The Christian Life Part 3 Volume 4, Part 1 · Chapter 4
CHAP. IV. Of Justice, as it preserves the Acquired Rights of Men: and particularly those which arise from Sacred and Civil Relations.
I PROCEED now to the second sort of Humane Rights, which Justice between Man and Man relateth to, viz. such as are not Natural to them either as Rational Creatures, or as dwelling in Mortal Bodies, or as joyned to one another by natural Relations, or as naturally united in Society; but are acquired subsequently to the Rights of Nature, by that mutual Intercourse which passeth between Men in their Society with one another. Which Rights though they are not Natural, but Accidental, are yet founded on the Rights of Nature, and therefore ought to be preserved as sacredly and as inviolably as these: for whatsoever Rights Men do acquire in the performance of the common Rights of Nature, are equivalent with them, as being founded on the same Reasons. Now all those Rights which are not Natural, are acquired one of these ways; either, First, by Sacred and Civil Relations; or Secondly, by Legal Possession; or Thirdly, by Personal Accomplishments; or Fourthly, by outward Rank and Quality; or Fifthly, by Bargaining and Compact.
I. THERE are some Rights acquired by Sacred and Civil Relations, and of these there are several sorts.
First, There is the Relation of Sovereign and Subject.
Secondly, Of subordinate Magistrates to the Sovereign and People.
Thirdly, Of Pastors and People.
Fourthly, Of Husband and Wife.
Fifthly, Of Friend and Friend.
Sixthly, Of Masters and Servants.
Seventhly, Of Truster and Trustee.
Eightly, Of Benefactor and Receiver.
Ninthly, There is the Relation of Debtor and Creditor: of the proper Rights of each of which Relations I shall give as brief an Account as I can.
I. THERE is the Relation of Sovereign and Subject; which is the highest and most Sacred of all those Relations that are not natural. For God being the Supreme Lord and Sovereign of the World, all lawful Power and Authority must be derived from him; for as in particular Kingdoms, the King is the Fountain of Authority, from whence executive Power descendeth upon subordinate Magistrates; so in the universal Monarchy of the World, God is the Fountain of all Power and Dominion; from whom all Authority and Right of Government descendeth upon Princes and Governours; and whosoever exerciseth Dominion in the World without Divine Authority, is an Usurper in the Kingdom of God. But then the Derivation of this Authority from Him is either immediate, or mediate; those who are supreme under Him derive their Authority immediately from Him, and are the Channels by whose Mediation he deriveth Authority to their subordinate Magistrates; so that the subordinate Magistrates of particular Kingdoms derive their Authority from God by the hands of their Kings, but the Kings themselves derive theirs from God's own hands immediately: and whatever the particular form of any Government be, whether it be Monarchy, or Polyarchy, that which is supreme in it under God must be immediately from him. So far from true is that modern Maxim of some Jesuited Politicians, viz. That Civil Government is the Peoples Creature; which by necessary Consequence excludeth God from being the supreme Governor of the World: for if He be absolutely Supreme, there is none can be Supreme immediately under Him, but by an Authority derived immediately from him. So that the Relation of Sovereign hath this Right unalienably appendant to it, to be accountable to none but God; from whom alone it holdeth its Authority, and to whom alone it is subjected. And therefore for Subjects to call their Sovereign to account, is both to arraign God's Authority, and to invade his Peculiar; to set our selves down in his Throne, and summon his Authority before us, and require it to submit its awful Head to our Doom and Sentence: which is as high and impious an Injustice, as can be offered either to God, or Man; and (till Popery, that fardle of religious Impostures, set Treason and Rebellion abroach) as abhorrent to all Christian Principles, and Practices, as Hell is to Heaven, or Darkness to Light. But then since Sovereigns are God's Vicegerents, and do Reign by his Authority, they have also an inseparable Right to be obeyed in all things, wherein they do not interfere with the Commands of God; for in obeying them we obey God, who commandeth by their Mouths, and willeth by their Laws, and Edicts: and as he who refuseth to obey the Vice-Roy's command, doth in so doing disobey the King himself, unless he commandeth the contrary; so he who disobeyeth his Sovereign who is God's Vice-Roy, doth in so doing disobey God, unless it be where God hath countermanded him. So that while he commandeth only lawful things, he hath an undoubted Right to be obeyed; because his Commands are stamped with Divine Authority, and are thereby rendered sacred, and inviolable. Again, since Sovereigns are the