry for my fins, That I would give the world (if it were mine) I never had offended God; willing rather to lofe all the world than commit the like any more, and to purchase the favour of God with my blood, rather than that his displeasure should rise against me? Let them, who can fay this is not repenting and believing, fay what is fo; and yet this is the cafe of many unhappy fouls. And what can be liker to distraction, than to believe and repent, to forrow and amend; and yet conclude ourselves veffels of wrath under God's vengeance?

The inti

VI. I have already fhewn how far and by what means His poffefany one injures his neighbour in his foul and body: fions. now in the next place I fhall declare in what manner a man may be wronged in his poffeffions; of which his wife may properly be faid to be the chief: and His wife. therefore I fhall proceed to fhew the heinousness of a breach of the feventh COMMANDMENT, where it is faid, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Because This act of injuftice of enticing a man's wife from her husband's bed is doing wrong not only to the man, but to his wife alfo; forafmuch as he is thereby robbed of her innocency, and deluded into the high road of eternal perdition, by bringing her into the guilt of both luft and perjury and, not to To the quo mention the difcredit, which fuch a blemish throws upon her character, it moft certainly chills her proper affections towards her own hufband, and thar feldom fails to end in loathings, difgufts, and a multitude of other evils, which of all others make the marriage state the moft miferable. And,

eing a man's wife the

greatest in

juftice.

man.

o

What greater injuftice can be done to the hufband, than to rob him of the love and faithfulnefs which is due to him from the wife of his bofom, and over

To the man.

whelming

whelming him (if it be found out) with the moft anxious pains of jealoufy? Befides, the world is fo unjuft, as even to add to his forrow, by reproaching the injured man with fcorn and contempt, only because he is injured: And what can it be called lefs than theft and robbery, fhould the injured husband be burthened with the providing for a fpurious offspring of his wife's adulterous practices? for fuch a child would take from the legitimate: and therefore it cannot ever be fatisfied without a restoration to the defrauded family of as much as fuch a provifion has taken from it. And here it would be proper to remark, that, under the Jewish law, the adulterous were to be stoned to death; because it is prefumed, that no man can ever make The most ira fufficient fatisfaction for fo great an injury to the reparable. foul and body of his neighbour. Other ill confequences of this vice are, that it propagates ficknefs and infirmities, both upon men's felves and their pofterities; that it is deftructive of human fociety, and of the public welfare; that it feparates the nearest relations; lays the ground of inextricable confufions, and implacable diffenfions, in families; and oftentimes occafions public contentions, murders, and feditions: fo that hardly from any other cause have iffued greater and more tragical events. And this fhould warn thofe, who continue now in this crime, that they repent: for though the Jewish law is abrogated, yet God's juftice is ftill the fame: his knowledge penetrates the moft fecret parts, and he will call men into judgment, and punish them with death eternal for unrepented adulteries, which must be lamented with a whole life of penitential

exercifes.

Secondly, we must not injure our neighbour in his goods,

that is to fay, in none of his poffeffions, whether In bis goods.

houses, land, money, cattle, or any thing that is

his property and right; by endeavouring to hurt, damage, or to defraud, or any ways get any of them for our own ufe; which includes both malice and covetousness.

The malice of this injuftice appears, where no intereft or profit can follow to the perfon who takes pleafure. Malicious to hurt, damage, or destroy the goods of a neigh- injuftice. bour whom he hates: an action, which moft nearly refem

bles

bles, the continual practice of the devil, to undo others without doing himself any good: but much exceeding him in wickedness, forafmuch as he only envies creatures of another nature, whereas the malicious man perfecutes those of his own nature. And

Covetous

injuftice.

cri

Its covetousness is most notorious, which will be better understood when confidered under the distinct heads of oppreffion, theft, and deceit. For Oppreffion is an open violence, and force against our neighbour's goods, and a fin condemned by all; and Oppreffion. even those that practise it in fome of its very minal branches, where the halter is not about their necks, will cry aloud against it. For no ftate nor condition of men are secure from it. Many rich, honourable and powerful, both nations, princes and fubjects, have been deprived of their rights, liberties, and eftates, by violence; and gifts, bribes, grandeur and authority have too often corrupted or over-awed a judge, and taken place of justice; in which cafe, all perfons concerned, as well the lawyer that pleads, as he that gives fentence, are guilty of oppreffion. Again, whoever takes advantage of a poor man's needs, and extorts too great a ufury from him, under a pretence to fupply his preffing neceflities; or a griping landlord, who puts his tenants on the rack; or those that are in any wife intrusted with affeffing, taxing, and rating their neighbours, and not only do it without juftice and mercy, but too frequently lay hold of fuch opportunities to gratify fome private pique or refentment; these or any other extortioners exercife but different branches of the fin of oppreffion. But

