The Practice of Christian Graces, Partition 12
PARTITION XII.
Of THEFT; Stealing the Goods of our Neighbour. Of DECEIT in Trust, in Traffick. Of RESTITUTION, &c.
§. 1. THE second part of theft is the taking from our neighbour that which is already in his possession;Stealing the goods of our neighbour. and this may be done either more violently, and openly, or else more closely, and slyly; The first is the manner of those that rob on the way, or plunder houses, where by force they take the goods of their neighbour; The other is the way of the pilfering thief, that takes away a mans goods unknown to him; I shall not dispute, which of these is the worst, 'tis enough that they are both such acts of injustice, as make men odious to God, unfit for humane society, and betray the actors to the greatest mischiefs even in this world, death it self being by Law appointed the reward of it; and there are few that follow this Trade long, but at last meet with that fruit of it. I am sure 'tis madness for any to believe he shall alwayes steal securely, for he is to contend with the industry of all those, whom he shall thus injure, whose losses will quicken their wits for the finding him out, and which is infinitely more, he is to struggle with the justice of God, which doth usually pursue such men to destruction, even in this world; witness the many strange discoveries, that have been made of the craftiest theeves. But however, if he were secure from the vengeance here, I am sure nothing but repentance and reformation can secure him from the vengeance of it hereafter. And now when these dangers are weighed, 'twill surely appear, that the thief makes a pitiful bargain, he steals his neighbours money, or cattel, and in exchange for it he must pay his life, or his Soul, perhaps both, and if the whole world be too mean a price for a Soul, as he tels us, Mar. 18. 36. who best knew the value of them, having himself bought them, what a strange madness is it, to barter them away for every petty trifle▪ as many do, who have got such a habit of stealing, that not the meanest worthless thing can escape their fingers? Under this head of theft may be ranked the receivers of stoln goods, whether those that take them, as partners in the theft, or those that buy them, when they know or believe they are stoln. This many (that pretend much to abhor theft,) are guilty of, when they can by it, buy the thing a little cheaper then the common rate. And here also comes in the concealing of any goods a man finds of his neighbours, which whosoever restores not, if he know, or can learn out the owner, is no better then a thief, for he withholds from his neighbour that which properly belongs to him: and sure 'twill not be uncharitable to say, that he that will do this, would likewise commit the grosser theft, were he by that no more in danger of Law then in this he is.
The third part of injustice is deceit, Deceit.and in that there may be as many acts as there are occasions of entercourse and dealing between man and man.
2. It will be impossible to name them all, but I think they will be contained under these two general deceits in matters of Trust, and in matters of Traffick, or bargaining; unless it be that of Gaming, which therefore here by the way, I must tell you, is as much a fraud and deceit as any of the rest.
3. He that deceives a man in any trust, In Trust.that is committed to him, is guilty of a great injustice, and that the most treacherous sort of one, it is the joyning of two great sins in one, defrauding, and promise-breaking; for in all trusts there is a promise implyed, if not exprest, for the very accepting of the trust contains under it a promise of fidelity; these trusts are broken sometimes to the living, sometimes to the dead; to the living there are many wayes of doing it, according to the several kinds of the trust; sometimes a trust is more general, like that of Potiphar to Joseph, Gen. 39. 4. a man commits to another all that he hath, and thus guardians of children, and sometimes stewards are intrusted; sometimes again it is more limited, and restrained to some one special thing: A man intrusts another to bargain, or deal for him in such a particular, or he puts some one thing into his hands, to manage, and dispose: Thus among servants it is usual for one to be intrusted with one part of the Masters goods, and another with another part of them. Now in all these, and the like cases, whosoever acts not for him that intrusts him, with the same faithfulness, that he would for himself but shall either carelesly loose, or prodigally imbezel the things committed to him, or else convert them to his own use, he is guilty of this great sin of betraying a trust to the living. In like manner he that being intrusted with the execution of a dead mans Testament, acts not according to the known intention of the dead man, but enriches himself by what is assigned to others, he is guilty of this sin, in respect of the dead; which is so much the greater, by how much the dead hath no means of remedy, and redress, as the living may have. It is a kind of robbing of graves, which is a theft of which men naturally have such a horrour, that he must be a very hardned thief, that can attempt it. But either of these frauds are made yet more hainous, when either God, or the poor are immediately concerned in it; that is, when any thing is committed to a man, for the uses either of piety, or charity: this adds sacriledge to both the fraud, and the treachery, and so gives him title to all those curses, that attend those several sins, which are so heavy, that he that for the present gain will adventure on them, makes as ill, nay, a much worse bargain, then Geh…zi, 1 Kings 5. 27. who by getting the rayment of Naam in got his leprosie too.
