Part II, The Commandments: The Seventh Commandment of God

1. In the Seventh Commandment almighty God forbids us to wrong our neighbor in his goods and property.

By property is meant all that a man needs for his subsistence

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and all that he possesses as his own: e.g., his money, clothes, provisions, house, land, etc.

1. The Right of Possession

1. Earthly goods are necessary to man's subsistence, such as food, clothes, a dwelling-place, money, etc.

2. Consequently every man is justified in striving to gain earthly goods after a just manner, and in possessing them as his personal property.

Since it is the natural right of every man to preserve his own life, he is justified in gaining for himself and keeping as his own, those external goods which are indispensable to his existence. If every moment were occupied in providing for his own maintenance, he would be in the direst destitution, if sickness or misfortune befell him. The natural law prompts him to provide for such contingen cies. Besides, were every moment engrossed with the business of selfmaintenance, there would be no time to attend to his eternal interests. Furthermore, a man is bound to provide for those who are dependent upon him, and this he could not do if he himself lived from hand to mouth. God commanded our first parents in paradise to " fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen. i. 28). Cain and Abel had separate possessions; each brought of his own to offer sacrifice. All trust worthy information respecting the earliest ages of humanity bears evidence to the possession of personal property. It was necessary that each should have his own, otherwise mankind could not have been at peace. There would have been continual strife and contention. Without the right of possession, the incentive to labor would be wanting. The holding of property is therefore an ordinance of God, just as much as marriage and legal authority. But it cannot be said that the distribution of wealth, as it is under existing circumstances, is in accordance with the will of God. It could not be His will that a small minority should enjoy a superfluity, while an overwhelming majority of His children should live in poverty and destitution. This great inequality is the result of sin.

2. Personal property is justly obtained when it is either acquired by labor or by gift.

Nature does not give man the right to certain goods ; the right to possess them must be acquired. It is acquired in the first place by labor. God has ordained that the earth should not yield what is requisite- for the maintenance of human life without cultivation. It is a violation of all justice to deprive the cultivator of the soil of what he has won by the sweat of his brow (Lev. xiii.). If the earth is the Lord's and all they that dwell therein, because He is the Maker of it, that which man has made must rightly belong to him. Property as a rule, is gained by work, but sometimes it is a free gift. God Himself bestows property. He promised the land of Chanaan to Abraham and his posterity as a possession (Gen. xii. 7). The patriarchs bequeathed their possessions to their eldest sons by a solemn

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benediction. In the present day lands and property of all kinds pass into the hands of others by inheritance or bequest. Every man should make a will, in order to prevent disputes should he be suddenly called out of this life. In primitive times property was acquired by taking possession of unowned land ; and now valuables, if unclaimed, may be appropriated by their finder.

1. On the other hand5 this commandment forbids the acquisition of property by unjust means, i.e., by taking away what belongs to our neighbor.

Property is unjustly acquired by theft, robbery, cheating, etc.

2. The State has not the right to take from any man his personal property, but it is empowered to impose restrictions on the acquisition and disposal of personal property.

The State has not a paramount command over all property. It has a certain right of supervision, but not of disposal. The people do not exist for the Government, but the Government exists for the people ; consequently far from wronging any man, it ought to aim at the welfare of each and all of its subjects. Therefore if the State compels an individual to give up his property in the public interest, it is bound to give him compensation. Nor has the State the right to seize ecclesiastical property. To rob a man is theft, to rob God is sacrilege, and for this the penalty is excommunication. Restitution must be made before the Holy See can give absolution. Since it is the business of the secular authorities, under God, to provide for the well-being of their subjects, the Government is empowered by wise legislation, to introduce gradual changes in regard to the holding of property. It can impose such taxes as are necessary for the common weal upon its subjects, in proportion to their means. Thus by heavy taxation of wealthy capitalists it can alleviate the poverty of the working classes. Moreover, St. Thomas Aquinas says this world's riches are only intended for the preservation of human life. This end is not attained if they are already in the possession of individuals ; therefore every one is bound of his abundance to assist those who are in want. The superfluity of the rich is the property of the poor. Thus the Government, in exercising its right of guardianship, can do something towards the just distribution of superfluous wealth.