God's vengeance

Let them remember the danger they rifk; for the Lord has declared by the mouth of his prophet, that he who hath oppreffed the poor, and hath spoiled by against it. violence, fhall furely die; his blood shall be upon him. Therefore take the advice of Solomon, who exhorts us not to rob the poor, because he is poor; neither to opprefs the afflicted in the gate. For the Lord will plead their caufe, and spoil the foul of those that spoiled them.

VII. The fecond fort of this injustice is theft; Of theft. which is an unlawful taking, ufing, or keeping

Our

our neighbour's property, either by force or fraud. The extent of this fin is wide and deep, and discovers itself in defrauding our creditors, or with-holding what is our duty to pay or return, and in taking from our neighbour what he already poffeffes; fo that all debts, ftealing, deceit, or - breach of truft, and deceit in traffick, are to be confidered as parts of theft. For

money

He who lends to one man, and gives him credit for or commodities, or accepts of fecurity for what Not paying he lends to another, acquires a right to be justly what we repaid according to contract: the debtor hath on- owe. ly a right to use what he borrows for his prefent convenience or neceffity; but the property remains in the hands of the creditor, who hath the fame right to it, as when it was in his own cuftody: which obliges us to borrow no more than we have a fair profpect of repaying; unless he that Not intendcredits us knows our inability, and is willing to ing to pay.. run the hazard of the lofs. Because whoever engages himfelf in debt, beyond what he can reafonably hope to repay, takes that from his creditor, upon promife of payment, which he knows he is never likely to restore him; which is, at leaft, as high an injuftice, as if he had taken it by force or on the highway. What then shall we fay of those, who refufe and deny it, or take indirect courses either to abate, or avoid the payment of their lawful debts? This is not only to deprive a creditor of the prefent use and poffeffion of his money, but of his property too.

The fame is to be faid of borrowing upon falfe or infufficient fecurities, such as bad mortgages, counterfeit Borrowing pawns, or infolvent bondfmen; for he who takes on bad up his neighbour's goods or money upon fuch fe- Securities. curities, as he knows are incapable of repaying him, doth as manifeftly wrong him, as if he had taken them by stealth or violence. Whence, as our debts are our creditors rights, if we would be just debtors, we must neither reckon what we owe to be our own, nor fo difpofe of it, as to put it out of our power to reftore it to the true proprietors; for in fo doing we rob and injure our creditor. And S

They

They ought to be no lefs careful to repay it upon the due Of putting demand, or according to contract. Because as it is off payments unjust to deprive a creditor of his money, so it is when due. unjust to deprive him of the use and poffeffion of it, any longer than he confents and agrees to it; wherefore, fuch debtors as put off their payments without their creditors confent, when it is in their power to discharge them, or put them upon fruitless attendances, and make advantages of their money against their confent, and beyond their contracts and agreements, fall into a degree of injuftice, next to that of robbing and defpoiling them of it; confequently, by an indifpenfable rule of juftice, every debtor is obliged rather to ftrip himself of all, and caft himself on the providence of God, than by denying his debts, or indirectly shifting the payment of them, to feather his neft with the spoil of his neighbour's property.

Vexatious

Therefore, when, by refufing to pay what we owe, we force our creditors upon coftly or troublesome fuits law-fuits, to recover their own; or by pleading protections, protections, or fheltering ourselves in a prison, we avoid being and frauds. forced to it by law; or, by fraudulent breakings, we neceffitate them to compound our debts, and accept a part for the whole; whichfoever of these ways we take, I fay, to deprive our creditors of their rights, we are inexcufably dishoneft. It may be, that by thefe or fuch-like knavish evafions we may force them to acquit and difcharge us; yet we cannot force God, in whofe book of accounts our debts are recorded, as well as in theirs and it concerns us fadly to confider, that there is nothing can cancel them there, but only a full reftitution; and that, if they are not cancelled there, all the tricks and evafions in the world will never be able to fecure us from a difmal reckoning, and a more difmal execution at the bar of divine juftice. The fame juftice, which obliges men to what has been already faid concerning debts of their own contracting, calls upon every one to discharge thofe debts alfo, which either through friendship for the debtor, or on any other acccount, they have made their own by be

Not difcharging bonds.

ing

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