90 The Nature and Nieceffìty Vol. II them in Execution, fo foon as morally he can And if thou carelefly and .fupinely trifle away thy opportunities in thiskind, God may likewife deprive tbee of an opportunity for ever. For all the while thou wiltùlly negle&e(t to make Reftitution, thou art guilty of the Injury; and there are hardly two Sins that cry louder to God for a quick and fpeedyrevenge, than Injuficeand Oppref- lion, Deceit and Fraud. God many times takes filch Caufes intohis more imme- diatecognizanee, t Theft 4. 6. Let no Man deceive or ,go beyond his Brother in a- ny thing : for God is the avenger offilch. And David tells us, that God in a pecu- liar manner abhors the Blood-thirfiy and deceitful Man; andthreatens that he (hall not live out halfhis days. And God by the Prophet, Mal. 3. g. tells us, that He will be afwift witnefs againfi the oppreffors. And ifGod be fo fwift to take venge- ance upon fuchPerlons, furely then they are concerned to be very quick and fpee- dy in makingSatisfa&ion for their Injuries and OpprefGons, left Divine Vengeance prevent them, and infteadof making Reparation to Men, they be call'd upon to make Satisfa&ion to the Jufice of God ; and you know who hath faid it, that It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You therefore that have hitherto negle&ed this Duty, delay it no longer; by all means difcharge your Confciences of this Burden, before you come to lie up- on a Death-Bed. Then the Confciences of the wort of Men begin to work, like a Stomachoppreft and furcharged with tareat 5 and then they are willing for their eafe to vomit up thofe Eftates, which they have devouredby fraud and injuftice; then they begin to confider the difficulty of being faved, and to fear that it will be impoffible for them ever to enter in at the ferait Gate, thus laden with the fpoils ofviolence anddeceit; even thofe that have the hardéa and mòfi feared Confci- ences, will be touched with theSenfe of filch great Sins at fuch a time : but do not thoudefer this work to that time, for there two Reafons. r. Becaufe it cannot be fo acceptable to God, to make Reftitution at fuch a time; as when thou art in health and in hopes of longerLife. To givea Man his own, when thou cana enjoy it and cafe it no longer, this is next to detaining of it 2. Becaufe in all probability the Refitution which is then made will not prove fo effe&ual.: What thou doa thy felf, that thou art fore is done: but what thou leaveft to be done by thy Executors, and charge(t upon them, thou art ;not fure will be ,done; ten to one but it they can find out any trick and evafion in Law, either to delay or avoid the doing of it, it lhall either never be done, or very (lowly. This is thefxth,thing, the time when Refitütionis to be made. But before I leave this Head, there is one cafe very proper to be confidered, which relates to this Circumftance of Time, and that is concerning Injuries of a very antient. date that is, how far this Duty of Refitution is to look backward, and whether: it doth not expire by traet of Time? For anfwer to this, I (hall lay down there Propofitions. a. At what difance of time foever the Law would in the Cafe make Repara- tion and give Satisfa&ion, we areundoubtedly bound in Confcience voluntarily togive it I deliver this generally, becaufe, tho it be poffible flame Civil Laws spay be in tome Cafes unreafonable in this matter, yet they are our bell Rule and Guide; and fpeaking-generally and for the moll part, they are as equitable as the Reafon of Man could devife. Not that weare to tieour felves aridly to the Law fo as not to go farther, if Reafon and Equity require ; for, as Seneca Pays, Parans eft ad legem -boom efe, It is no great arguasent ofgoodnefs, to be jufl as good as the Law requires. Therefore I think it will very well becomea good Man, in many Cafes, rather tobe better than the Law, than to keeparidly to it. 2. In Cafes where the Law hath not determined the time, we may do well to obferve a proportion to what the Law bath determined in other Cafes, which come nearel our own Cafe. 3. When the Injury is fo old, that the right which the injured Perron had to Reparation is reafonably prefumed.to be quitted and forfaken, then the"Obligati. On to,Satisfa&ion ceafeth and expires. The Reafon is plain, becaufe every Man may recede from his own Right, andgive it up to another; and her a Man may
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