Sins against the Seventh Commandment.

The Seventh Commandment expressly forbids: Theft, robbery, cheating, usury, injuring the property of another, detention of goods that have been found or lent, and the non-payment of debts.

1. Theft is the secret purloining of another man's goods contrary to the rational will of their owner.

Judas was a thief ; he had the purse, and appropriated a part of the common money (John xii. 6). Few sins are more common than theft, and this fact may be accounted for in the first place by the

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covetousness of the human heart, and also by the abundant opportu nities afforded for stealing. Occasion makes the thief. But if a man steal when he is starving, or as the only means of saving his life in an extremity, it is not to be reckoned as a sin, provided he has the intention to restore what he has stolen when he is in better circumstances (Prov. vi. 30). Our Lord did not rebuke the apostles when, in passing through a cornfield, they plucked the ears of corn and eat the grain because they were hungry (Matt. xii. 1). To conceal or purchase goods that are known to be stolen is to render one's self a partner in the sin.

2. Robbery is theft accompanied by personal violence.

If a robber kills, or mortally wounds his victim, the crime is said to be robbery with murder. Of this the robbers were guilty who attacked the Jew on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho (Luke z. 30). The forcible extortion of alms is also equivalent to robbery.

3. Cheating consists in injuring onej's neighbor in his possessions by crafty means.

For instance, by the use of false weights and measures, the issua of counterfeit coin, the adulteration of food, the falsification of documents, the removal of boundary-marks, smuggling, or arson in view of obtaining the insurance money. " Let no man overreach, or circumvent his brother in business" (1 Thess. iv. 6).

4. Usury consists in making use of the needy circumstances of another to one's own profit (Exod. xxii. 25).

The usurer is called a money-lender, if he lends money at a high, rate of interest to one who is in pecuniary difficulties, or a speculator, if he buys up corn and keeps it until a time of scarcity, in order to, sell it at a high price. Under the appearance of helping a man in. need, the usurer involves him in greater complications. He is like a doctor who instead of strengthening his patient, saps the little force he had; or like a spider that weaves a web more and more closely; round the unhappy fly and sucks every drop of its blood. Usurers arel murderers of the poor; they take from them their means of liveli-< hood, and thus deprive them of life.

5. Wilfully injuring another man's property, keeping back: what one has found or what has been lent to one, and refusing! to pay one's debts, is equivalent to stealing.

We may injure our neighbor in his property by setting it on fire, by treading down his crops, damaging his goods, fishing or shooting1 on his grounds without permission, etc. To keep what one has found, and not to return what has been lent to the owner is theft. Joseph's; brethren did well in directly taking back the money they found in! their sacks. The more valuable the object one finds, the greater the obligation to give it up to the owner; and if one does not know to whom it belongs, one ought to take steps to discover him. Many; people are very careless in returning books, instruments or imple-< ments which they have borrowed, and they show displeasure if the* owner asks for them. Be careful about lending and very careful

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about returning. The non-payment of debts also is a kind of stealing. It is a bad thing to get into debt ; the debtor is like a man who, when his legs begin to fail him, hobbles onward with a crutch. But it is a sin to borrow and not pay again (Ps. xxxvi. 21). Many people get into debt to satisfy their craving for amusement, to gratify their passions, or for the sake of dressing above their station, and they scarcely think this wrong. Tradespeople sin when they fraudulently declare themselves bankrupts. But most blameworthy of all are those who do not pay their servants and workpeople; this is a sin that cries to heaven. It is theft, and a sort of murder, too, to keep back the wages of a poor laborer, who lives on his daily earnings. " The wages of him that hath been hired by thee shall not abide with thee until the morning" (Lev. xix. 13). "Pay him the price of his labor the same day " (Deut, xxiv. 15). " Owe no man anything, but to love one another" (Rom. xiii. 8).

1, We are in danger of committing mortal sin if we take from our neighbor as much as he requires to support him one day in a manner suitable to his position.