4. The second sort of fraud is in matters of traffick and bargain, In Traffickwherein there may be deceit both in the seller, and buyer; That of the seller is commonly either in concealing the faults of the commodity, or else in over-rateing it.
5. The wayes of concealing its faults are ordinarily these,The sellers concealing the faults of his ware. either first by denying that it hath any such fault, nay, perhaps commending it for the direct contrary quality, a…d this is down-right lying, and so adds that sin to the other, and if that lye be confirmed by an oath, as it is too usually, then the yet greater guilt of perjury comes in also; and then what a heap of sins is here gathered together? abundantly enough to sink any poor Soul to destruction, and all this onelyonly to skrew a little more money out of his neighbours pocket, and that sometimes so very little, that 'tis a miracle that any man that thinks he has a Soul, can set it at so miserable a contemptible price. A second means of concealing is by using some Art to the thing, to make it look fair, and to hide the faults of it, and this is acting a lye, though it be not speaking one, which amounts to the same thing, and has surely in this case as much of the intention of cheating, and defrauding as the most impudent forswearing can have. A third means, is the picking out ignorant chapmen; This is, I believe, an Art too well known among tradesmen, who will not bring out their faulty wares to men of skill, but keep them to put off to such, whose unskilfulness may make them passable with them; and this is still the same deceit with the former, for it all tends to the same end, the cozening and defrauding of the chapman, and then it is not much odds, whether I make use of my own Art, or his weakness for the purpose. This is certain, he that will do justly, must let his chapman know what he buyes, and if his own skill enable him not to judge (nay, if he do not actually find out the fault) thou art bound to tell it him, otherwise thou makest him pay for somewhat, which is not there, he presum…ng there is that good quality in it, which thou knowest is not, & therefore thou mayest as honestly take his money for some goods of another mans, which thou knowest thou canst never put into his possession, which I suppose no man will deny to be an arrant cheat. To this head of concealment may be referred, that deceit of false weights and measures, for that is the concealing from the buyer a defect in the quantity, as the other was in the quality of the commodity, and is again the making him pay for what he hath not. This sort of fraud is pointed at particularly by Solomon, Prov. 11. 1. with this note upon it, that it is an abomination to the Lord.
