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§ 1. Honesty is inverse or impropriative justice. It may seem like innovating to place the characteristic in this light; as it is usual to consider only two sorts of the property, understood as distributive and retributive: but that is certainly a part of it, as much as these. It is like the first mentioned, distributive, sort reflected. Honesty is spontaneous equity, is justice without a judge, justice at large, justice self-directed and unattended; and justice that is gain too without corruption-as a principle; though its sacrifices are often expensive. For in the moral republic every sacrifice to justice or honesty is made up by a tax on skill and industry, to be returned in better feeling; whereby the riches of the moral republic are continually increased. Thus, for example, justice and industry in their proper latitude may tend to enrich the republic with charity; because assistance is a due in many cases, though its payment be unconstrained as a part of charity; and for this payment must honest industry be taxed according to the Christian modes of thinking and doing as particularly expressed in that rule of the apostle, "Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, WORKING WITH HIS HANDS THE THING WHICH IS GOOD, THAT HE MAY HAVE TO GIVE TO HIM THAT NEEDETH" (Eph. iv. 28).

This is honour as well as honesty; understanding by Honour the constituent, and not the incidental property. This is honesty heightened by sentiment, being generally a matter of habit: and a very different commodity it is from what the world calls Honour. For that random casuist will call it honour to fulfil your engagements, be they never so dishonourable, somehow or other. Hence it would seem, as if there was a measure of justice to be observed in iniquity. And in this measure, if any one should think it worth considering, he may apprehend some curious particulars: such as requiring the unjust to be just towards the unjust only; which is what they call Honour among thieves-paying those who ought to be hanged with them-robbers, assassins, and others as well as thieves,

in good coin and full weight with what they plunder from honest men; whereas the honestest thing they could ever do would be to rob each other. That is one curious canon of worldly honour: and another may be recognized, proceeding on a different principle but still very ingenious; that of not paying any acknowledgment to your worthless accomplices for their assistance, you being so much better than they—but to bestow their guilty meed on some more proper objects; "the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind". Or else you and the rest may bestow your joint property in building and endowing churches, hospitals, schools, almshouses, or (except restoring it to those whom you have plundered) in any other laudable undertaking: which, by the way, can never thrive with such help, because the evil example given beforehand is more than enough to counteract all the good proposed or intended. "A small thing that the righteous hath is better than great riches of the ungodly" (Ps. xxxvii. 16), says the Psalmist. And accordingly we find the constituent, honour and honesty, generally enhancing the value of incidental property, in the same manner that our noblest constituents have been enhanced by the presence of divinity. The worth of such constituents is proverbially acknowledged, and even attested by those who want, as well as by those who enjoy them in the choice of their connexions, servants and friends. For if alliances, places, and friendships are to be desired, that property which leads to them must be desirable of course for their sake, if on no other account. But these are very inconsiderable items in the account of honour and honesty with their kindred casts of righteousness; such as incorruption, or practical purity, with truth and sincerity. For properties like these will not only recommend us to men like ourselves, but to God the Giver of all: they are not only qualifications for trust and confidence in the society of our equals, but for our reception, as it seems, into the glorious presence of God. "Lord, (says the Psalmist) who shall dwell in thy taber

nacle; or who shall rest upon thy holy hill? Even he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth the thing which is right, and speaketh the truth from his heart." (Ps. xv. 1, 2).

Justice and equity, honour and honesty, incorruption or practical purity, truth and sincerity and the like are the uniform of that heavenly service which constitutes the peculiar kingdom of God in Christ: "and there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie" (Rev. xxi. 27). This perfection of honour and honesty is a striking feature of God's peculiar kingdom. It has been found by experience, and even regretted by the parties themselves before now, that persons at the helm in earthly governments are liable to more chances of pollution than persons in a lower sphere; insomuch, that any but the very best natures may happen to degenerate in the element of politics. And supposing such regrets to proceed occasionally from the ingenuous feeling peculiar to great minds, more than from the strict reason of the case; it still will seem probable, that in the main they have but too much foundation. For let a man occupy what sphere he will in any kingdom upon earth, he shall find things enough that defile, and can hardly be avoided: which causes an infinite disparity between such kingdoms and the kingdom of God in Christ. Indeed, so far is any danger of corruption or defilement from being here apprehended through promotion, that the higher any being rises in this kingdom, the more secure he may be considered, if in so safe a sphere there can be degrees of security. It cost a great deal to purify this kingdom: and it is not to be supposed, that after all the cost any thing should be admitted into the kingdom. again, that might carry a defilement along with it, to defeat the immortal purpose of "our Saviour, Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Tit. ii. 13, 14). Every dirty

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action or thing, therefore, must remain for ever near the element from which it takes its denomination; the earth, or dirt; there can be no room for it in the Kingdom of Heaven and of God.

So our Saviour, commenting on his own parable of the unjust Steward, plainly intimates to his disciples, that they must forfeit their allotment in that blessed state, if they do not act honestly in the present, and fairly dispense to each other his due share of incidentals, without impropriating or reserving for their own use more of the same than justly belongs to them. "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much: (says he) and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon who will commit to your trust THE TRUE RICHES? and if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" (Luke xvi. 10, 11, 12). Which deserves to be well considered by those who oscillate (as many do) between piety and avarice; fondly thinking to reconcile God and Mammon, because it suits their grovelling inclination.

§ 2. But if men cannot be meet to partake of higher riches without honour and honesty in giving and impropriating the inferior, it is because such higher riches cannot stand without these conditions. In particular there can be no Bounty without honesty: as without this the case were partiality, or something worse, and not bounty: it is wronging one man to oblige another; and has at least as much hatred as kindness in it, which is not the character of bounty. Or if a man's table be garnished with plunder, his Hospitality will not deserve that name; though he should keep open house to all comers from year's end to year's end: but the curse is clearly fallen upon him of the wicked set which the Psalmist had in view, when he exclaimed, "Let their table be made a snare to take themselves withal: and let the things which should have been for their wealth be unto them an occasion of falling" (Ps. Ixix.

23). And there can be no doubt, that many have plunged themselves deep in iniquity partly for the purpose of shewing a specious hospitality: defrauding their creditors and robbing others for the sake of a table which they think is to do them credit; but which in the end will redound to their lasting disgrace. Almsgiving, another species of bounty, is also liable to the same remark; so that men shall often get but little good by their bounty or goodness (which is also little enough) in either of these respects. For they say, there are two sorts of goodness in respect of the performer: one that is good for himself, and another that is not. Its original author will never suffer good to fail: there must be good for some one ever; and if the immediate performer himself will not be the better for it, who but himself will he then have to blame?

It may be worth any one's while to remark, how different persons, and some in very unequal spheres, perform their part for the general good under divine Providence, and get nothing by it, but a few temporary accommodations in life; working like horses, and to as little future purpose, only for want of something which they have not, to make their good perfect. We ought, therefore, to consider here, 1, the proper scope and definition of bounty, hospitality, and general beneficence; 2, how many consentient properties are required to make up any one particular kind of it; be the same hospitality, or almsgiving, or giving and lending, or briefly, doing good in any way whatever; with 3, the consequences or collateral inducements to this practice.

1. The proper scope and definition of bounty or beneficence is contained in our Saviour's golden rule, of doing as we would be done unto, and proved by the remark with which it was accompanied; when having said, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them"; he adds as a reason, "For this is the law and the prophets" (Matt. vii. 12), meaning the whole scope of beneficence. So that more needs not be said on this head.

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