Chap.22'. .An Expefticn upon the Beak of Jo r.. Vcrf.6. heft Cloathing be thou Ruler over ru, &c. Thou haft eloathing, that is, thou haft goods, thou haft an Eftate,thou cant} mai.e pro- vifionfor us; there Cloathing is put for all outward Conveni- ences, as in other Scriptures Breed i'. Se) that according to the ex- tent of this interpretation, Thou haft feript the naked of their Chet- thing, takes inall sorts of bodily grievances put upon the poor. Hence obferve. That to oppreffe thepoor is the bighef andgreateft oppref'on. It is our duty toCloath the naked, how great then is their fin who ftrip the naked of their cloathing ? it is ftnfoll & unjuft violently to take cloaths from him that hath greateft variety of.cloathing, we may not rob the rich, what is it then to take from them who have not ? or (as we fay ) to rob the Holitall. Solomon (Pcov. 28. 3 . ) tels us ofanoppreflion which is very grievous, and that is the oppreffion of a poore man, which is true both actively, and paffively , when the poore man is the oppretTor, 'tis fo, 'cis fo alto when the poore man is the op- pref ed. Solomon intends both, for he makes the poore to be the opprefld , and a poore man the oppreffor. The poor man that opprefeth the roar is as a /'weeping raine, which leaveth nofood. 'Tio worfe with the poore when the poore oppreffe them, then, when the rich oppreffe them,the rich may oppreffe them much, but they corne not fo nevra, as when a poore man oppreffeth ; for as the imbecilitie of the oppreffsd poore man can give him no helpe, fo the need/icy of the oppreffïng poor man will (hew him no mercy. Noshing loth more harden the heart ofa man then his o one want, and he hath little feeling of anothers miîery, who is under the feeling ofhis owne : He that hath no- thing takes what he can get, and his owne hunger devoureth all, The rich man oppre(fing the poore is a lathing raine, the great man oppre li, g the poore isa tb eoderirg raine, but the poore man oppretling the poore a fweeping raire.As they who never knew poverty, fo they whe, know it moll, have the leaf flock of pity for the poore. Such are a (weeping rain indeed. There is a refrefhing, a'ratning, a fïili:,g raine, which the Lord fends upon the thirfty Earth, this produceth (lore of food. it raines corne and wine, milke and butter; There is alto a fweep-
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