42 CHRISTIAN MORALITY, VIZ. JUSTICE, &C. [SERI. XXV. men to speak flattering falsehoods in their daily dealings, and some of them make an hourly sacrifice of truth to the gain ofa penny. It is from this principle that they break their promises of payment ; they with-hold the money that is due to their neighbour, beyond all reasonable time, and that for no other reasonbut to gain by the loan of it : They delay thepayment of-their poor creditors for many months, or perhaps for years, and put the advan- tage which they make of this delay into their own purse. This is a frequent, but an unrighteous practice inpur day: For the profit that accrues by the detaining ofmoney that is due to another beyond the 'customary or contracted time of payment, should doubtless be given to the person to whom the principal money was due; or at least he should have sucha valuable share of it as may compen- sate the damage or loss he sustains by the. delay. It is a covetous desire of gain that tempts men to prat- tise extortion, and to prey upon the necessities of those they deal with. When the buyer wants_ any conveniency of life, they force him to give much more than it is worth, because he stands in the utmost need of it : Or they constrain the seller perhaps to part with some of his most valuable possessions for a trifle, because he is under special necessity and present distress. This was the ex- tortion which Jacob practised upon his brother Esau, when he made him sell his birth-right for a mess of pot- tage, while he was faint with hunting. And it is the same iniquity ,when we impose upon the ignorance or known unskilfulness of the. persons we deal with ; and especially when we make our advantage of children or servants, or of persons who confess their own ignorance, and leave the choice of the goods, or the determination of the price, to the. conscience of him that sells. We may indeed set a just value upon our own goods; but we must not set a price upon any man's pressing ne- cessity, nor raise a tax upon his ignorance. It can ne- ver be certainly determined how much it is lawful for a trader to get by his merchandize : Doubtless he may sometimes make a greater gain of the same things than at another. And this is often necessary, in order to com- pensate the losses, the, risks or dangers that he passes through. He may lawfully make those advantages which the change ofthings, and the divine providence often puts 411to his hand : 1Vór is it unlawful for hirn to take more of
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