The Ready Way to Good Works, Chapter 22
CHAP. XXII. To whom not to give.
I Am very loth to enter into this diſcourſe, fearing leaſt wretched miſers and thurliſh Nabals ſhould hence …ake occaſion to harden their already too obdurate hearts, againſt all ſorts of poore, when they underſtand that there are ſome altogether unworthy of any pittie and compaſſion: My purpoſe herein is not to ſhu… up any mans hand againſt the truly poore and needy, but to direct the mercifull man, how he may ſometimes ſpare where hee …ought, that hee might the better give where he ſhould.
1. The bleſſed Apoſtle Saint Paul, who himſelfe was very Charitable, and earneſtly in his Epiſtles exhorted others thereunto, delivered this Cannon, that 2 Theſ. 3. 6. 10. 14.ſuch as lived inordinately, and would not worke, ſhould not eate, yea, he chargeth the Theſſalonians to deteſt and abandon the acquaintance and company of ſuch diſorderly loyterers.
2. We are not to relieve (except in caſe of extremitie, and upon point of periſhing) ſuch as by the Statutes and wholſome Lawes of our Land are ſtigmatized and branded with the names of rogues, as all runnagates, vagabonds, and ſturdie beggers are, the very ulcers, ſcab… and vermine of a Commonweale: all ſuch wanderers as have neither houſe or home, an… make idleneſſe and begging ther trade and occupation, are forbidden to begge, and ſo are wee forbid to relieve them.
Theſe are not fit objects for our Charitie, for to helpe and maintaine ſuch profeſſed wanderers, who may, and can, and will not worke, were to maintaine a ſchool of roguery. Therefore let us ſhut our eyes, and our eares, and our hands, and our hearts againſt them, and take ſpeciall care that the Law bee executed upon them, and yet we are not uncharitable.
1. Becauſe the Statute lawes in this kinde are made by the Conſultation of the wiſeſt and choiſeſt men in the kingdome, and by the conſent of the people, and it were a very preſumptuous and contumacious thing to diſapprove by our practice what deeper judgements have allowed and eſtabliſhed by our owne approbation.
2. All lawes authorized and ordained to rule us in good and lawfull things, which are beneficiall2 Theſ. 3. 10. Rom. 13. 5. to the Common-weale, and conſonant to the Word of God (as theſe are) doe binde and tie our Conſciences. For1 Pet. 2. 13. 17. Eccleſ. 8. 2. Magiſtrates (ſaith the Apoſtle) muſt be obeyed for Conſcience ſake: and we are commanded to feare God, to honour the King, and to keepe his lawfull Commands.
3. This is the way to ſuppreſſe ſuch a Lawleſſe generation of lewde vagarants, and to prevent manifold ſinnes and impieties, which are uſually perpetrated among them, as thefts, adulteries, murthers, drunkenneſſe, and other ſuch moſt abhorred abominations, not to be tolerated or ſuffered among the Profeſſours of the Goſpell.
4. They beare the name of Chriſtians, but live under no ſetled Miniſterie, in no horeſt courſe and vocation, feeding like Droanes on other mens labours, and being more like in their lives and converſations to Turks, and Infidels, than to reformed Chriſtians. Plato allowed not any beggers in his conceited Common-weale: for, indeed they are in a State, as a Wenne is in the face, a very great deformitie and blemmiſh, and well ordered Republikes, ſuffer them as little as may be.
5. They very much diſgrace our Chriſtian religion, and diſable our Charitie; for if they be needy and poore indeede, why then doe we ſuffer them, to live like rogues, to begge from door to doore, contrary to Charitie and Chriſtian religion? and if they deſerve puniſhment, rather than mercy, why doe we abuſe, and miſ-imploy our charitie, and not rather ſeeke their reformation by ſome legall courſe, and lawfull proceeding?
6. The relieving of ſuch unworthie wretches, is a means to animate and encourage them in their ungodly converſations and to cauſe them to continue on ſtill in their idle, prophane, and unſufferable courſes, and ſo wee become guiltie by our fooliſh pittie, of their ſinnefull practiſes.
7. We miſ-imploy and miſpend our Almes, which might better bee reſerved for others, who are more indigent and penurious, and whom we in Chatitie ſtand bound to relieve and ſuccour.
