suretyship, or any wise indiscreet management of our callings, to our detriment. Prov. xxviii. 22, He, that hasteth to be rich, hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him. Prov. xxii. 26, 27, Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou bast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee? 3. Idleness and slothful neglect of the duties of our particular callings. Prov. xxiii. 21, Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Prov. xxiv. 30, 31, 33, 34, I went by the field. of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stonewall thereof was broken down. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep; so shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man.

Q. 2. What doth the eighth commandment forbid in the excess, in reference unto our own wealth and outward estate?

A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth in the excess, in reference unto our own wealth and outward estate, 1. Covetousness, in getting an estate with carking cares, inordinate desires to be rich, or with immoderate labour, so as to waste the body, and to exclude time for religious duty. Heb. xiii. 5, Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. 1 Cor. vii. 32, I would have you without carefulness. Luke xxi. 34, Take heed, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life. 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10, They, that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition; for the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Eccl. iv. 8, There is one alone, and not a second: yea, he hath neither child nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave myself of good? 2. Covetousness,

in keeping what we have gotten of the good things of the world, without an heart to make use of them. Eccl. vi. 1, 2, There is an evil under the sun, and it is common. among men; a man to whom God hath given riches and wealth, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it; this is vanity, and an evil disease. 3. Unlawful contracts, such as simony in the sale of holy things, the gifts of the Holy Ghost, pardons of sin, and dispensations unto it, church-livings, and the charge of souls. Acts viii. 20, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 4. Bribery in the sale of public justice. Exod. xxiii. 8, And thou shalt take no gift; for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Isa. i. 23, Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. 5. Unlawful arts, fortune-telling, figure-casting, and making use of any unwarrantable ways for the getting of money. Isa. xlvii. 10, 13, Thou hast trusted in thy wickedness. Let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee. Acts xix. 19, Many also of them which used curious arts, brought their books together, and burnt them before all men. Ver. 24, A certain man named Demetrius, a silver-smith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen.

Q. 3. What doth the eighth commandment forbid, in reference unto others which are in want?

A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth, in reference unto others which are in want, a withholding relief from them, and stopping the ear against their cry. Prov. xxi. 13, Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. Deut. xv. 7, If there be a poor man of one of thy brethren, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother.

Q. 4. What doth the eighth commandment forbid, in reference unto all men?

A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth, in reference unto all men, any kind of injustice and unrighteousness, in any of our dealings with them; such as, 1. Defrauding others in our buying, when we discommend that which we know to be good, or take an advantage of others' ignorance of the worth of their commodities, or their necessity of selling them so as to give a great under-rate for them. Prov. xx. 14, It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer; but when he is gone his way, then he boasteth. Lev. xxv. 14, If thou buyest ought of thy neighbour, ye shall not oppress. 2. Defrauding others in selling, when we praise that which we sell, and against our consciences say, It is excellent good, though we know it to be stark naught; and when we take an unreasonable price for our commodities; or when we cozen them, in the sale of goods, by false weights and measures. 1 Thess. iv. 6, That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter; because the Lord is the avenger of all such. Deut. xxv. 13, 15, Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have. Prov. xi. 1, A false balance is an abomination to the Lord; but a just weight is his delight. Micah vi. 10, 11, Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights? 3. Especially the eighth commandment doth directly forbid stealing one from another; Thou shalt not steal. Lev. xix. 11, Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.

Q. 5. What stealing doth the eighth commandment forbid?

A. The eighth commandment forbiddeth all stealing, either within the family, or without the family.

Q. 6. What stealing within the family doth the eighth commandment forbid?

A. The eighth commandment doth forbid within the family, 1. Servants stealing and purloining, as also any. wise wasting and wronging their masters in their goods or estates. Titus ii. 9, 10, Exhort servants to be obe

dient to their own masters; not purloining, but showing all good fidelity. Luke xvi. 1, A certain rich man had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2. Children's stealing and robbing their parents. Prov. xxviii. 24, Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer. Prov. xix. 26, He that wasteth his father, is a son that causeth shame. Q. 7. What stealing without the family doth the eighth commandment forbid ?

A. The eighth commandment doth forbid without the family, all theft, both public and private.

Q. 8. Which is the public theft which the eighth commandment doth forbid?

A. The public theft which the eighth commandment doth forbid, is, 1. Sacrilege, which is, when any do either violently or fraudulently take away, or alienate any thing that hath been dedicated to sacred uses; or when sacred persons, without just cause, are taken off from their employments. Rom. ii. 22, Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?. Prov. xx. 25, It is a snare to a man to devour that which is holy. Mal. iii. 8, 9, Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me; but ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse; for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. 2. Robbing public treasuries, or any way wronging and defrauding the Commonwealth, by taking away its just liberties and privileges, and by doing a public detriment for private advantage sake, among which public robberies may be numbered, enclosures, engrossings, forestallings, monopolies, and the like.

Q. 9. What is the private theft which the eighth commandment doth forbid without the family?

A. The private theft which the eighth commandment doth forbid without the family, is, 1. Man-stealing, or woman-stealing, or stealing of children, that they may be sent or sold for slaves. 1 Tim. i. 9, 10, The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for murderers, for man-slayers, for whoremongers, for men-stealers, for liars, for perjured perR

sons. Exod. xxi. 16, He that stealeth a man, and selleth him, shall surely be put to death. 2. Robbery, either by land or sea, either of money, cattle, or any goods. Judges ix. 25, And the men of Schechem set liers-inwait in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them. John xviii. 40, Now Barrabas was a robber. Job v. 5, The robber swalloweth up their substance.

Q. 10. What further is inclusively forbidden in the eighth commandment?

A. There is further inclusively forbidden in the eighth commandment, 1. All partaking with thieves in receiv ing stolen goods, or otherwise. Prov. i. 14, Cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse. Prov. xxix. 24, Whoso is partner with a thief, hateth his own soul. Psalm 1. 18, When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him. 2. Detaining that which is strayed or lost. Deut. xxii. 1, 5, Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them; thou shalt in any case bring them again to thy brother. In like manner shalt thou do with his raiment, and with all lost things of thy brother's which thou hast found. 3. Falsehood and unfaithfulness in our promises, and in regard of any thing committed to our trust. John xii. 6, This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein. 4. Rigorous requiring what is owed to us, without compassion or forbearance. Matth. xviii. 28, 29, 30, But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants who owed him an hundred pence; and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, pay me that thou owest. And his fellow-servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And he would not; but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. 5. Cruel keeping the pledge, when it is the means of our neighbour's living. Exod. xxii. 26, 27, If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down; for that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin; wherein shall he sleep? and it shall come to