Our sin against our neighbor is greater or less in proportion to the wrong we do him. To steal a few pence from one who is utterly destitute, or a few shillings from a laboring man is a mortal sin; it is equivalent to stealing a considerable sum from a rich man. It is also a sin to take trifling sums repeatedly from the same person, for in time they make a large amount. One ought not to take the smallest thing that is not one's own. Fidelity in small things is most important, for God punishes little sins, and unfaithfulness in small things leads to grave sins. By disregarding petty thefts many a criminal has come to the gallows.

2. Restitution or Satisfaction

1. He who has purloined from his neighbor or wronged him in his property, is under a strict obligation to restore the stolen goods or make compensation for the damage done (Lev. vi. 1-5).

A thief is not required to go himself and restore the stolen property to its owner; he may send it by the priest, who is pledged to secrecy, and will give him an acknowledgment of its receipt. On one occasion when Clement Hofbauer, the apostle of Vienna, handed over something that had been stolen to its owner, the latter refused to take it; but Hofbauer rejoined: "It is not wise to allow the thief to retain what he has purloined, or he will think stealing no great offence."

The following rules are to be observed:

1. If the rightful owner of the stolen property is dead, it must be given to his heirs; and if there should be no heirs, it must be given to the poor or devoted to good works.

2. If the thief cannot restore the whole, he must at any rate restore as much as he can.

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3. If poverty or other hindrances render the thief unable to make restitution immediately, he must at least resolve to do so as soon as possible, and he must make every effort to fulfil that resolution.

4. If the thief cannot restore even a part of what he has stolen, he ought at least to pray for the individual he has wronged.

5. If any one has unwittingly got stolen goods in his posses sion, he is bound to give them up to the rightful owner as soon as he becomes aware that they were stolen.

Thus any one who, whether by purchase or gift, has acquired possession of something that was stolen, ought to give it back to its owner. If he does not know that it was stolen, he is said to be a just possessor, but if he does, then he is an unjust possessor. If the former be the case, not only must the stolen property itself be restored, but also whatever may have been gained by it without any labor on his part ; if the latter, any loss the rightful proprietor may have sustained through the loss of his property must also be made good. At any rate it is well to refer the matter to one's confessor, and follow his counsel, for he stands towards us in the place of God.

3. He who refuses either to give up the stolen property or to compensate for the loss sustained, will not obtain pardon of his sins from God, nor absolution from the priest.

" He that will not render what he hath robbed, shall die everlastingly" (Ezech. xxxiii. 15). It was not until Zacheus had declared his determination to make full restitution of all unjust gains, that Our Lord called him a son of Abraham (Luke xix. 9). As long as one who has wronged his neighbor refuses to make reparation, though he entreats the divine pardon with tears, though he seeks to appease the divine justice by fasts and penances, his sin will not be remitted. " Such a one," St. Augustine says, " does not do penance, but only counterfeits it." Without restitution there is no forgiveness. St. Alphonsus relates the story of a rich man who had gangrene in the arm, and was near death. The priest urged him to restore the property he had acquired unjustly; he refused on the plea that by doing so he would leave his three sons penniless. The priest bethought him of a stratagem. He said he knew of a means of cure, but it was a costly one. The sick man declared no sum would be too great to procure it. The priest replied that some living person must allow his hand to be burned and while raw, laid on that of the sufferer. The three sons were called, but neither of them would do this for their father. Then the priest said : " See, none of your children would hold his hand in the fire a few moments for you, and you are willing to endure the tortures of hell-fire to all eternity for their sakes." This opened the sick man's eyes; he went to confession and made restitution.

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What are the Reasons which ought to Deter us from Transgress ing the Seventh Commandment?

The heathens of old held theft in abhorrence, and punished it very severely. The Anglo-Saxons (in the sixth century) used to cutoff the hands of thieves; in Hungary they were sold as slaves. The Jews inflicted condign retribution on a thief; the man who at the taking of Jericho in spite of the prohibition carried away some of the spoil, was stoned to death by God's command (Josue vii.). In former days the laws of the Church in regard to the sin of stealing were extremely rigorous; even for a petty theft restitution had to be made, and besides it was expiated by fasting for a year on bread and water. God Himself inflicts heavy chastisements on those who take what belongs to another, no matter how trifling the thing stolen; for whether it be great or small, the will to defraud is the same, and it is to the will that He looks.

