aE$M. XXVI.] CäRISTIAN MORALITY, 'VIT. JUSTICE, &6 433 Bence. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working with his hands, the thing which iS good; and that not only for his own support, but that he may have to give to him that needeth, Epli. iv. $. How little do those christians read their bibles ! Or how little do they mind what the great apostle tells them ! They profess they were never brought up to work, and give that answer roundly as a sufficient excuse for idle- ness: And therefore when they become poor and neces- sitous, they think it the duty of others to maintain them, without stretching out their own hand for any thing but to beg and receive. They will apply themselves to no employment, though they are told their dutycontinually: Their pride, indolence, and sloth, with-hold them from labour, though they are called to it daily in the loudest language in which God now-a-days speaks to his crea- tures ; and that is the voice of reason, of scripture, and of providence. But there is another sort of sloth and idleness, that leads on to the practice of injustice too, and that is when men are busy in their trades, and the affairs of life, but seldom look into their accounts, or perhaps keep none at all : And thus they live upon the spend, and are ut- terly ignorant whether their income will support it. They eat and drink with daily chearfulness, and sleep sound upon their pillow, while they know not whether their food and raiment, and even the bed they rest on, be their own or no. Perhaps they have let their accounts run long behind, they are a little jealous of their circum- stances, and then it is an unpleasant and tedious task to take a thorough review of them. By this means they run on venturing and heedless, till justice overtakes them, and ruin seizes them at once. Then they see what a shameful and cruel inroad they have made upon their neighbour's property : They find then that they have fed and clothed themselves and their household out of their neighbour's estate. What shall I say to persons of this character ? Their souls are generally hardened on all aides against conviction, and it is with much difficulty they are ever brought to confess their own folly, their sloth and unrighteousness. Ask thyself, O man, O wo- man, ask thyself this short and solemnquestion, " Arra VOL. I. F
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