supreme Representatives of God's Power and Majesty upon Earth, as being his immediate Substitutes; they have also an unalienable Right to be honoured, and reverenced by their Subjects, because they bear God's Character, and do shine with the Rays of his Majesty; before which every Creature in Heaven and Earth ought to bow and lye prostrate; and therefore for Subjects to contemn and vilifie their Sovereigns, to expose their faults and uncover their nakedness, and Lampoon and Libel their Persons and Actions, is an Affront to God's own Majesty, and an unjust and impious Prophanation of that Divine Character they bear about them. Once more; since Sovereigns are substituted by God for the Common Good, to protect the Innocent, and avenge the Injured, and guard the Rights of their People against Foreign and Intestine Fraud and Violence; they must hereupon have an undoubted Right to be aided and assisted by their Subjects; because without their Aid, it will be impossible for them to accomplish the Ends of their Sovereignty. And therefore for Subjects to refuse to Aid their Sovereign with their Purses, or Persons, when legally required; or by any indirect means to withdraw themselves from his Assistance, whenever his Necessities call for it, is to detain from him a just Right that is owing to his Character and Relation. And as these Rights are all implyed in the Relation of a Sovereign, so are there others implyed in the Relation of a Subject: for Sovereign Power being ordained by God for a publick Good, to guard and defend the Innocent, to shelter and relieve the Oppressed, to fence and propagate true Religion, and adjust and ballance private Rights and Interests; Every Subject hath a Right to be protected by it, so far as it is able, in his Person and Legal Rights, in his just Liberties and Privileges, and sincere Profession of true Religion; and that Sovereign who doth not employ his power to these purposes, but through wilful and affected Error, or Ignorance imposeth a false Religion on his People; or betrayeth, oppresseth, or inslaveth them himself, or permits others to do it either out of Malice, or Carelesness, is an injurious Invader of their Rights and Properties; and though he be not accountable to any Earthly Tribunal, shall one day answer for it at the Tribunal of God.
II. THERE is the Relation of Subordinate Magistrates to the Sovereign and People, such are the Judges and Justices, the Governours of Towns, Cities and Provinces, and the like; who by vertue of that Authority which is stamped upon them, and which they derive, as I told you, from God, who is the Head and Spring of all Power and Dominion, have by vertue of that a Right to be honoured and reverenced and obeyed by the People according to the Degree and extent of their Authority. For wherever it is placed, Authority is a Sacred thing; as being a Ray, and Impress of the Divine Majesty, and as such may justly claim honour and reverence from all Men; and whoever contemneth the lowest Degree of it; offereth an Affront to the highest. He who contemneth Subordinate Magistrates who are vested with the King's Authority, doth therein contemn the King; and he who contemneth the King, who is vested with God's Authority, doth therein contemn God. Whatsoever therefore the personal faults and defects of Magistrates may be, Men ought to consider that their Authority is a Sacred thing, and, as such, challengeth their Reverence and Obedience by an unalienable Right; and that therefore to behave themselves frowardly, stubbornly, or irreverently towards a lawful Magistrate, is to detain from him his Rights, and offer an unjust Affront to his Character; which, how good soever they may be in other Instances, doth in this bespeak them highly dishonest and injurious. And as the Relation of Subordinate Magistrates intitleth them to the Peoples Reverence and Obedience; so the Relation which the Prince and People bear to them, intitleth them both to their Fidelity, Vigilance and Iustice. For Subordinate Magistrates are the King's Trustees for himself and his People; and in their hands he depositeth the Honour, Security and Rights of his own Crown and Dominion, together with the Safeguard and Protection of the Just and Legal Rights of his People. So that upon their acceptance of this Trust, by which they engage themselves faithfully to discharge it, the King acquireth a Right to their faithful and vigilant Care, to see that his Authority be Reverenced, his Laws Obeyed, his Person, Government, and Properties Secured; the People acquire a Right to be Protected by them in their Persons, Reputations, Liberties and Estates; and so far as they are wilfully failing either towards the King, or the People, in any of these Matters, they do unjustly detain the King's or the Peoples Rights, or both; they betray the Trust committed to them, falsifie their own Engagements, and under the Mask of Authority are publick Robbers of Mankind.
