things that are; all things that are must needs be His, and He may dispose of them as He pleaseth. And so He doth: He disposeth of all and every thing that is in heaven or earth; particularly, all the houses, lands, cattle, monies, goods, or the riches, as men call them, of this life, they are all His, and wholly at His disposal; and He accordingly gives them, how, and when, and to whom He will. So that whatsoever any man hath, and howsoever he came by it, whether by inheritance, gift, or purchase, by his wit or valour, by any office or calling, by his care and industry, or any other lawful way, it still comes originally from God; who distributeth the necessaries, the accommodations, and the conveniences of this life to all men, to some more, to some less, as He Himself sees good. And whatsoever He gives, or puts into the hands of any man, although He still reserveth to Himself His own propriety in it, so that He may take it away again when He pleaseth: yet He thereby gives that man so much right and title to it, that it is his own, in respect of all other men: no other man hath any thing to do with it, but only he; and he alone must give account of the use of it to God, from whom he received, and under whom he holds it. Which he could not do, if another man should take it from him.

Wherefore, to secure and confirm to every man both the civil right, and the use of what He sees good to put into his hands, God was pleased to make and publish this law, for all mankind to observe, Thou shalt not steal; that is to say, thou shalt not take

from another man any thing that is his, or that God hath given him: thou shalt not take it by force, or by fraud, neither openly nor secretly: thou shalt not take it out of his house, or shop, or fields, or barns, or pockets, nor upon the highway, nor any wise whatsoever, without his consent and will.

For we must not understand this law only of that which we commonly call theft, or robbery; but of every unlawful or indirect way, whereby it is possible for one man to come at that which God hath given to another: whether it be by forgery, perjury, or suborning witnesses in courts of judicature; by lying, dissembling, or concealing the truth; by false measures, false weights, or false lights; by extortion, oppression, or false accusation; by defrauding, cheating, or over-reaching in any contract or bargain, or any otherwise than such as God allows and approves of for the transferring the things of this world from one man to another: so that He Himself may be truly said to do it. For whosoever getteth the possession of what belongs to another, any otherwise than what is agreeable to the revealed will and word of God, he breaketh this Commandment; he stealeth.

But that no man certainly would do, if he would but first consider what he doth. For this is to usurp upon the prerogative of God Himself; to take that away which He gives, and which He gives for His own use, to be employed in His service, and for His honour. And therefore He will be sure to revenge Himself of such as shall presume to deprive that man of it, to

whom He was pleased to give it: as He hath assured us, by His Apostle, requiring, that no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord is the revenger of all such, 1 Thess. iv. 6.

Wherefore this is one of the two sins for which He sends His curse upon the earth, which enters into the house of the thief, remains there, and consumes it with the very timber and stones thereof, Zech. v. 3, 4. And accordingly we commonly see, that what is unjustly gotten, brings a curse upon that which also is gotten justly, and upon Him too that got it: for, as the partridge sitteth upon eggs, and hatcheth them not; so ke that getteth riches and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at the end shall be a fool, Jer. xvii. 11. And that which is worst of all, thieves and extortioners are reckoned among those who shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi. 10.

But what then must they do, who have transgressed this holy Commandment, that they may escape the vengeance and judgment of God? They must first follow the advice of St. Paul, or rather the command of God by him, Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth, Eph. iv. 28. And then they must follow the example of Zaccheus, Luke xix. 8. they must restore what they have unjustly gotten, if not fourfold, as he did, at least the thing itself, or the full value of it, with interest for all the time they have had and used it: for till they do that, they still live in the breach of

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this law; and can never be said to keep it, till they have made full restitution of whatsoever they have gotten by breaking it. And if they cannot find the persons themselves to whom they ought to restore it, they must restore it to God, the head Landlord or supreme Proprietor of all things in the world, by giving it to some pious or charitable use. They must, in that case, restore to him what they have stolen from men, as well as what they have stolen from God Himself, by taking or converting to their own use any thing that hath been given, consecrated, or dedicated to Him: which is the worst sort of stealing, the stealing that which is sacred, therefore called sacrilege, Rom. ii. 22. and the devouring that which is holy: which, unless vomited up again, will certainly be a snare to them, Prov. xx. 25.

From hence you may easily observe, that you are all here positively commanded, to be true and just in all your dealings: to render unto all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom honour: to owe no man any thing, but to love one another, Rom. xiii. 7, 8. To promote, as much as you can, one another's good and welfare: to do to all men, as ye would they should do to you, Matt. vii. 12. To take care to pay whatsoever any man can justly demand of you, and to give what you are able to the relief of those who want it: for that is a debt which God hath charged upon your estates; which, unless you discharge and pay, you wrong the poor, and so break this Commandment.

QUESTIONS.

72 Who gives all men what they have?

Have men a right to what God hath given them?
Wherefore doth God forbid men to steal?

What is here meant by stealing?

76 Are not all unlawful ways of getting here forbidden ? How are they punished that break this law?

What must they do, who have broken it?

How must restitution be made, when the person wronged cannot be found?

What is here positively commanded?

THE NINTH COMMANDMENT.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

There is nothing in the make or frame of man, but what is an admirable instance of the infinite wisdom and power of his Maker, particularly, that He hath so contrived it, that we can discover the thoughts and affections of our souls, only by moving our tongues several ways, which we call speaking; without which we could have no society together, no more than brute beasts have. Whereas by this means we can communicate to one another all our opinions, desires, hopes, fears, designs, and whatsoever else can come into our minds. Insomuch that although we cannot look into one another's hearts, yet one man may know what another thinks there, as well as he that thinks it.

But for that purpose it is necessary, that every man should always speak as he thinks: otherwise we can never certainly know one another's thoughts, no more