Works, Chapter 1 · Section 2
SECT. II.
AS to the exercising thy self to Godliness in thy dealings with all men, it consisteth partly in the manner of thy dealings, partly in the principle of thy dealing, and partly in the end thou propoundest in thy dealings.
First, Be careful in thy carriage towards others as to the maner of it, that it be righteous, meek and courteous.
1. Be righteous in thy dealings with all men. Righteousness strictly taken is a vertue, which guideth and ordereth the whole man for the good of his neighbour, as the understanding to conceive, the Will to chose, the affections to love and desire, and the whole man to act and do what may tend to the welfare of others. This righteousness is of so great concernment to godliness, that it is sometimes put by a Synechdoche for the whole of Religion, 1 Ioh. 3. 7. He that doth righteousness, is righteous; so Rom. 6. 17. And the Christian is denominated from this part of Christianity, Gen. 7. 1. And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the Ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me; so Psa. 5. ult. For thou Lord wilt bless the righteous. The Moral Philosophers tell us that justice is the sum and Epitome of all vertues; the Divines will inform us that righteousness (largely taken) is the string upon which all the graces hang; if that be broken or snapt asunder, they all fall off and are lost. I must tell thee (Christian) that civil righteousness is as really necessary as sacred. He that seemeth righteous towards God, and is unrighteous towards men, is unrighteous both to God and Man. I say, be righteous in thy dealing with all men. Viz. Let thy righteousness be real and universal; Commntative & Distributive. Be righteous in thy action…, expressions, and towards all persons.
1. Be righteous in thy works or Actions. Deal with men as one that in all hath to do with God. If thou art a Christian, thou art a Law to thy self, thou hast not onelyonly a Law without thee (the Word of God) but a Law within thee, and so darest not transgress. Thy double hedge may well prevent thy wandring. Alas, what do those unruly beasts get, whom no fence can keep in, but a more speedy slaughter! Its said of an unrighteous man, his own counsel shall cast him out, Job 18. 7. Unjust men think by their craft to cast others down, but their own counsel will cast themselves out; Out! out of what? Out of their houses; for such dwellings are built upon powder, and a spark of wrath sooner or later will blow them up, Psa. 37. 9, 10 Out of their lands and possessions, Quod quasi & siccos madesaceret, & exprimeret humentes; because he did advance and wet them well when dry, and press them hard when wet. Tacit.for some providence or other (as Fla…ius Vespasianus served his proling Officers) will press such Spunges hard, and squeeze out all their impure water, which they have so greedily sucked in. Out of their Shops and all earthly comforts, for such wealth is b…t like the flesh which the Eagle fetcht from the Altar with a coal in it, which fires and consumes the whole nest, Hab. 2. 9. And which is worst of all, their counsel will at last cast them out of heaven; God himself hath lockt the gate of bliss against them, and with all their craft and counsel they shall not be able to pick it open. 1 Cor. 6. 9, 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. It w as a true saying of Bishop Latimer, when one told him, The Cutler had cozened him, in making him pay as much more for his Knife as it was worth; No (saith he) he hath not cozened me, but his own conscience. That Knife cut deep into the poor Cutlers soul, and made wider gaps then he was aware of; O how foolish is man to conceive that by fraud he shall keep himself up, when God himself saith, that his own counsel shall cast him down!
Reader, If thou art one that like Balaam lovest the wages of unrighteousness, bethink thy self speedily; for thy wealth unjustly gotten, will like Achans wedge of Gold, cleave thy soul in sunder. Righteousness in thy works must appear both in buying and in selling.
Be righteous in buying. Take heed lest thou layest out thy money to purchase endless misery. Some have bought places to bury their bodies in, but more have bought those commodities which have swallowed up their souls. Injustice in buying, is a Canker which will eat up, and waste the most durable wares. An unjust Chapman, like Phocion, payeth for that poison which kills him, and buyeth his own bane. A true Christian, will in buying as well as selling use a conscience. Austin relates a story of an Histrionical Mountebank, who to gain spectatours, promised if they would come the next day, he would tell them what every ones heart desired. When they all flocked about him at the time appointed, expecting the performance of his word, he told them, This is the desire of every of your hearts, to sell dear and buy cheap; but its a sign he was an Emperick by the falseness of his bill; for a good man would buy as dear as he selleth. His buying and selling are like two scales, that hang in an equal poize.