6. The second part of fraud in the seller, lyes in over-rating His over-rating it.the commodity; though he have not disguised, or concealed the faults of it, and so have dealt fairly in that respect, yet if he set an unreasonable price upon it, he defrauds the buyer: I call that an unreasonable price, which exceeds the true worth of the thing, considered with those moderate gains, which all tradesmen are presumed to be allowed in the Sale; Whatever is beyond this must in all likelyhood be fetcht in by some of these wayes: As first, by taking advantage of the buyers ignorance in the value of the thing, which is the same with doing it in the goodness, which hath already been shewed to be a deceit: or secondly, by taking advantage of his necessity; thou findest a man hath present and urgent need of such a thing, and therefore takest this opportunity to set the dice upon him, but this is that very sin of extortion, and oppression spoken of before; for it is sure, nothing can justly raise the price of any thing, but either its becoming dearer to thee, or its being some way better in its self, but the necessity of thy brother causes neither of these; his nakedness doth not make the clothes thou f…llest him stand thee in ever the more, neither doth it make them any way better, and therefore to rate them ever the higher, is to change thy way of trading, and sell even the wants and necessities of thy neighbour, which sure is a very unlawful vocation. Or thirdly, it may be by taking advantage of the indiscretion of the chapman; A man perhaps earnestly fancies such a thing, and then suffers that fancy so to over-rule his reason, that he resolves to have it upon any termes; If thou findest this in him, and thereupon raisest thy rate, this is to make him buy his folly, which is of all others the dearest purchase, 'tis sure his fancy adds nothing to the reall value, no more then his necessity did in the former case, and therefore should not add to the price. He therefore that will deal justly in the business of selling, must not catch at all advantages, which the temper of his chapman may give, but consider soberly, what the things is worth, and what he would afford it for to another, of whom he had no such advantage, and accordingly rate it to him at no higher a price.
7. On the buyers part there are not ordinarily so many opportunities of fraud, Fraud in the Buyer.yet it is possible a man may sometimes happen to sell somewhat, the worth whereof he is not acquainted with, and then it will be as unjust for the buyer to make gain by his ignorance, as in the other case it was for the seller; but that which oftner fals out, is the case of necessity, which may as probably fall on the sellers side, as the buyers; A mans wants compell him to sell, and permit him not to stay to make the best bargain, but forces him to take the first offer; and here for the buyer to grate upon him, because he sees him in that strait, is the same fault, which I before shewed it to be in the seller.
8. In this whole business of traffick there are so many opportunities of deceit that a man hadMany Temptations to deceit in Traffick. need fence himself with a very firm resolution, nay, love of justice, or he will be in danger to fall under temptation, for as the wise man speaks Eccles. 27. 2. As a nail sticks fast between the joinings of the stones, so doth sin stick close between buying and selling; it is so interwoven with all trades, so mixt with the very first principles, and grounds of them, that it is taught together with them, and so becomes part of the Art, so that he is now a dayes scarce thought fit to manage a Trade, that wants it, while he that has most of this black Art of defrauding, applauds and huggs himself, nay, perhaps boasts to others, how he hath over-reacht his neighbour.
What an intolerable shame is this,The commonness of injustiee a reproach to Christianity. that we Christians, who are by the precepts of our Master set to those higher duties of Charity, should in stead of practising them, quite unlearn those common rules of justice, which meer nature teaches? For, I think, I may say, there are none of those several branches of injustice towards the possessions of our neighbour, which would not be adjudged to be so by any sober Heathen, so that, as Saint Paul tels those of the Circumcision, that the name of God was Blasphemed among the Gentiles, by that unagreeableness that was betwixt their practice, and their Law, Rom. 2. 24. So may it now be said of us, that the Name of Christ is Blasphemed among the Turks and Heathens, by the vile and scandalous lives of us, who call our selves Christians, and particularly in this sin of injustice; For shame let us at last endeavour to wipe off this reproach from our profession, by leaving these practices, to which me thinks this one single consideration should be enough to perswade us.
