I Our duty to to do unto all men as I would they fhould do our neighunto me. To hurt no-body by word or deed. bour. To be truc and juft in all my dealings. To bear no malice nor hatred in my heart. To keep my hands from picking and stealing, and my tongue from evil fpeaking, lying, and flandering. To keep my body in temperance, fobernefs, ⚫ and chastity. Not to covet nor defire other men's goods; ⚫ but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living; and 'to do my duty in that ftate of life unto which it shall please God to call me.' * Wherefore let it be obferved, that the laws of God, relating to the life of our neighbour, are tranfgreffed by all real mischiefs and lafting injuries whatsoever, done by one man to another, or brought by any man upon himself; and by all debaucheries, whereby men deftroy themselves, or which they draw others into, to the ruin of the health of their bodies, and the reafon of their minds. They are alfo tranfgreffed by all wilful frauds, and deliberate adulterations of things made ufe of either in food or medicines; and by every thing whereby any man receives detrimentin his perfon. Nor is it, in any of these cafes, a fufficient excufe, in point of religion and morality, to alledge, that the evil which follows was not intended: for every man is anfwerable not only for the evil he directly intended, but also for the accidental ill confequences of that action, which it was his direct duty not to have performed. Because our duty to our neighbour is founded on JUSTICE and CHARITY: Therefore for method's fake I fhall reduce all thefe particular duties we owe to our neighbour under thofe two general heads. JUSTICE to our neighbour is to do no Justice newrong or injury to any one's foul, body, poffeffions, gative and or credit; and to give every one their whole due or pojitve. right. For, Though the foulof man is an invifible fubftance, and therefore not to be hurt by any outward violence, which To the ful. the See the fecond answer after the Commandments in the Church Catechifm. the body is fubject unto: yet it is capable of many impreffions, by which it is not only hurt and wounded, but even killed, if we confider it in a natural fenfe. For The foul in the natural fignification, is the heart or mind In the natu- or fpirit of a man, which all men know, had not ral fenfe. Solomon taught us, may be broken with forrow and afflictions. Confequently, malicious and fpiteful men, who without caufe vex and grieve their neighbour, hurt and wrong his foul, and are guilty of a breach of juftice.. The foul, confidered in its fpiritual ftate, is that part of In the fpiri- man which muft live for ever in an eternal ftaté tual fenfe. of glory or mifery. And as under this confideration it may be hurt, by fin in this world, and punishment in the next, which is the confequence of fin; fo that Drawing to fin the perfon, who tempts another to fin, is inftrumengreatest in tal to drag him to punishment, and as much acjury. ceffary to the hurt of that foul, as a murderer is to the death of the body he has killed: because fin, being the direct oppofite to that grace, by which alone the foul is inabled to live for ever in the fight of God, becomes the disease and wound thereof; which is given directly, by every one Direct who commands any one under his authority to do means of it. an unlawful action, or adviseth another to fome wicked thing, or intices others, by either pleasure or profit, to do any wickedness; which means is much inhanced, when men either help to contrive, or to put their wicked devices in execution: Or indirectly, by giving bad example; Indirect. efpecially by thofe that carry authority in their ftation of life: becaufe many are fo void of grace, as to copy other men's vices, as they do their drefs, for fashion fake. Again, by not fhewing a diflike to what we hear or fee done in defiance of God and his laws: Or, thirdly, by juftifying and defending any evil or finful act in themfelves or others: and, finally, by making a mock at fin, and contemptuously deriding the faith of Chrift, through which alone we are to be faved. So, As these are the means by which men commonly injure the foul of their neighbour, by drawing him into intemperance, luxury, drunkenness, or uncleannefs, and many other vices; vices; it behoves every one to examine himself, how often and how many he has hurt by any of these particulars: Men ought for it is not fufficient to fay, I have wronged no to confider whom they man, by maiming his body, ftealing his goods, or have thus undermining his character; because whomfoever injured. we draw to fin, we have endeavoured to bring to eternal punishment. This is as it were fecretly killing the foul under the pretence of friendship; and is much worse than a murder of that fort acted upon the body, as the foul is more preferable to the body, and eternal mifery is more to be dreaded than death. Besides, fuch a murderer cannot hope to escape unpunished at the last day; forafmuch as Chrift declares, that whofoever shall offend (or tempt, entice, or encourage any one to fin) any of thefe little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill-ftone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the fea. So that Whoever is thus acceffary to another's fin, becomes also subject to, and has reason to expect the fame pu- Heartily to nishment; except he begins early to judge and be- bewail it. wail himself for all these things, in which he has wronged his neighbour, and firmly refolves never to caft a ftumblingblock in his way for the future. And if it be poffible, he must endeavour all that he can, by admonition and good Endeavour example, to reform