The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1869-10-22
aThou Sbalt Not Steal 2

which have afflicted the world in ev-
cry age since the fall of man, have
grown out ofthis disposition. It's i'm
portance cannot be questioned.
ITO steal, is to take the property
of others. without their knowledge OF
consent, and apply it toour own use.
While robbery. house breaking. pill
feriug, plunder and pillage. are the
most 1agrant breaches of the law, it
may be violated in a thousand ways
of which human laws take no cogni-
zance. 1t is violated By every spe-
eies Of fraud by which our neighbor
may be injured ia his health or pro-
perty. In commerce, by false weights
and measures I; selling deterriorated
commodities as sound aud good; BY
an undervaluation ofwhat we wish to
purchase. and concealing the defects.
of what we wish to sell; by contract
ing debts which We have no prospect
ofpaying, and neglecting to pay them
when due; by breaches of trust in
case of servants, guardians, execu-
tors or public officers, embezzeliag
or squsndering any of the substance
Of others or applying it to their own
use. It is violated by trespsssing on
the property of others. 50 as to injure
fences, gardens, orchards or corn
! fields; and by that disposition of yul-
gar mischief which delights in break
ing lamps an windows; in injuring
or defacing public or private build
irgs, walks aud ornamental improve
ments; in hacking and carving walls,
wainscoting. doors, boards and
balustrades. 1t is violated when we
retain borrowed articles beyond rea-
sonable time; when we suffer them to
be injured through negligence; when
we circulate them from one person to
another without tbs knowledge or
consent Of the propIietors, and when
we apply them to purposes for which
they were never intended, and which
the lender never contemplated. In
short this law is violated by every
species of idleness, pride, vanity,
gaming aud prodigRlity which has a
tendency to injure the external pros
perity, either Of our own family, or Of
the family of others"
Men fail to appreciate the nature or
the trancendant Importance of the OBJ
servance of this great fundamental
principle, Thou shalt not steal" in
the economy of the Ruler of the Uni
verse. While they would, as jury
men, condemn to the penitentiery any
ore of their fellows who should be
prov guilty of stealing twenty dol
lars, they would be horrifed if oharg-
ed Gith being equally guilty with
the condemned. by reason of failure
to pay their debts, OF by injuriug the
property of their neighbors.
Let all, especially those who pro-
fess to be Christians. that is Christ
like, be sure that they are honest,
for there is no such anomalous be-
ing in the earth beneath or the hea-
ven above, as a dishonest Christian
or saint The man or woman who
expects 10 reach heaven with other
mems property in their pockets, or
that their moral obligation to pay
their debts can be cancelled by
corrupt bankrupt law, are morally in
sane and should be treated accord
ingly. It is bad enough for those
who make no pretepsions to Christi
anity TO violate the moral law, and
thus infict wound upon the we'll
beng of society, but when those who
have taken upon themselves thename
of Christ, "foIlow the multitude to
do evil" it Is really blasphemous.-
If men expect to escape the penalty
which follows a violation of the di
vine law, by compliance of human
legislation, that is inharmoEious with
the requirements Of the moral law,
they will be undeceived when they
reach the heavenly portals, by having
the eDunciation laundering in their
ears. "depart ye cursed I know you
not"
Society may tolerate such JiolatiOns
of moral law, and the chu ches may
lower the standard of CHRISTIAN NOR
ais beneath that which God has pre-
scribed for the observance Of all man
kind, but it will not serve as pass
port to the heavenly Canaan, for no.
thing impure can enter there. Men
must not only be sorry for sin, but
they must abandon it, if they would
be qualified for the society of the
srotless denizsns of the heavenl y
world.
It Costs Too Much.