People who wrong their neighbor in his property generally come to shame and poverty, often die unrepentant, and are in danger of everlasting damnation.

Confusion is upon a thief (Ecclus. v. 17). Stealing does not bring a man to honor, but to prison. Thieves are generally caught, sooner or later. Stealing is the way to poverty. Ill-gotten goods bring no blessing. He who steals another man's goods will lose his own, for when that which he acquired unjustly is taken from him, that which was honestly acquired will go too. Stolen goods are like fire, which not only vanishes in smoke, but reduces everything near it to ashes. When the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, there was great scarcity in the land. Some of the people profited by it to become rich ; but when Nehemias came from Babylon to Jerusalem he was exceedingly angry, and rebuked the usurers. He shook his clothes before all the people, and called upon God to shake every man out of his house and out of his possessions, who did not restore what had been unjustly exacted, so that what he had got by usury might vanish as the dust (2 Esd. v. 1-13). "He that soweth iniquity shall reap evils" (Prov. xxii. 8). " The riches of the unjust shall be dried up like a river " (Ecclus. xl. 13). " Woe to him that heapeth together that which is not his own" (Hab. ii. 6). In justice is even the cause of the fall of whole nations (Ecclus. x. 8). Where are the ancient and mighty kingdoms of Babylon, of the Medes and Persians, of the Greeks, and the great empire of Rome? They came to ruin because they sought to extend their limits unjustly. Look at the state of Italy in the present day; since the Holy Father was robbed of his temporal possessions the taxation has been excessive, and a large portion of the population are starving. Furthermore thieves often come to a miserable end. Remember Judas' wretched fate ; what misery of mind, what torture of soul he endured before he hanged himself in despair! (Matt, xxvii. 5.) Those who have stolen or embezzled money are rarely brought to repentance, because they are unwilling to restore what they have taken. Even upon their death-bed they will not hear of making restitution. Beware, therefore, of allowing yourself to touch what belongs to another.

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Moreover, if at the Last Day he will find no mercy who has not given of his substance to the needy, how much the more pitilessly will he be judged who has actually taken from his neighbor what was his (St. Augustine). Thieves and the covetous shall not possess the kingdom of God (2 Cor. vi. 10). The Mohammedans consider that he who so much as plucks an ear of corn from his neighbor's cornfield, has done a disgraceful thing, and will go to hell. The dread of everlasting damnation deters many from committing acts of injustice. Of this the following story affords an example. A poor widow who had been defrauded of a plot of land belonging to her by a rich man, asked to be at least allowed to carry away a basket of earth. The man consented with a scornful smile; when the basket was filled, she further requested him to help her up with it on to her back. The rich man attempted to raise it, but it was too heavy for him to lift. " There," said the widow, " if you find this basket of earth too great a weight, how will you bear the burden of the whole field for all eternity ? " This remark made such an impression on the rich man that he gave the land back to the woman. Fools indeed are they who play away their chance of heaven for the sake of earth's transitory riches ! " What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? " (Matt. xvi. 26.) By stealing you may obtain money, but you lose God. You think of the gain; forget not the loss.

The honest man will prosper upon earth (Ps. xxxvi. 25).

Tobias affords a model of upright conduct. Although he was blind and reduced to poverty, when he heard the bleating of a kid that had been given to his wife, he immediately said : " Take heed, lest perhaps it be stolen; restore ye it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat or to touch anything that cometh by theft " (Tob. ii. 21). God restored him to sight, and he lived forty- two years longer (Tob. xiv. 1). The Lord will not afflict the soul of the just with famine (Prov. x. 3). His ears are open unto his prayers (Ps. xxxiii. 16). Justice exalteth a nation (Prov. xiv. 34). Honesty is the best policy.