perform more Labour for Wages than is ufual according to the Cuftom of the Country, thus, e. g.

If the Sellers of any Commodity know the Buyers to be under a Neceffity of getting the Things they treat about, and that they can have them no where elfe, or that they are ignorant of the Value, and Market-price of them, and therefore exact from them a greater Price than they are worth, or than the Sellers would infift on, if the Buyers were not under fuch Neceffity, or fuch Ignorance, they are guilty of Extortion.

And if any Manufacturers, as a Method of Gain to themselves, fhall keep for Sale to their WorkPeople, various Sorts of Goods, they at Times have Occafion for, and fhall oblige them to buy fuch Goods, when they do not want the Goods but the Money for other Ufes, they are Extortioners.

These two Sorts of Perfons are guilty of Tranfgreffing that divine Law, which fays, All Things whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you, do ye even fo to them, Matt. vii. 12. which implies, that All Things whatsoever we would that Men fhould not do to us, we fhould not, we ought not to do to them.

Thus God has manifefted his holy Will concerning our Conduct and manner of Dealing with others. And the Extortioners above-mentioned, would not like to be themselves treated in fuch Manner as they treat others.

I must add, that their Crime is abominable in the Sight of God, who delights in Mercy and Goodnefs.

Let fuch Tranfgreffors read, and confider what is faid in Ezek. xxii. 12, 13, 14. Thou haft greedily gained of thy Neighbours by Extortion, and haft forgotten me, faith the LORD GOD. Behold, therefore I bave fmitten mine Hand at thy dishonest Gain, which bou baft made-Can thine Heart endure, or can

thine Hands be ftrong, in the Days that I shall deal with thee? I the LORD have spoken it, and will do

it.

Thefe Declarations fhew that God will deal with Extortioners in the Days of his Vifitation for Sin; and that their Hearts will not be able to endure the Tokens of his Wrath, or to sustain the ftrokes of his Vengeance.

There is another Sort of EXTORTION, cruel in its Nature, and abominable in the Eyes of the Lord; that is, when Manufacturers or others constrain the People they employ to labour for lefs Wages, than Cuftom, or particular Agreement has made their Due, or exact from them more Work than is ufually done for the cuftomary Wages; or on fome unreafonable Pretence with-hold from them Part of their Wages.

These may be faid to grind the Face of the Poor: They opprefs the Hirelings, the People they employ to labour, and the Character of Extortioners juftly belongs to them.

Let fuch confider the Import of this Declaration in Mal. iii. 5. I will come near to you to Judgment, and I will be a fwift Witness-against those that oppress the Hireling in his Wages—and fear not, faith ibe LORD of Hofts.

And in James v. 4. it is faid, 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 have reaped, are entered into the Ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, who will deal with fuch Oppreffors, and take Vengeance on them when he vifits for Sin.

In Levit. xix. 13. it is faid, The Wages of him that is hired, fhall not abide with thee all Night until the Morning.

In Deut. xxiv. 15. it is written, At his Day thou fhalt give him his Hire, neither fhall the Sun go down

upon

m e

upon it, for he is poor, and fetteth his Heart upon it s left he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be Sin unto thee.

In Levit. xix. 9. are recorded the following Laws, viz. When you reap the Harvest of your Land, thou fhalt not wholly reap the Corners of thy Field, neither fhalt thou gather the Gleanings of thy Harvest. And thou shalt not glean thy Vineyard, neither shalt thou gather every Grape of thy Vineyard, thou shalt leave them for the Poor, and Stranger: I am the Lord your God. Signifying that the great God has compaffion for the Poor, and Strangers, and approves all Acts of Kindness done unto them; and that he is both able, and willing to recompence with his Bleffings, thofe who obey his Will, by leaving in the Time of Harvest, and Gathering of Fruit, Gleanings of their Harveft, and of the Fruit for the Poor.

In Deut. xxiv. 19. it is likewife enacted, by the fupreme Governor of the World, thus, viz. When thou cutteft down thine Harvest in thy Field, and kaft forgot a Sheaf in the Field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: It shall be for the Stranger, for the Fatherlefs and the Widow: That the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the Work of thine Hands. When thou beateft thine Olive-tree, thou shalt not go over the Boughs again: It fhall be for the Stranger, for the Fatherlefs, and for the Widow.

