2. Who are guilty of robbery or theft?

Not only those who are properly called robbers and thieves, but also all those, 1. Who give them advice or assistance; 2. Who buy, sell, hide, or keep stolen goods; 3. Who do not return the things they have found or borrowed; 4. Who do not pay their debts; and 5. All those who beg without need, and thus de fraud the real poor of their alms.

3. Who are guilty of cheating?

1. Those who impose upon their neighbors in their dealings by giving them, for instance, false weight or measure, bad money, or bad articles; 2. Those who ask too much for their labor or merchandise; 3. Those who remove the landmarks of their neighbors; 4. Those who set fire to their property in order to get money at the insurance-office; and 5. Those who counterfeit notes or documents, carry on unnecessary or unjust law-suits, endeavor to bribe judges or witnesses, etc.

4. Who are guilty of usury?

1. Those who ask unlawful interest for the money they lend; 2. Those who purchase corn or other things, in order to raise the prices; and 3. In general, all those who take advantage of their neighbor's necessity or ignorance.

5. In what other ways is the Seventh Commandment broken?

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1. When we damage other people's houses or lands or crops; 2. When we wound or kill their animals ; 3. When, by gambling or extravagance, we distress our family; 4. When we neglect the work which we are in duty bound to perform; and 5. When we defame tradesmen or merchants, in order to withdraw their customers from them; and generally, as often as we unjustly injure our neighbor in his property.

6. How may we also grievously sin against the Seventh Commandment by petty thefts or frauds?

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1. When we so often repeat them that the owner suffers a considerable loss, and even when we have only the intention of thus repeating them; and 2. When the loss of a thing, trifling in itself, causes our neighbor a considerable injury.

7. May servants give alms of the property of their masters?

No; unless their masters know it and approve of it.

8. What must we do when we are in possession of ill-gotten goods or have unjustly injured our neighbor?

We must restore the ill-gotten goods, and repair, as far as we are able, the injury done; without this we cannot obtain pardon from God.

9. Who is bound to make restitution or reparation ? 1. He who is in possession of the things stolen, or of their value, or who has really done the injury.

2. If he does not do it, the obligation devolves on those who, by counsel or action, were accessory to the sin, or who did not hinder it, although they were able to do so, and were bound by their conventional or official duties to hinder the wrong.

10. How much must be restored?

1. If one has knowingly and unjustly taken or detained his neighbor's goods, he must fully indemnify him.

2. If he did it unknowingly and unwillingly, he must, as soon as he comes to know that it is another man's property, restore all that is still left and as much more as his wealth has increased by it.

In the former case, full restitution must be made not only of the things stolen, or, if they are gone, of their value, but also of that which, in the meantime, they have produced; those expenses, however, being deducted which even the owner would not have been able to avoid. And, in general, the owner must be compensated for all the profits which he has been deprived of, and for all the losses he has suffered. In the latter case, we are bound to restore all that which, after deducting the expenses, is still remaining of the ill-gotten goods and of their produce,

and, in general, as much as, by their possession and temporary use, we have become the richer.

11. To whom must restitution of the ill-gotten goods be made?

To the owner or to his heirs; but if this be not possible, they must be given to the poor or be appropriated to religious and charitable purposes.

12. What must they do who cannot immediately make restitution?

They must sincerely have the intention of doing so as soon as they can ; and, in the meantime, they must employ all possible means to enable themselves to perform this duty.

13. What should we bear in mind in order to guard against stealing, or against neglecting to make restitution?

1. That death will eventually wrest the ill-gotten goods from us, and perhaps sooner than we expect ; 2. That the stolen property will bring us, not happiness and blessing, but misfortune and malediction, uneasiness and a miserable end;' and 3. That there is no greater foolishness than to forfeit Heaven for the perishable things of this world, and to plunge our soul into unquenchable fire."

He who soweth iniquity shall reap evils' (Prov. xxii. 8). 2What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?' (Matt. xvi. 26).

14. What are we commanded by the Seventh Commandment?

We are commanded to give to every one his due, and to be charitable to our neighbor.

Application. Give to every one his own, and be contented with what you have. A little, justly gained, is better than much, gained unjustly.' Never steal anything, be it ever so little, and mind this true saying: Small beginnings make great endings.' Be

ware of daintiness, drunkenness, idleness, gambling, vain show, and finery; for all this leads people to robbery and theft, and brings them to ruin."

The Eighth Commandment of God.

'Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.'

1. What does the Eighth Commandment forbid ? The Eighth Commandment forbids above all to give false evidence; that is, to say in a court of justice what is not true.

'And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him [Naboth]; and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people' (3 Kings xxi. 13).

2. How are we to give evidence in a court of justice?

We must tell the mere truth, just as we know it, and neither more nor less.

3. What other sins are forbidden by the Eighth Commandment?

1. Lies and hypocrisy; 2. Detraction and calumny or slander; 3. False suspicion and rash judgment; and, in general, all sins by which the honor or character of our neighbor is injured.

4. What is meant by a lie?

To say knowingly and deliberately what is not true. 5. Is it ever lawful to tell a lie ?

No; it is never lawful to tell a lie, neither for our own nor for another's benefit, not even in jest or need; for every lie is essentially opposed to God, who is truth itself.

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'A lie is a foul blot in a man' (Ecclus. xx. 26). Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord' (Prov. xii. 22).-Ex: Punishment of Ananias and Saphira (Acts v.) Although it is never lawful to tell an untruth, yet we are sometimes bound by charity or official duty to conceal the truth.

6. How do we sin by hypocrisy ?

By pretending to be better or more pious than we really are, in order thereby to deceive others.

'Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you are like to whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all filthiness. So you also outwardly indeed appear to men just, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity' (Matt. xxiii. 27, 28).

7. How do we sin by detraction?

By revealing the faults of others without any necessity.

8. When is it allowed to reveal the faults of others? We are allowed, and even bound, to reveal them, 1. When it is for the good of the guilty person; or 2. When it is necessary for preventing a greater evil.

9. What is to be observed in making such revelation ?

1. The revelation must proceed from a pure motive of charity, and be made to such only as are able to remedy the evil; 2. The fault is not to be exaggerated, nor is what is uncertain to be represented as certain.

10. How do we sin by calumny or slander? By imputing faults to our neighbor which he has not at all, or by exaggerating his real faults.

If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly' (Eccles. x. 11).—Ex.: Aman (Esth. xiii.)

11. Is every calumny or detraction equally sinful? No; the sin is the greater, 1. The more important the fault is, and the more considerable the person of whom it is mentioned; 2. The greater the loss and injury is which he suffers by it; 3. The more people there are who hear it ; and 4. The worse our intention is in divulging it.

A most injurious and detestable sin is tale-bearing or whispering-i.c., when we relate to a person what another has said of