III. THERE is the Relation of Pastors and People: for since out of his tender care to the Souls of Men, God hath instituted an Order of Men to Administer to them those holy Ordinances, by which he conveyeth his Grace and Spirit, to instruct them in their Duties, admonish them of their Errors, and warn them of their Dangers, and guide them to eternal Happiness; there doth from hence arise a near and sacred Relation between the People, and their respective Guides and Pastors. They are joined together by the Tyes and Obligations of Religion, which giveth them a mutual Right in one another; and which giveth the Pastor a Right to be diligently attended to by the People in his religious Ministrations, to be Construed in the best Sense, and fairly treated and complyed with in all his pious Reproofs and Admonitions, to be honoured and reverenced for his Work's sake, to partake with the People in their Temporals, as they do with him in his Spirituals, and to be supported by them, according to their Ability, with a fair and honourable Maintenance; and they who are wanting to their Pastor in any of these particulars, deprive him of that which is as much his Right in Conscience, as any thing can be theirs in Law. And then as for the People, They have also a Right to have holy Things duly and regularly Administred to them by their Pastor, to be taught and instructed by him with wholsome Doctrine and Example, to be prudently admonished of their Faults and Dangers, and counselled and advised by him in all their spiritual Straits and Exigencies; and he who is wilfully failing in the faithful discharge and payment of these Dues is a Thief and a Robber of his Peoples Souls; that so far as in him lyeth, rifleth them of that which ought to be dearer to them than their Estates, or Lives, even the Bread of Life, without which they cannot live, but must starve and perish for ever; and if they do, it is by his unjust Neglect to render them their Dues, and their Blood will be required at his hands.
IV. THERE is the Relation of Husband and Wife, who having mutually bestowed themselves upon each other, and sealed the Deed by Matrimonial Vow, are thereby interwoven into one another and morally compounded into one Person. For Marriage is an Union of Persons, an Incorporation of two into one by moral Ties and Ligaments; so that between Husband and Wife there is the nearest and dearest Union that can be between two natural Persons; they are each others Property and Inclosure, having by mutual Vows made over and exchanged themselves for one another; by vertue of which they have a mutual Right in each others Person, and cannot bestow themselves away from one another, without being guilty of the most outragious Injustice. For the Husband is one half of the Wife, and the Wife of the Husband; and therefore whenever they alienate themselves from each other, they rob one another of one half of themselves. And it is this that doth so much inhance the sin of Adultery, beyond that of simple Fornication; because when the Husband disposeth his Body to another Woman, or contrariwise, he is not only guilty of an unbounded, rambling Lust, which is the proper malignity of simple Fornication but also of a foul and monstrous Injustice. For he having made himself his Wife's by Promise and Vow, cannot give away himself from her without being impiously injurious, without robbing God of his Vow, and robbing her of himself, for whom she exchanged her self. And consequently they who endeavour to seduce the Wife from the Husband, or the Husband from the Wife, are guilty of a horrid Injustice, in attempting to rob God and Man of that which is most dear and pretious to them, and to break through Vows and Sacred Fences to Trespass on their Neighbour's Inclosure; which how common soever it may be in this degenerate Age, is certainly one of the blackest Villanies in Nature. And as Husband and Wife have a mutual Right to each other's Persons, so they have also to each other's dearest Love and Affection: for there is no Relation doth so nearly intitle and interest Persons in one another, as that of Marriage; nor consequently, that giveth them so great a Right and Title to each other's Hearts and Affections. Mat. xix. 5. For this cause shall a Man leave Father and Mother, and shall cleave to his Wife, and they two shall be one flesh; and then no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, saith the Apostle exhorting to Matrimonial Love, Eph. v. 29. Husband and Wife are one by a moral Union of Persons, and therefore for them to hate and abuse one another would be as unnatural, as for a Man to hate and tear his own flesh. Again, as they have a mutual Right to each others Persons and Affections, so they have also to each others Help and Assistance: hence the Apostle calleth them Yoak-fellows, implying, that they ought to draw together, and mutually assist one another in their common Concerns and Interests. For in the union of their Persons their Interest is combined and united; so that that which is the one's is the other's: their Meums and Tuums are confounded together, and