Wesley Collected Works Vol 11
| Author | John Wesley |
|---|---|
| Type | treatise |
| Year | None |
| Passage ID | jw-wesley-collected-works-vol-11-207 |
| Words | 400 |
7. And so it is on another account also; for it is a general
robbery: It is, in effect, not only robbing the King, but
robbing every honest man in the nation. For the more the
King's duties are diminished, the more the taxes must be
increased. And these lie upon us all; they are the burden,
not of some, but of all the people of England. Therefore
every smuggler is a thief-general, who picks the pockets both
of the King and all his fellow-subjects. He wrongs them all;
and, above all, the honest traders; many of whom he deprives
of their maintenance; constraining them either not to sell
their goods at all, or to sell them to no profit. Some of them
are tempted hereby, finding they cannot get bread for their
families, to turn thieves too. And then you are accountable
for their sin as well as your own; you bring their blood upon
your own head. Calmly consider this, and you will never
more ask what harm there is in smuggling. III. 1. But for all this, cannot men find excuses for it? Yes, abundance; such as they are. “I would not do this,”
says one, “I would not sell uncustomed goods, but I am
under a necessity: I cannot live without it.” I answer,
May not the man who stops you on the highway say the
very same? “I would not take your purse; but I am under
a necessity: I cannot live without it.” Suppose the case to
be your own; and will you accept of this excuse? Would
not you tell him, “Let the worst come to the worst, you had
better be honest, though you should starve.” But that need
not be, neither. Others who had no more than you to begin
with, yet find a way to live honestly; and certainly so may
you: However, settle it in your heart, “Live or die, I will
be an honest man.”
2. “Nay,” says another, “we do not wrong the King;
for he loses nothing by us. Yea, on the contrary, the King
is rather a gainer; namely, by the seizures that are made.”
So you plunder the King, out of stark love and kindness t
You rob him to make him rich ! It is true, you take away
his purse; but you put an heavier in its place | Are you
serious?