tomers look through their fingers, and keep their old custom; How should God's plague be far from us, when these cry vengeance daily? The thief by the highway is not so ill as any of those that deal not uprightly in their vocation. For against a thief a man may fight for his purse wittingly, and say, Master thief, gramercy! If a man consider in how little tents, shops, offices, and houses those men dwell, and how great gains they get, he shall easily see where the profitablest ground lieth in the realm. If this people had such cause to cry out then on their rulers, what cause have we now here among us, where not only the richer and mightier sort overload the poorer, but every one in his degree useth craft, subtlety, and deceit, to oppress, undermine, and scratch from other, without respect of friend or foe, what he can, not regarding how he cometh by it, by hook or by crook, by right or wrong, be it short or long! Here is nothing spoken particularly against any man's vocation or occupation, nor any man that dealeth honestly in them; but generally to note the general faults of the of fenders, that every man may look into his own bosom, consider his doings, and amend one. If every one would amend one, all should be well straight; but every one would amend another, see other men's faults, but not his own, and therefore all lie still as they did, nothing amended, and every one maketh courtesy who shall begin. Sophony the prophet complaineth of his time, and saith, "Thy rulers are roaring [Zeph. iii.] lions, thy judges are ravening wolves in the evening, and will not leave the bones until morning; thy prophets are lewd and unconstant, thy priests have defiled the holy place, and broken thy law." Micheas crieth out, and saith, "There is [Mic. vii.] not a good man left on the earth, and not a righteous man among men; all lie in wait for blood, every man hunteth his brother unto death, &c.” God grant our times were not like! [PILKINGTON. 30 Gen. xlvii. Among us it is merrily said of some, that there be some courts where law is executed without conscience; another, where conscience is without law; the third, where neither law nor conscience; the fourth, where both law and conscience shall rule, I can rather pray for than look for, until the last day come, when the righteous Judge shall judge both with law and conscience. In the meantime we may mourn, and turn unto the Lord, that he may forgive us, and receive us in his many and great mercies; for we are full of many and great miseries. The pride of women is through the fault of men; therefore they be blameless: God amend us all! : It is written, that Joseph in Egypt used the people almost of like sort that they do here, and yet is he praised and these justly reproved; which possibly some marvel at, not understanding the diversity of their doings. Joseph laid up corn in the time of plenty, when every man had enough: these men did it at all times without respect, in plenty and scarcity. Joseph brought the money into the king's coffers to serve the commonwealth these men laid it up in their own coffers to their own private use. Joseph "bought their cattle" for such price as they were worth these men pay not the just price for any thing they take. Joseph "buyeth their land, and maketh the people bond unto the king," restoring them again the land, the king finding the seed to sow, the people only labouring to till the ground. And where we think we deal courteously if we let them sow to halves, the Egyptians have the fourth part for their labour, and pay the king the fifth part of the increase for the land and seed; but these men kept all in their own hands. Joseph "bought not the priests' lands," but gave them allowance of such things as they wanted out of the king's store; and these men, like unto our days, if they can scrape any thing from the church, that is a pastime among all other to laugh at, and thought best gotten. So much more is a minister of God's gospel thought meeter to be spoiled by these cut-purses, than Joseph thought meet to do to those idolatrous priests. Joseph opened his barns in time of dearth, and sold liberally to the needy; these men, the greater the need was, the faster they locked it up, until they had their desire of the poor. Joseph restored their land, and took but the fifth part of the increase these men restore nothing, and yet take interest. As this cruel dealing toward their brethren and countrymen was thought strange to be found amongst this people, in the time that God had shewed to them such great mercies, in restoring them again to their country, giving them the liberty to build their temple and city, with great gifts, liberality, and favour of the kings, under whom they were bondmen and slaves; so it is much more marvel, that among Christians, in the time of the gospel, so mercifully restored unto us and so freely taught, greater cruelty should be found and exercised, than among the hard-hearted Jews or infidel pagans. But this is the common practice of Satan, that in no age, people, nor country, he can be quiet to see God's kingdom set up and flourish, and his power fall; but he will rage, storm, bestir him, and by all devices that may be, and by all power that he can, overthrow it. And seeing this is no new thing, but hath fallen out divers times afore, let us not now be astonied nor dismayed at it, nor murmur and grudge against the doctrine of our salvation, so mercifully offered unto us, as though it were not the true word of God, because men live so far contrary to that which is taught, and they openly profess. The devil is content, when he cannot overthrow the truth of the doctrine, to deface it so much as he can with the ill life of those that profess it. But the gospel teacheth us what to do in this case, saying, "Do as they Matt. xxiii. say, but do not as they do." The doctrine is good, though they be ill. The truth and worthiness of God's word hangeth not on our life and doings, but our life and doings should 3. be reformed by God's word; for that "it is a lantern to our Psal. cxix, feet, and a light to our steps," that we may know when we be in the right way, and how to come into it. We must be judged by God's word, and not it by us: we must be ruled by it, and not overrule it according to our fantasies: we must hang on God's true saying, and not on man's evil living. 468 BECAUSE the Author, being prevented by death, could not finish the rest of this treatise, much less of this and the other chapters which remain untouched, I thought it good, for the better instruction of the reader, and instead of a supply for this point of oppression, which that godly and zealous father had begun, to annex and set down that which of late was published by ROBERT SOME, D. IN DIVINITY. TO THE READER. It hath pleased an English papist to give out in print, that the church of Rome doth both teach and require actual restitution, and that our church doth neither. His speech of us is very slanderous, and my treatise against oppression is argument enough to confute him. If they of Rome teach and require actual restitution, it is no work of supererogation: they do no more but their duties. If we should fail in this clear point, we deserve great condemnation at Almighty God's hands. I confess that a man is good, (and therefore justified in God's sight,) before he doth good works; but withal I set down this, that good works do follow him that is truly justified, and that such as have oppressed or injured any man, shall not be pardoned at God's hands, unless they make actual restitution, if they be able to do it. If any require proofs of this, I refer him to this treatise of mine against oppression. It is unjust dealing, used of the mightier, either by violence, colour of law, or any other cunning dealing, against such as are not able to withstand them. The ground of this definition is contained in these places of Scripture. Micheas, chap. ii. verse 1, 2. 1 Thess. chap. iv. verse 6. 2. It is not lawful for any man to oppress another. "Give us this day our daily bread." Every Christian desireth God Matt. vi. 11. to give daily bread, (that is, all things necessary for this life,) both to himself and to others: therefore no Christian is privileged to spoil another of his necessary food. If one of us must pray for the good of another, one of us may not prey upon another. "He that taketh his neighbour's living is a Ecclus. murderer." χχχίν. 22. "Thou shalt not desire thy neighbour's house, his field, &c." If we Deut. v. 21. may not desire his house or land, then we may not spoil him of his house or land, or inclose that ground, whereby the poor either by right are, or by right ought to be, relieved. 4, 5. "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt Exod. xxiii. bring him to him again. If thou see thine enemy's ass lying under his burden, wilt thou cease to help him? thou shalt help him up with it again." Almighty God commandeth us to deal well with our enemy's ass: therefore we may not by undoing our neighbour, or spoiling him of any part of his land or goods, make him an ass, and send him a begging. 31. "He that oppresseth the poor, reproveth him that made him, &c." It Prov. xiv. is a gross sin to reprove the majesty of God; therefore it is a gross sin to oppress the poor. It was one of the sins of Sodom, "not to reach out the hand to the Ezek. xvi. poor." If it be a great sin not to relieve the poor, it is a very gross 49. |