their Fortunes make a common Stock wherein they are Partners with one another, and are intitled to the promiscuous use and enjoyment of it. And being Sharers in the same Interest, they ought to be mutually helpful and bear a part of each others Cares and Burdens: for when they are both intitled to the same Fortunes and Interests, it is by no means just, that the one like a slothful Drone should dwell at ease in the Hive and devour the Hony, whilst the other like a laborious Bee goeth forth and toileth to gather it. These are the common Rights and Dues, which Husband and Wife owe to one another: but then the Husband having the Superiority, hath a Right to be reverenced and obeyed by his Wife in all things that are fair and honest, to be entertained with a gentle Behaviour, addressed to with soft Entreaties, and treated with a sweet Complyance; and therefore for a Woman to behave her self perversly towards her Husband, to controul his will in indifferent matters, and if he will not yield, to teaze and weary him with her sour Looks, or clamorous Words, or provoking Deportment, is not only a great Dishonour to her own Head, but a high and shameful Injustice, for which she must one day account to God, as well as for other Iniquities. And then on the other hand, the Wife being no otherwise inferior to the Husband, than the Body is to the Soul, or the Bosom to the Head, ought not to be treated by him as his Slave and Servant, but as a part of Himself, i. e. with all lenity and forbearance, tenderness and complaisance: and as Plutarch saith, the Husband's Empire over the Wife ought to be soft and chearful, to be allayed and sweetned with the greatest Condescension and Officiousness: and that Soul is not more unrighteous to its Body, that starveth, or macerateth, or evil intreateth it; than the Husband is to his Wife, who behaveth himself churlishly, sourly or imperiously towards her. Col. iii. 19. Husbands love your Wives, saith the Apostle, and be not bitter against them, i. e. be not morose and rough, stern and severe in your Carriage towards them; but be sure you use them with all that honourable Regard, prudent Compliance and indearing Familiarity, that is due to them as they are parts of Your Selves.
V. THERE is the Relation of Friend and Friend, which I put next to that of Husband and Wife, because it is next to it in respect of Nearness and Affinity. For Friendship is the Marriage of Souls and Interests and Counsels, the Union or Exchange of Hearts, the Clasp of mutual Affections, or true Love-knot that tyeth Mens Hearts and Minds together▪ for as for the Matter of Friendship, it is Love and Charity; but as for the Form of it, it is Charity appropriated to such particular Persons; so that Charity is Friendship in common, and Friendship is Charity inclosed. In a word, Charity is Friendship expanded, like the force of the Sun when he riseth above the Horizon and shineth upon all the World; but Charity is Friendship contracted, like the Rays of that glorious Light drawn into the Center of a Burning-glass, and made more warm and active by their Union. When therefore Men have contracted particular Friendships, and espoused their Souls and Minds to one another, there doth from thence arise a new Relation between them beyond what common Charity createth; from which new Relation there accrue new Rights to the related Parties. For mutual Friendship is not a Metaphysical Nothing, created merely for Contemplation, for such as are contracted in its holy Bands to stare upon each other's Faces and make Dialogues of News and Prettinesses, or to look Babies in one another's Eyes; but a substantial and important Vertue that is fitted for the noblest purposes, to be an Alloy to our sorrows, an Ease to our Passions, a Discharge of our Oppressions, a Sanctuary to our Calamities, a Counsellor of our Doubts, a Repository of our Secrets, and an Improvement of our Meditations; a Champion to our Innocence, and an Advocate for our Interest both with God and Men; to these brave Purposes serveth every real Friendship, and without these it is only the empty Name and Shadow of Friendship. When therefore Men combine and unite together in this close and near Relation, they give each other a Right to themselves to all the above-named Uses and Purposes, to be Guides and Comforts to each other in their Doubts and Sorrows, Monitors and Remembrancers in their Errors and Oblivions, Shelters and Refuges in their Oppressions and Calamities, and faithful Trustees and Secretaries to each other's Confidencies and Thoughts. These are the great Rights of Friendship, which whosoever detaineth or with-holdeth from his Friend is a false, and unjust Correspondent in that brave and noble Relation: For when we mutually contract particular Friendships with one another, it is to these great purposes, or it is not Friendship: and when to these purposes we have once joyned hands, and struck particular Amities with one another, we are bound by the tyes of common Honesty and Iustice, so far as we are able, to make good our Contract to all those Intents and Purposes it extendeth to.
