whether it be the thought of some of the terrible truths of religion, or whether it be some temporal subject which engrosses our attention,-is for the time being our best remedy. As these temptations produce a powerful impression on the senses, whatever affects the senses in a contrary way will greatly help us to overcome them. Thus the thought of death, of judgment, of hell, or of the sufferings and Passion of our Lord, will be very advantageous for us at such times. Or, again, any thing which will arouse our shame, such as the remembrance that we shall be obliged to confess the sin, or that God sees us and knows clearly the thoughts which are passing in our mind,-will be a good means of resisting temptations. It is also very important for us to bear in mind that when we have succeeded in banishing the evil suggestion, we should not, on any account, examine the past to see how far we have yielded; for doing so would almost be sure to bring back the temptation in a more dangerous shape, owing to the discouragement in which the soul is generally left on such occasions. We should content ourselves, therefore, with making a general act of sorrow for whatever fault or negligence there may have been on our part, and with renewing our confidence in God, and our resolution to do better another time.

Lastly, without mentioning many other remedies, those who are subject to temptations of impurity should remember that their only hope of perseverance in virtue lies in the powerful assistance of the grace of God. "As I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, I went to the Lord and besought Him with my whole heart" (Wisdom viii. 21). They should therefore make a diligent and constant use of the channels of Divine grace. They should pray fervently, not only during the continuance of temptation, but every day of their lives, in order to lay up a store of grace for the hour of need; and to prayer they should join the other great means of grace, the frequentation of the Sacraments of Penance and the Holy Eucharist.

CHAP. LXVI.

The Seventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not steal."

THE Catechism points out two kinds of sin forbidden by this commandment.

First. All unjust taking away or injuring what belongs to another.

Secondly. All unjust keeping of what belongs to an

other.

For the sake of clearness, it will be best to arrange the various sins of injustice under these two heads. Persons are guilty of unjustly taking away what belongs to another:

1. By all kinds of theft. By theft is meant taking away what belongs to another without a just cause. To commit this sin, therefore, it is necessary to take what belongs to another. Thus it would not be theft to make a man restore to the right owner a thing which he possessed unjustly. It is also necessary, to make it theft, that the thing should be taken away without a just cause; thus, it would be no sin to deprive a man against his will of a weapon, which we had good reason to believe he was going to use to inflict a serious injury on himself or his neighbour. The sin of theft varies in guilt according to the value of the thing stolen, or the amount of injury inflicted on another. Thus the sin would be mortal whenever the amount of the theft was something considerable, no matter whether the owner would miss it or not. And, again, the sin would be mortal where the value of the thing stolen is inconsiderable, if, owing to the poverty of the real owner, or any other circumstance, the thief knew it would cause him a serious injury. It is hardly necessary to add that these principles apply to all sins of injustice, in whatever way they are committed. Besides the ordinary kinds of theft which are committed secretly, there are others which are attended with circumstances that change the nature of the sin. Thus, if the thing stolen be something consecrated to the service of God, it is no longer a simple theft, but sacrilege. If it be taken away by open force, as in the case of house

breaking or highway robbery, besides the loss of the thing stolen, there is the injury offered to our neighbour in his person or his property. And, generally speaking, these violent robberies are attended, in those who commit them, with a disposition of mind which will not stop at any amount of personal injury necessary to the execution of their unjust designs.

2. By fraud. There are a great variety of ways in which persons are guilty of sins of injustice by frauds: some of these shall be instanced as illustrations. Thus, under this head are included all kinds of cheating in buying or selling passing off one thing for another,-for example, plated goods for real silver,-disposing of inferior articles as if they were of good quality, or of things which are damaged for such as are sound. Thus, again, short weights and measures, all kinds of adulteration or mixing a genuine article with imitations of inferior value, forgeries, using bad money, or obtaining money under false pretences, belong to this class of sins. Again, persons are often guilty of real fraud by taking what are generally known as perquisites; that is, by selling or keeping for their own use a number of small things which belong to their employers, -for example, tailors or dressmakers, who appropriate a part of the materials which are given them to make up. They have, of course, a perfect right to make the most of what their employers allow them to take; but if they keep any thing without the express or presumed consent of the owner, they are guilty of a real fraud. It is no justification to say that others act in the same way, for it is not lawful for us to do wrong when others set us the example. Nor can we presume, because one person has allowed us to make certain profits, we have therefore a right to use the same liberty with every body else.

