Scheme of being richer, and he computes what every Shilling he gives away would amount to, at compound Interest, in twenty or thirty Years, and therefore cannot find in his Heart to fpare it to the Poor, which will be giving away his Breeders, to the Preju

dice of his Stock.

Thus does the Love of Money become the Root of all Evil; and for this Reafon the covetous Man is branded in P. 10. 3. Scripture as one whom the Lord abborreth. And no wonder, for he has another God of Job 31. 24. his own, making Gold his Hope, and faying to the fine Gold, thou art my Confidence. Upon this Account Covetoufnefs is called Idolatry, and covetous Men are in the black Lift 1.Cor. 6.10.of those who cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. And how indeed can they expect it, when it is the only good Thing they never coveted? Were it an Inheritance of Lands and Manors, we fhould fee them the most religious and heavenly minded of all Men.

I shall mention but one Temptation more which lies in the way of rich Men, and that is,

6thly, Oppreffion and Cruelty to the Poor. As Covetoufnefs is the main Spring of Oppreffion, fo Wealth is the common Inftrument

Inftrument of putting it into Practice, by the Power that it naturally carries with it.

If a great Landlord fhould be fo void of all Goodness, as to charge unconscionable Rents on his poor Tenants, or hamper them with cruel Covenants, or harrass them with Diftreffes and Sales without the leaft Forbearance, or exact their Services and Labours for little or nothing; there is no Remedy but Patience under fuch Oppreffions, and they must bear it for fear of fomething worse to follow. This is the unhappy Lot of Poverty, and yet in Event not fo unhappy to the Poor who fuffer, as to the Rich who opprefs. The Grave will in a little Time bring a fureRelease to the former; for there theWicked Job 4. 17. ceafe from troubling, and there the Weary are at Reft; there the Prisoners reft together, and bear not the Voice of the Oppreffor, the small and great are there, and the Servant is free from his Mafter. But the Reckoning will then begin with the Oppreffor; Behold the Hire of the Labourers, which have reaped down your Fields, which is of you kept back by Fraud, crieth, and the Cries of them which reaped, are entred into the Ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, And in the precedeing Verse he tells them, That the Ruft of their E 2 Gold

James 5.4.

5.

Gold and Silver fould be a Witness against them, and eat their Flesh as it were Fire. I will come near you to Judgment, I will be a Malachy 3. Swift Witness against those that oppress the Hireling in his Wages, and the Widow and the Fatherless, and turn afide the Stranger from his Right, and fear not me, faith the Lord of Hofts. It is with good Reason therefore, that Solomon gives this Advice, Prov. 3. 31. Envy thou not the Oppreffor, and choose none of bis Ways.

This petty Tyranny prevailed greatly among the rich Jews, to the high Difpleafure of God, who reproaches them by his Prophets for grinding the Faces of the Poor, and having the Spoil of the Poor in their Houfes. And I would to God that it was not a reigning Vice among us. But while Men live above their Eftates, the Backs and Bellies of the poor Farmer and Cottager muft pinch for it, and club to fupport the Extravagance and Vanity of their Landlords.

Thus have I pointed out to you both the Inconveniencies, and Dangers that the two oppofite Conditions of Life, Poverty and great Riches, naturally expofe Men to, which may ferve to juftify Agur's Prayer in

the

the Text; and to fhew, that a wife, or a virtuous Man should prefer the middle Condition, if he were free to make his Choice. And I am perfuaded, that upon a curious Obfervation of the State of Mankind, it will appear in Fact, that People who are placed in this Situation, enjoy more true Content and Satisfaction, and generally live more fober, virtuous, and honeft Lives than those in the two Extreams; and that the chief Stations of Vice and Discontent, are among the very Poor, and the very Rich.

I have before made fome practical Improvement of that Part of my Difcourfe that related to the Poor, I come now to fhew of what Ufe it may be to the Rich. And,

ift, Let it instruct rich Men often to confider their Dependence upon God, and not fancy that they are felf-fufficient, because they have great Incomes and Revenues.

For, in the first Place, their Lives depend abfolutely on the Pleasure of God, and he who has the Power of thefe, has in that Refpect the Power of their Eftates. The rich Man in the Gofpel had forgot this, when he compofed that fweet Speech for

Luke 12,19. his Soul, Soul, thou haft much Goods laid up for many Years, take thine Eafe, eat, drink and be merry. But he was foon undeceived by another Sort of Speech which God made to him, Thou Fool, this Night thy Soul Shall be required of thee, then whofe Shall thofe Things be which thou haft provided?

In the next Place, let rich Men confider that their Estates are just as dependent upon God as their Lives. The fureft Ground of Riches is an Estate in Land, as being the freeft from Casualties, and as being immediately productive of the Neceffaries and Comforts of Life, which Gold and Silver

are not.

But what is it that makes this Eftate to produce Grafs for the Nourishment of Cattle, and Corn, and Fruits for the Ufe of Man, is it not the Sun? Could there be seasonable Rains and Dews to open and impregnate the Soil for Vegetation, without the Sun ? Would not every Vegetable dye, and every Animal perish with Cold and Famine, without the kindly Heat of this Sun? Could Man or Beast act and operate without the Light of this Sun? Do we not feel a little of this by the Experience of one total Eclipse for a few Minutes?

The