VI. THERE is the Relation of Masters and Servants: for between Master and Servant there are mutual Engagements, which are either expressed in their Contract, or implyed in their Relation; and whether there be any formal Contract between them, or no, their very Relation is an implicit Bargain, and supposeth a mutual Engagement to one another. By being a Servant to another, I put my self into his hands and disposal, and devote my Time and Pains and Labour to him; by vertue of which he acquireth a just Right to my time and service, my fidelity and chearful Obedience: and therefore if either by Gaming, Loitering or Company-keeping, I alienate my Time from him; or if by my Sloth and Idleness I rob him of my Pains and Labour, or by my hypocritical Eye-service, or betraying his Trusts, or wasting or embezzeling his Goods, I deprive him of my Truth and Fidelity; or if lastly by my Stubborness and Obstinacy I purloin from him my Duty and Obedience, I am a dishonest and unjust Servant; and however I may escape now, must one day expect to give an Account to my Just and All-seeing Master in Heaven. And accordingly in Scripture Servants are enjoyned to obey their Masters in all things, Col. iii. 22. And to do service to them with good will. Eph. vi. 7. To serve them with singleness of heart, not to purloin their Goods, or answer them again in a froward and surly manner, Tit. ii. 9, 10. Since then they stand obliged to these Duties both by Precept of Scripture, and the natural Engagement of their Relation; it is plain they cannot act contrary thereunto, without openly transgressing the Laws of God, and trepassing on the Rights of Men. And so on the other hand, by being a Master to another, I stand engaged to maintain and protect him in my service, to pay him the Wages, or teach him the Trade for which he serveth me; not to out-task his Ability, nor impose any thing on him but what is tolerable and merciful; to Correct him with gentleness, prudence and mercy, and not to restrain him too rigidly from fitting and healthful Recreation: and above all, to admonish him of his Faults, instruct him in his Duty, and give him all chearful Encouragements to Well-doing. For I ought to consider, that I am Master of a Man of the same kind with my self, that hath Right upon that account to be treated humanely; which if I do not instead of being a just Master, I am a savage Tyrant: and also I should consider that I am Master of an immortal Man, who upon that account hath a Right to be treated religiously, that hath a Soul to be saved, and an eternal Interest to be secured; which if I take no care of, I treat him rather as my Dog, than my Servant, as a Beast that perisheth, than as a Man that is to live for ever. So that if any of these ways I am wanting to my Servant, I am a Transgressor of that Rule of Righteousness that is founded in my Relation to him; and though the crying Necessities of his Soul and Body cannot penetrate my Ears, nor move my Adamantine Bowels to a more just and pious Treatment; yet the Cry of those Wrongs and Injuries I do him by my unjust, inhumane and irreligious Usage, will certainly penetrate the Ears of God, and provoke his Vengeance to a dire Retribution of it.