I have mentioned thefe Laws of our good God, because they manifeft his gracious Care for Strangers, and for the Fatherlefs, and for Widows in needy Circumstances; and because they are Laws always obligatory, they are divine Laws always binding all Perfons, in all Ages, who are concerned in Hufbandry, in Sowing, in Reaping, in Raifing, and Gathering-in the Fruits of the Earth. We ought to think, and acknowledge that they are Laws ftill

in Force, fince God never repealed them, fince neither Men, nor Angels, can annul the Obligations of his Commandments, and fince divers Reasons of them, viz. the Wants of the Poor, and the Supply, and the Comfort they will have by Means of a due Obedience to thofe Laws: And I apprehended it the more needful to recite them, because many Landholders, Farmers, and Poffeffors of Vineyards, and Olive Yards, and others employed in raifing and propagating the Fruits of the Earth are ignorant of them.

I must add one Declaration more, viz. that in I Cor. vi. 10. Nor Thieves, nor Covetous-nor Extortioners fhall inherit the Kingdom of God. Therefore we may reasonably conclude, that this hardhearted and cruel fort of Sinners, are obnoxious to the destroying Judgments of God, when he is vifiting an ungodly Nation for their Iniquities.

I have further to obferve, that fraudulent Dealers, with unjust Weights and Meafures, must be reckoned among the Tranfgreffors of the eighth Commandment, because by their Frauds they get fo much of the Buyer's Money unjustly, as the diminished Quantity of the Goods fold amounts to in Value; and the ufing divers Weights and Measures, that is, Weights and Measures different from, and lefs than the Standard established by the Laws of the Country in which they live, is in Reality one Way of stealing Money from the Buyers.

Ye shall do no Unrighteousness in Judgment, says the divine Law, in Mete Yard, in Weight, or in Measure. Just Balances, juft Weights, a juft Epbab, and a juft Hin shall ye have; I am the LORD your God. Therefore shall ye obferve all my Statutes, and all my Judgments, and do them; I am the Lord. Levit. xix. 35, 36, 37.

In Deut. xxv. 13, 14, 15, 16. it is faid, Thou Roalt not have in thy Bag divers Weights, a great and

E

a fmall. Thou shalt not have in thine Houfe divers Meafures, a great and a fmall. But thou shalt have a perfect and juft Weight, a perfect and a just Meafure fhalt thou have; that thy Days may be lengthened in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. For all that do fuch Things (viz. the keeping divers Weights and Measures) and all that do unrighteously, are an Abomination unto the LORD thy God.

In Prov. xi. 1. it is faid, A false Ballance is Abomination to the Lord: but a juft Weight is his Delight. And Chap. xx. 10. Divers Weights, and divers Measures, both of them are alike Abomination to the Lord. See alfo Verse 23.

The Prophet Micah faid to the People (who had provoked deftroying Judgments by manifold Sins) He (viz. God) bath fhewed thee, O Man, what is good, and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love Mercy, and to walk bumbly with thy God? The LORD's Voice crieth unto the City, and the Man of Wisdom fhall fee thy Name: Hear ye the Rod, and who hath appointed it. Are there yet the Treasures of Wickedness in the House of the Wicked, and the fcant Measure that is abominable? Shall I count them pure with the wicked Balances, and with the Bag of deceitful Weights? For the rich Men thereof are full of Violence, and the Inhabitants thereof bave Spoken Lies, and their Tongue is deceitful in their Mouth. Therefore also will I make thee fick in fmiting thee, in making thee defolate because of thy Sins. See Micah vi. 8-13.

Thefe Declarations fhew moft evidently that fraudulent Dealers, with falfe Weights and Measures, have Reafon to expect Punishment even in this World, when God is vifiting a Nation for their Iniquities.

But if they fhall efcape Punishment in this World, they fhould know and confider, that the Hope of unjust Men perifeth, (Prov. xi. 7.) and that, The

LORD