8. Wee can never reape any comfort from this our conceited Charitie, and liberalitie, becauſe the concomitants, & conſequences hereof are apparantly evill, and unlawful: for in relieving vagarant, towns-end beggers, contrary to the Apoſtles rule, we diſreſpect the wiſdome of the holy Ghoſt, alſo the wiſedome of the King, and State, we diſobey and contemne authoritie, incur ſometimes many penalties, and pecuniarie mulcts, which we are loth to pay; and harden them in their moſt curſed and heathniſh courſes Charitie certainly is not rebellious and oppoſite to authoritie, it doth not elevate or puffe men up, it doth not ſuffer them to adore their owne fancies and conceits, nor to preferre their owne private opinions before the Lawes of their Soveraigne. Therefore let no man delude himſelfe, and others too, by this indiſcrete beneficence, and (as I may ſo ſpeake) uncharitable charitie. Theſe Ulcers and Dron's of the Common-wealth are unworthy of any honeſt mans Almes, and he that ſhewes them merciemercy, doth them, and himſelfe, and his Soveraigne, and the Common-wealth, much wrong and injurie. I ſtand to preſſe this Point the more vehemently, that hereby I might diſcover the folly, and rectifie the erroneous judgements of many ignorant men, who dare to defend this indiſcreet and unprofitable kind of Almes-giving, and are ever too too ſlacke handed to any pious and more charitable works. All learned Divines with an unanimous conſent condemne, and cenſure this ſort of beggers, as unworthy objects of a Chriſtians charitie, for they live contrarie to Gods Ordinance without a calling, they are unneceſſarie burthens to the Commonweale, they are members of no body, neither Eccleſiaſticall, nor politicall, they doe no ſervice either to God or the King, they live in ſo baſe and brutiſh a courſe of life, tanquam fruges Hor. 1. Ep. 2conſumere nati, as if they were borne for no other end, but to eate and drinke, to conſume and devoure Gods good Creatures. A learned and godly Divine declaimes very ſharply againſt them, and citeth the AncientZ…p. lib. 2. cap. 23. in Pol. Eccl. de validis mendicant. fathers, the Civill Law, Imperiall Conſtitutions, and other decre's in Germany againſt them: Atticus the Biſhop of Constātinople ſent a great ſummeSocrates hiſt. of money to the poore of Nice, but with this limitation and reſtriction, that it ſhould not bee given to ſuch as reſpected onelyonly the belly, and made a trade of begging, but to ſuch as were truely poore, and aſhamed to begge. Give not to the ungodly, (ſaith the wiſe man) and helpe not the ſinner, meaning ſuch asEcclus. 12, 4. 5. 6. made a trade of ſinning, as theſe ſorts of baſe, brutiſh, and heatheniſh people doe: well ſaid S. *Ad. vincent Donat.Austine to this purpoſe. It is farre better to with hold bread, than by giving to make the poore reſt ſecurely in his unrighteouſneſſe. To conclude this chapter then, idle loyterers, and diſorderly vagabonds, where without Countrie now ſwarmeth; are not to bee relieved with the fruites of our Almes, except as before 'tis excepted, in caſe of utter extremity. And yet I would have every one to bee good to the poore, the which that we may be, wee muſt underſtand a right who are the poore, and what it is to be good to the poore, and for direction herein, heare what a *Mr. Sanderſons ſer. 1. ad Mag. 142.learned Divine hath written to this purpoſe: Not he onelyonly is good to the poore, that delivereth him that is oppreſſed: nor is hee only good to the poore, that releeveth him, when hee is diſtreſſed, but hee alſo is good to the poore, that puniſheth him when he is idle: He is good to the poore, that helpeth him, when he wanteth, and he is no leſſe good to the poore, that whippeth him when he deſerveth. This is indeed, to bee good to the Poore, to give him that Almes firſt, which hee wanteth moſt: If he be hungrie it is Almes to feede him, but if hee bee idle and untoward; it is Almes to whip him: ſo then relieve the poore, but then thoſe that bee poore indeed. All that begge are not poore, all that want are not poore, all that bee poore, are not poore indeede. There is a great deale of difference betweene the ſturdie begger and the truely need y Chriſtian: They that are old and impotent, and paſt worke, they that are ſicke and lame, and cannot worke, they that are willing and able, but cannot get worke, they that have great families, and cannot maintaine them by their worke; theſe be the poore indeed, and unto ſuch as theſe, be good and mercifull.