him whom he had caufed to to repair it. fin. So far negative justice regards the fouls of men. And, II. Now let us confider negative juftice in regard to the bodies of men. This forbids us to do wrong and vio- Of negative lence; the highest degree of which is killing the juftice to the body, and is the fin forbidden in the fixth Coм- body. Se veral MANDMENT, Thou shalt do no murder: that is, Thou shalt. neither by open violence, in defiance of the laws of In respect to God and man, nor fecretly or treacherously, by the the life. means of another's fword; nor by falfe accufation; norby poifon, nor by any other private means whatever, take away the life of thy neighbour; which are too often suggested by an old grudging, or covetous, or committing ambitious heart, to fatisfy a malicious paflion, or to make way to fome profit or preferment: or it is too often become the practice of loofe women, who kill their infants to ways of murder. hide their own fhame. Befides, they who intice others to drinking, or other exceffes, which bring on diseases, and, by weakening the body, not only deprive them of health, the moft valuable comfort of life, but thereby haften the time of death, cannot hope to be clear from their blood in the fight of God. And again; whoever excites or prompts another to fuch a pitch of anger and revenge, or blows up the coals of diffenfion between others, he certainly cannot be guiltless, but muft expect part of the punishment, if it ends in murder. Duels, or fighting in private quarrels, are open breaches of this commandment; because difallowed by divine Of duelling. authority; and therefore the guilt of murder is chargeable upon the perfons engaging in them. For the plea of felf-prefervation is utterly foreign to the conditions and circumftances of him who formally gives or accepts a challenge. And he adds to the fin of making an outrageous attempt upon his neighbour's life, by throwing himself unneceffarily into the utmost danger of lofing his own, not only life, but foul alfo. For thofe, who die in fuch engagements, go into the other world, not only void of charity, but glowing hot with wrath and fury; and when these qualities have the laft poffeffion of their fouls, what fociety of fpirits can that be which their fouls are qualified for in the next world? And, provided they do not perish in the conflict, is it worth a man's while to run into the hazard of fuffering eternal mifery, for the fake of redreffing an injury, or refenting an affront? Confequently, all arguments of human invention, to countenance fuch a wickednefs, muft be evafive and deluding; and to fear men more than God is the most difhonoura ble mifapplication and degeneracy of fear. There is nothing which religion doth more feverely forbid, than this revenging of injuries in a private way; nor is there any thing more ftrictly injoined than forbearance and forgiveness; even fo ftrictly, that we cannot, without hypocrify, fay our daily prayers, unless we be in charity with all the world. Therefore, whoever engages in duels through fear of fuffering little trifling calumnies and reproaches, which, in the judgment of the wifeft men, are not really fuch, doth at once forfeit all just pretenfions to true courage, honour, and generofity of mind, and all claim and title to eternal life. Moreover, Murder This precept extends, according to the interpretation of Christ and his apostles, to our words and fecret intentions. Our bleffed Lord exprefly applies it to the committed in feveral degrees of caufelefs anger, breaking forth thought. into contumelious and reproachful language; and, in St. John's account, Whofoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that a murderer hath no eternal life abiding in him. Because fuch as have not fufficient degrees of natural courage, or want opportunities actually to defile their hands with blood, may yet facrifice their neighbour in their secret thoughts, and indulge their imagination in the view of those mortal wounds which they dare not give; and men, who are afraid to handle the inftruments of death, may shoot out their arrows, even bitter words, and pierce the fouls of their brethren with the expreffions of cruelty, defpitefulness, and fcorn: But they may juftly fear that the blood thus shed in fancy and conception only shall be laid to their charge, and that the rewards of the falfe or cruel tongue shall be, as of the iniquity itself, mighty and sharp arrows with hot burning coals. For whofoever is angry with his brother without a caufe, fhall be in danger of the judgment; and whofoever fhall fay to his brother, Racha, fhall be in danger of the council: but whofoever fhall fay, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell-fire. In word. If the guilt of this tranfgreffion be taken from the indignity offered unto God, or from the injury done to man, The beior from the punishments exprefly, denounced a- noufurfs of gainft it, or from the anguish and horror which it the fin. is apt to leave upon the mind, we should find reafon to affignit a place amongst the loudeft of crying fins: for the first inftance of murder was followed clofe by perplexity, oppreffion offpirit, and defpair. Mypunishment is greater than I can bear, or rather mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven me, fays Cain, who flew his brother. And it follows, Every one that findeth me fhall flay me: the whole creation must be alarm'd, and ftand ready to execute vengeance on me; and that weight of confufion, which natural confcience scarce ever fails laying upon fuch finners, must be increas'd by theexpreffion of God's indignation: The Lord abhors the blood-thirsty; and has ex |