VII. THERE is the Relation of Trustees to those that trust them: for he who trusteth another doth thereby create a very near and intimate Relation to him; so far forth as he trusteth him, he putteth his case into his hands, and depositeth his Interest in his Disposal, and thereby createth him his Proxy, or his second self. So that when I accept of the Trust that another offereth me, whether it be to be an Arbitrator in his Cause, or an Executor of his Will, or a Guardian to his Children, or a Keeper of any Pledge or Depositum he committeth to me, I do thereby enter into a close Alliance and Relation with him; I put on his Person, engage to supply his place, to act as his Representative, or alter ego, and so far as he trusteth and confideth in me, to do for him as if the case were my own, to determine his Cause, to execute his Will, and dispose of his Children, and secure his Pledges to him as if I were himself, and those were all my own. And by entring into this near Relation to him, I give him a Right so far forth as he intrusteth me, to my Skill and Care, Fidelity and Industry; all which by putting on his Person I have listed and engaged in his Service. So that if by my own Carelesness or Neglect I suffer any of his Trusts to miscarry, I am highly dishonest and injurious to him; because I undertook to do for him all that I can suppose he would have done for himself, had he been Master of my Skill and Ability. But if for a Bribe, or to serve my Interest, I betray the Trust he committed to me, or convert it to my own Advantage; I rob him more basely and infamously, than if I bad him stand, and demanded his Purse upon the High-way. For then I had robbed him in the person of an Enemy, but now I rob him in his own, and make use of that Trust to betray his Interest, by which I was as much obliged to secure and defend it, as if I had exchanged Persons with him, and his Interest were my own: and to betray his Interest for my own Advantage, when he had made me his second Self, and I had engaged my self to be so, is a piece of the most inhumane and disingenuous Persidiousness and Injustice; because by thus doing I abuse his good Opinion of me, for which I stand obliged to him, into an occasion of betraying him. So that in effect I have borrowed his Person, which he freely lent me, only to rob and despoil him; and from his confidence in my Truth and Fidelity, by which he was justly intitled to it, have basely taken occasion to defraud him of that Trust, which he freely deposited in my hands and disposal.
VIII. THERE is the Relation of the Benefactor to the Receiver: for he who doth good to another, doth thereby contract a Relation to him; because in doing good to him he espouseth his Interest, and in espousing his Interest he espouseth himself: he performeth the part of his Brother, of his Father, and his God, whose highest Character and Elogium is to be good and to do good; and consequently in all these Capacities he standeth related to him. And by vertue of this Relation he acquireth a Right in the Person obliged, to be esteemed and beloved by him; to be pray'd for and requited by him whenever he hath opportunity, and ability. For there is always a Right acquired by Benefits, where there was none antecedently: he who doth a good turn, deserveth and meriteth of him that receiveth it; and what he deserveth, he hath a Right to. So that every Receiver is Debtor to his Benefactor; he oweth him all the good he receiveth from him; and is always obliged to a thankful acknowledgment, and whenever he hath opportunity to an equivalent Requital. For though my Benefactor giveth me his benefit freely, as having no need of it himself, or at least not so much as I, and therefore cannot legally demand a Repayment of it; yet whatsoever he giveth me, he deserveth of me, and whenever our Circumstances change and he hath my Need, and I his Ability, I am in Conscience as much obliged to repay it, as if he had lent it me upon Bond. In this case my Ability is Security for the Benefit I owe him, and his Need is a just Demand of it; and therefore since what he hath merited of me is his Due, I am extremely unjust, if when his Needs do demand it, I do not repay him so far as I am able. But if either I am not able to repay him an equivalent Benefit, or he hath no need or occasion for it; I am bound in justice to express my Gratitude to him in thankful Remembrances and Acknowledments, to take all fair Occasions to own and celebrate his goodness, and by all the little services I can render him to express a forward willingness to make him a full requital. For as in matter of Debt, he who cannot pay all must Compound and pay so far as he is able; so in the matter of Benefits, he who cannot make a compleat Requital, is obliged in justice to make some small Composition, and pay so much in the pound as his Ability extendeth to; and if he can do no more, to express a grateful Sense of them, and give thankful Words for beneficial Deeds; which all generous Benefactors esteem the noblest Requital. But he who receiveth Benefits without some thankful Acknowledgment, acteth the part of a Swine, that greedily devoureth the Acrons, and never looketh up towards the Tree from whence they drop: and he who requiteth Benefits with Injuries, acteth the part of a Devil, that would fain have thrown that blessed Being out of Heaven, who created and placed him in it.