3. By unjust lawsuits. Under this division is included all kind of injustice connected with an action at law. Thus, a judge would offend by receiving bribes, by wilfully causing unnecessary delay or expense, or by passing an unjust sentence. An advocate would sin by neglecting the interests of his client, by encouraging him to begin or continue a suit where there was no hope of success,

by causing delay, or by involving him in unnecessary costs. A witness would offend by inflicting a loss on another through giving false testimony, or concealing some part of the truth. Finally, all are more or less guilty who make use of the law to keep or obtain possession of what belongs to another, or who by vexatious lawsuits either keep them out of the possession of their due, or unjustly involve them in the expense of establishing their right.

4. By usury. By usury is meant interest exacted without any just or proper title. It is, of course, perfectly right for us, when we lend money or any other kind of property, to protect ourselves against a real or probable loss. (1) We may therefore receive interest as compensation when the loan occasions us a positive loss. If, for instance, we should be obliged to buy on credit the things which we required, and were consequently charged a higher price, we need not scruple to indemnify ourselves for the loss which we should hereby suffer. (2) We are justified in taking interest when the loan prevents us from making the profits which we should otherwise have realised. Suppose we have a sum of money which we are going to use in trade, with the prospect of gaining a certain return on our investment, but a friend persuades us to lend it to him instead, we may require him to pay us the profits which we reasonably expected to make. (3) We may receive interest when there is a risk of losing the principal. If, for instance, we were asked to lend money to one from whom we should perhaps never receive it back, there would be no harm in providing against the danger by receiving interest. (4) Where none of these reasons exist, it is now generally held that moderate interest, allowed by custom and the law of the country, may be received with a safe conscience till the Church decides the contrary. The rate of interest which we may lawfully receive will vary with the risk which we incur. But if it exceed a just and fair compensation, or if, where no such risk exists, it be more than is allowed by the general practice and the laws of the country in which we are living, we have no just claim to the excess.

5. By neglecting or performing badly a duty for which we are paid. They who agree with another to perform a certain work, or to spend a certain time in his service, are bound by the terms of their contract. If they neglect the duty which they have been hired to perform, or if they do not fulfil the conditions agreed upon, they offend against justice. Thus servants who idle away their time, or work for themselves when they ought to be working for their master, are guilty of an injustice. Thus, too, they who agree to execute any piece of work are guilty of injustice by using bad materials, or by not finishing the work as well as they stipulated.

6. Finally, persons sin against the seventh commandment by unjustly taking away what belongs to another, when they wilfully destroy another's property, or do any thing which they have reason to believe will cause a loss to him. For example, they who set fire to the possessions of another, or who cause their neighbour any loss by unjustly depriving him of his character and good name, are answerable for the loss which they inflict.

What has been hitherto said has reference to the different ways in which a person breaks the seventh commandment by unjustly taking away what belongs to another. We now come to the second class of sins forbidden by this commandment, viz. those which are committed by unjustly keeping what belongs to another. We render ourselves guilty of this class of sins:

1. By refusing to give back what we have taken from another, or that which has been intrusted to our keeping. The obligation of restitution will be spoken of a little later; it will therefore suffice to state here, that when we obtain the possession of another's property, either unjustly, or because it has been lent to us, or left in our care for a time, we are bound to give it back when we are able, and the real owner requires it; and, consequently, by refusing to do so we commit a sin of injustice.

2. By refusing to pay our just debts. If we are indebted to others, either in the shape of wages for services which they have performed for us, or for goods which we have purchased, we are bound to pay our debts as soon as