9. Yet besides this,It is not the way to enrich a man. there want not other; Among which, one there is of such a nature, as may prevail with the arrantest worldling, and that is, that this course doth not really tend to the enriching of him; there is a secret curse goes along with it, which like a canker eats out all the benefit was expected from it. This no man can doubt that believes the Scripture, where there are multitudes of Texts to this purpose: thus Prov. 22. 16. He that oppresseth the poor to encrease his riches, shall surely come to want. So Hab. 2. 6. Woe to him that encreaseth that which is not his, how long? And he that ladeth himself with thick clay: shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee? and thou shalt be for booties to them. This is commonly the fortune of those that spoil and deceive others, they at last meet with some that do the like to them. But the place in Zachary is most full to this purpose, Chap. 5. where under the sign of a flying roll is signified the curse, that goes forth against this sin, ver. 4. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of Hosti, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsly by my Name, and it shall consume it with the timber thereof, and with the stones thereof. Where you see theft, and perjury are the two sins, against which this curse is aimed (and they too often go together in the matter of defrauding) and the nature of this curse is, to consume the house, to make an utter destruction of all that belongs to him that is guilty of either of these sins. Thus whilest thou art ravening after thy neighbours goods, or house, thou are but gathering fuel to burn thine own. And the effect of these threatnings of God we daily see in the strange improsperousness of ill gotten estates, which every man is apt enough to observe in other mens cases; he that sees his neighbour decline in his estate, can presently call to mind, this was gotten by oppression or deceit, yet so sottish are we, so bewitcht with the love of gain, that he that makes this observation, can seldome turn it to his own use, is never the lesse greedy, or unjust himself for that vengeance he discerns upon others.
10. But alas, if thou couldst be sure that thy unjust possession,It ruines the Soul Eternally. should not be torn from thee, yet when thou remembrest, how dear thou must pay for them in another world, thou hast little reason to brag of thy prize. Thou thinkest thou hast been very cunning, when thou hast over-reacht thy brother, but God knowes all the while, there is another over-reaching thee, and cheating thee of what is infinitely more precious, even thy Soul; the Devil herein deals with thee as fishers use to do; those that will catch a great fish, will bait the hook with a less, and so the great one coming with greediness to devour that, is himself taken; So thou that art gaping to swallow up thy poor brother, art thy self made a prey to that great devourer. And alas! what will it ease thee in Hell, that thou hast left wealth behind thee upon earth, when thou shalt there want that, which the meanest beggar here enjoyes, even a drop of water to cool thy tongue. Consider this, and from henceforth resolve to imploy all that pains and diligence thou hast used to deceive others, in rescuing thy self from the frauds of the grand deceiver.
11. To this purpose it is absolutely necessary,The necessity of Restitution. that thou make Restitution to all whom thou hast wronged; For as long as thou keepest any thing of the unjust gain, 'tis as it were an earnest penny from the Devil, which gives him full right to thy Soul. But perhaps it may be said, it will not in all cases be possible to make Restitution to the wronged party, peradventure he may be dead; in that case then make it to his heirs, to whom his right descends. But it may further be objected, that he that hath long gone on in a course of fraud, may have injured many, that he cannot now remember, and many that he has no means of finding out; In this case all I can advise is this: First, to be as diligent as is possible, both in recalling to mind who they were, and endeavouring to find them out; and when, after all thy care, that proves impossible, let thy Restitutions be made to the poor, and that they may not be made by halves, be as careful as thou canst to reckon every the least mite of unjust gain, but when that cannot exactly be done, as 'tis sure it cannot by those who have multiplied the acts of fraud, yet even there let them make some general measures, whereby to proportion their restitution: as for example, a tradesman that cannot remember how much he has cheated in every single parcel, yet may possibly guess in the gross whether he have usually over-reacht to the value of a third, or a fourth part of the wares, and then what proportion soever he think he has so defrauded, the same proportion let him now give out of that estate he hath raised by his Trade; but herein it concerns every man to deal uprightly, as in the presence of God, and not to make advantage of his own forgetfulness, to the cutting short to the Restitution, but rather go on the other hand, and be sure rather to give too much, then too little. If if he do happen to give somewhat over, he need not grudge the charge of such a sin offering, and 'tis sure he will not, if he do heartily desire an atonement. Many other difficulties there may be in this business of restitution, which will not be foreseen, and so cannot now be particularly spoke to; but the more of those there are, the greater horrour ought men to have of running into the sin of injustice, which it will be so difficult, if not impossible for them to repair, and the more careful ought they to be to mortify that, which is the root of all injustice, to wit Covetousness.