IX. Ninthly and Lastly, THERE is the Relation of Creditor and Debtor: for he who lendeth to another Man, and giveth him Credit either for Mony or Commodities, or accepteth of his Security for what he lendeth to another, doth thereby contract a Relation to him; by which he acquireth a Right to be justly repay'd according to Contract and Agreement. For lending and crediting doth not alienate the Property; the Debtor hath only a Right to use what he borroweth for his present Convenience or Necessity, but the Property remaineth in the hands of the Creditor, who hath the same Right to it as when it was in his own Possession. And it being so, the Rule of Common Iustice obligeth us that we do not borrow more than we have a fair Prospect of Repaying; unless he that crediteth us knoweth our Inability, and is willing to run the hazard. For he who engageth himself in Debt beyond what he can reasonably hope to repay, taketh that from his Creditor upon promise of Payment, which he knoweth he is never likely to restore him; which is at least as high an Injustice, as if he had taken it by Force and Violence. And the same is to be said of borrowing upon false or insufficient Securities, such as bad Mortgages, counterfeit Pawns, or insolvent Bonds-men: for he who taketh up his Neighbour's Goods or Mony upon such Securities, as he knoweth are incapable of repaying him, doth as manifestly wrong him, as if he had taken them by Stealth, or Robbery. And since our Debts are our Creditor's Rights, if we would be just Debtors, we must neither reckon what we owe to be our own; nor so dispose of it, as to put it out of our Power to restore it to the true Proprietor: he that hath so much of his own, and so much of other mens, ought not to spend, or give, as if it were all his own. For if he that hath borrowed one Thousand Pounds, and is worth another, liveth to the utmost height and proportion of two Thousand, he must necessarily spend upon what he hath borrowed, and put it out of his power to restore it; and in so doing rob and despoil his Creditor, to maintain himself in his Prodigality. And as Debtors ought to be careful so to dispose of what they owe, as that they may be able to repay it; so they ought to be no less careful to repay it upon due Demand, or according to Contract and Agreement. For as it is unjust to deprive a Creditor of his Mony, so it is unjust to deprive him of the Use and Possession of it, any longer than he consenteth and agreeth to it: because as he hath Right to his Mony, so he hath Right to possess and use it. And therefore for Debtors to defer and protract their payments without their Creditors Consent, when it is in their power to discharge them, to put them upon fruitless Attendances, and make advantages of their mony against their consent, and beyond their Contracts and Agreements, is a degree of Injustice next to that of Robbing and despoiling them of it; because by thus doing they do not only force their Creditors to waste their time in tedious Attendances and take them off from their other businesses, but also rob them of the Use and Possession of their Mony; which they have as much Right to, as to the Mony it self. And if to defer Payment be so unrighteous in a Debtor, then to refuse and deny it, or take indirect courses either to abate, or avoid it, is much more unrighteous: because this is not only to deprive a Creditor of the present Use and Possession of his Property, but of his Property too; and how can that Man call any thing he possesseth his own Right and Property, whilst he thus denyeth another his? So that by an indispensable Rule of Justice, every Debtor is obliged rather to strip himself of all, and cast himself naked on the Providence of God; than by denying his Debts, or indirectly shifting the payment of them, to Feather his Nest with the Spoils of his Neighbour. When therefore by refusing to pay what we owe, we force our Creditors upon costly, or troublesome Suits to recover their own; or by pleading Protections, or sheltring our selves in a Prison, we avoid being forced to it by Law; or by fraudulent Breakings, we necessitate them to Compound our Debts, and accept a Part for the Whole; which soever of these ways we take, I say, to deprive our Creditors of their Rights, we are inexcusably dishonest, and unrighteous. And though by these, or such like knavish Evasions, we may force them to acquit and discharge us, yet we cannot force God, in whose Book of Accounts our Debts are recorded, as well as in theirs; and it concerneth us sadly to consider, that there is nothing can cross, or cancel them there, but only a full Restitution; and that if they are not cancelled there, all the Tricks and Evasions in the World will never be able to secure us from a dismal Reckoning, and a more dismal Execution.
AND thus you see what those acquired Rights are which are due from Man to Man upon account of their Civil and Sacred Relations.