laid Hands on his Fellow Servant, and took him by the Throat, faying, Pay me that thou oweft. And when the poor Man befought him to have Patience, he regarded him not, but hurried him away to Prison; and for this Behaviour he is called, ver. 32. Thou wicked Servant.

Some of these Circumftances feem to be added, to aggravate the Cruelty of this wicked Servant; fuch are they which defcribe the Violence used on one Side, and the Submiffion and Intreaty offered on the other. And the Cafe commonly falls out to be fo. Men are apt to demand their Debts, especially from their Equals or Inferiors, with a Haughtiness and Roughness hard to be borne; and yet the poor Debtor is forced by Neceffity to take it patiently, and to be all Submiffion.

But the Circumftances upon which the Reason of the Cafe depends, are principally these two: First, That the Debtor was not able to discharge the Debt at the Time of the Demand. Secondly, That he was willing to do Juftice to his Creditor, and to endeavour, by the best Means he could use, to raise a Sum fufficient to answer the Demand. Therefore where either of thefe Circumftances

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ftances are wanting, the Reason of the Cafe ceases, and together with it all Pleas for Forbearance and Compaffion. Confequently every Man is at Liberty, in Point of Confcience, to use the Method which the Law of his Country directs; to compel those to pay their Debts, who are able, but not willing to pay them. And in Truth, where this is the Cafe, the Creditor is fo far from being justly chargeable with Cruelty or Oppreffion in making Ufe of any legal Method to recover his own, that the Charge lies ftrongly against the other Side. To delay poor Traders, or others, in the Payment of what is due to them, is always Injustice, and sometimes very barbarous Injustice. A poor Man may perhaps lofe his Credit, which is the Life of his Bufinefs, or perhaps his Liberty, which is the Life and Maintenance of himself and Family, for Want of that very Money which you detain from him and when this happens, is it any Compenfation to pay the Man at last what is owing to him? So far from it, that such a Debtor, even when his Debt is paid, may stand charged in Confcience with the Ruin of a poor Family.

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Another Circumftance, upon which the

Judgment

Judgment of our Saviour in this Cafe depends, is, that there be a Readiness and Willingness in the Debtor, to do Justice, whenever he is able, and to use his best Endeavours to enable himself to do it. Confequently all fuch Debtors are out of this Cafe, who deny their juft Debts, or any Part of them; and all such as may be justly fufpected to conceal their Effects, in order to defraud their Creditors: and fuch also, as live idly and profufely, fquandering the Estate which ought to be applied to do Juftice to thofe to whom it is due. The Reason of these Exceptions may be made plain in few Words. The prefent Inability of a Debtor is the Argument for the Delay and the Forbearance; but this Inability comes not into Question where the Debt itself is denied. And fince the Circumftances of Men change fo faft as they do, the Man who wants Forbearance this Year, may in a few more be better able to pay the Debt, than the other is to forgive it: and what Reason can be given why he should not? Now he who denies the Debt, declares an Intention never to pay it; which certainly will justify the other, in endeavouring by a legal Method to maintain and ascertain his Right;

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Right; and till the Right is cleared, there is no Room for one Side to plead, or the other Side to confider the Arguments for Pity and Compaffion.

The fecond Exception relates to a Cafe which is fo manifeftly fraudulent, that nothing can be faid in its Excufe. They who conceal their Effects, and plead Poverty deceitfully, are mere Cheats, and deferve no Compaffion, To prevent fuch Frauds, and to arm the Creditor with Power to compel a Discovery, feems to me to be the chief View and Defign of the Law, which puts the Body of the Debtor into the Creditor's Power: and fo odious is this Deceit, that the Law, in fome Cafes and Circumstances, has annexed to it a far greater Penalty.

The third Exception relates to those, who oftentimes are free enough of their Promises to do Justice, and yet by their Actions declare daily, that they have nothing lefs at Heart than to do justly by their Creditors. Such are they who live idly and profufely, and are conftantly diminishing what they have, and by fo doing are rendering themselves lefs able every Day to pay their juft Debts. Now, what Reason can

you

you imagine, that is proper to be laid before an honest industrious Man, to persuade him to be content that his own Family should fuffer, and his Substance be wafted by the Folly and Extravagance of a Stranger? Such a Man would certainly punish and restrain a Son of his own, were he idle and extravagant; and what Kind of Goodness or Charity is it, to maintain and support the like Extravagance in another? Some wife Commonwealths have debarred fuch Perfons from the Management of their own Eftates: I am fure there is more Reason to debar them from spending the Estates of other Men; and this is what every extravagant Man does, whilft he confumes his Substance, and leaves his Debts unpaid.

In these Cases, therefore, and in others of the like Nature, every good Man may, and every wife Man will, make use (in a reasonable Manner) of the Power which the Law gives him for the Security of his Property; and in fo doing he ftands clear of all Offence against Charity and good Confcience.

But when the Circumftances mentioned in the Text meet together; when the Debtor is chargeable with no Fault, or Fraud, but is disabled by mere Poverty to satisfy P 4

his