I."] POOR MAN'S FRIEND. 21 



BLACKSTONE has just the same argument. " Nobody," 

 says he, "would be a judge of the wants of the taker, 

 but the taker himself;" and BLACKSTONE, copying the 

 very words of HALE, talks of the "strange insecurity" 

 arising from this cause. Now, then, suppose a man 

 to come into my house, and to take away a bit of 

 bacon. Suppose me to pursue him and seize him. 

 He would tell me that he was starving for want of 

 food. I hope that the bare statement would induce 

 me, or any man in the world that I do call or ever 

 have called my friend, to let him go without further 

 inquiry ; but, if I chose to push the matter further, 

 there would be the magistrate. If he chose to com- 

 mit the man, would there not be a- jury and a judge 

 to receive evidence and to ascertain whether the ex- 

 treme necessity existed or not ? 

 , 26. Aye, says Judge HALE ; but I have another reason, 

 a devilish deal better than this, " and that is, the act 

 of the 43d year of the reign of QUEEN ELIZABETH !" 

 Aye, my old boy, that is a thumping reason ! " Suffi- 

 cient provision is made for the supply of such neces- 

 sities by collections for the poor, and by the power of 

 the civil magistrate" Aye, aye ! that is the reason ; 

 and, Mr. SIR MATTHEW HALE, there is no other reason, 

 say what you will about the matter. There stand the 

 overseer and the civil magistrate to take care that 

 su<5h necessities be provided for; and if they did not 

 stand there for that purpose, the law of nature would 

 be revived in behalf of the suffering creature. 



27. HALE, not content however with this act of 

 QUEEN ELIZABETH, and still hankering after this hard 

 doctrine, furbishes up a bit of Scripture, and calls 

 Solomon the wisest of kings on account of these two 

 verses which he has taken. HALE observes, indeed, 

 that the Jews did not put thieves to death; but, to 

 restore seven-fold was the ordinary punishment, in- 

 flicted by their law, for theft; and here, says he, we 

 see, that the extreme necessity gave no exemption. 

 This was a piece of such flagrant sophistry on the 

 part of HALE, that he could not find in his heart to 

 send it forth to the world without a qualifying obser- 