In buying do not work either upon the ignorance or the poverty of the Seller. Do not take advantage by the Sellers ignorance. This would be as bad as to lead the blind out of the way, 1 Thes. 4. 6. Let no man go beyond, or over reach another in any matter, because that the Lord is the avenger of all-such. Mark, Reader, Those that over-reach men, are within the reach of a sin-revenging God; Some persons will boast of their going beyond others in bargains, but they have more cause to bewayl it, unless they could go beyond the line of Gods power and anger. Its an ordinary saying, but sinful,Iust…m precium, quod multo amplius erat, nec opinanti dedit. Aug. de Trin. l. 53. c. 3. A man may buy as cheap as he can. Austin tells us, A certain man (himself I suppose he meaneth) was offered a book by an unskilful Stationer, at a price not half the worth of it; he took the book, but gave him the just price, according to its full value. Sure I am, those wares which are half bought, through a cunning Chapmans out-witting the silly tradesman, are half stolen. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth, Pro. 20. 14. but hath more reason to weep, for his subtle words, how cheap soever he buyeth, will make it an hard pennyworth in the end. He makes the best Market, that like holy David payeth the full just price. Nay (saith he, of Ornans threshing floor) but I will buy it for the full price, 1 Chron. 21. 22, 24. Ahab never bought a dearer purchase then Naboths Vineyard, for which he paid not one penny.
Do not work upon the Sellers poverty. This is to grind the faces of the poor, and great oppression; It is no mean sin in many rich Citizens, who take advantage on the necessity of poor tradesmen. The poor man must sell, or his Family starve; the rich man knoweth it, and will buy but at such a rate, that the other with all his labour shall not earn his own bread. God made the rich to releive, but these (I must be bold to say) rob the poor. Its an ill way for any to raise themselves higher in the world by trampling poor men under their feet. God hath sometimes made their houses, (as high and as firm as they were) to fall down upon their heads, who have thus sucked out the blood of poor mens hearts. Some will tell us, They do no wrong herein; for if poor men will not take their money, they may let it alone, they do not force them. Reader, if thy soul be died with this crimson sin, I shall onelyonly ask thee this question; Is this to love thy Neighbour as thy self? If thou hadst a Wife and several small Children, and the providence of God had called thee to this poor mans condition; wouldst thou be contented to work hard a whole week, and when thou wast compelled to fell thy wares to buy food for thy family, to receive (the money for materials deducted) but six pence or twelve pence for all thy pains? Let thy own conscience be judge in this ease: Is not this, for men to live like fish, the greater devouring the lesser? I have heard a Country Mercer say (who is now in heaven) that several times, when poor men have brought lace, or ribands, or other ware to him, he hath tried how low he could beat the price, and because of their necessities, he hath brought them to allow their commodities for less then the very materials cost them; but after he had so done, he durst not but give them a just equitable price; his conscience would not suffer him to make them suffer, because their poverty necessitated them to sell. And truly where men act otherwise, though their consciences may be quiet, because asleep, yet they have no true rest, and the time will come that conscience will awake to their wo. When some of the Jews had bought Lands and Vineyards of their brethren at an under rate, they being forced to Mortgage them to get bread, Nehemiah rebukes them severely for working upon others extremity; and desires God to shake every man out of his possession, who did not make restitution, Nehem. 5. 2, 3, 4, 12, 13. Such wealth to a man, is like Ionah to the Whale; though he swallow it down, yet he will finde it too hard a Morsel to digest, and have no ease till he hath restored and vomited it up again.
Be righteous in thy payments. Pay what thou agreest, and pay it in good money.
Pay what thou contractest for. If thou buyest wares with an intention not to pay, thou stealest them; and truly such wealth will melt away like Wax before the Sun. Such ill gotten goods, will as commodities in a damp Cellar, moulder and come to nothing. He that hath any such riches, saith Chrysostom, must speedily away with it, or else he locketh up a Theif in his Counting-house, which will carry all away, and if he look not the better to it, his precious soul also. He is notoriously unrighteous, that like the Harpie (which hath its name in Hebrew from injustice) seizeth upon all he can meet with as prey. Mark, Reader, how pious honest Iacob was in this particular; when the Patriarchs had bought Corn in Egypt, and given their money to them that sold it, yet when upon their return he found the money in their sacks; Take (saith he) the money that was brought again, in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hands; peradventure it was an oversight, Gen. 43. 12. How many would have concealed the money, stopt the mouth of their consciences with the first payment, and have kept it now as lawful prize; but Iacobs conscience was more tender mouthed.
Let thy payments be in good Money. Its Treason against the King to make bad money, and its Treason against the King of Kings (knowingly) to pay brass money; If thou dischargest thy debt in adulterate coyn, thou contractest a greater debt on thy soul, and defilest thy conscience. He that putteth God off with false service, is a spiritual Hypocrite; He that puts men off with false silver, is a civil Hypocrite; Such a mans conscience is farther from being currant then his Coin. And Abraham weighed to Ephron, the silver which he had named in the audience of the Sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, currant money with the Merchant, Gen. 23. 16. He that makes light payments, may well expect heavy judgements.