Gentiles Doth not Vsurie cause the enemies of God to blaspheme and the Gospell of Christ to be euill spoken of when as prophane persons and such as liue like Gentiles amongst vs shall obserue that Christians who can call Christ Lord that zealous Christians who can say vnto him Lord Lord doe liue in and by that sinne which was wont to make both life and death so odious Are not our aduersaries of the Church of Rome as ready to obiect vsurie to vs as wee haue beene to vpbraid them with single fornication when they see it not onely practised but patronized amongst vs And yet they may hold their peace for that seeing their owne Colledges and Churches long since in the borders of the Borbons and other places of France haue taken fiue in the hundred which was by them commonly held lawfull not by common right but in speciall sauour to religion For their Clergie is so holy that the practise of that is in Churchmen hallowed and sanctified which in the people is most detestable Let them goe but let vs not cause them to blaspheme by such scandalous practises The Heathen Philosopher obseruing the intemperance of the Iewes in their feastings made a table question Who was the God of the Iewes they resolued vpon Bacchus If his pen should haue light vpon Christian vsurers in these daies to enquire of our God I am afraid they would resolue vpon Plutus at the least who was wont to come limping home but Vsurie hath cured him very strangely of that infirmitie he comes now as swiftly as time it selfe What is scandalous then if this bee not prouoking all sorts of people superstitious and prophane to speake euill of Christians of reformed Christians who professe the sincerity of the Gospell of Christ The Prophet Ieremie lamenting his wofull case that hee was cursed of the people without a cause bringeth this for his apologie that he neuer lent nor borrowed vpon Vsurie as our books haue it I haue neither lent on vsurie nor men haue lent to me on Vsurie and yet the people curse me Insinuating that if he had been any waies touched either in lending or borrowing as accessarie to this sinne he would not haue complained though the people had cursed him Cursed is that offence which bringeth the curse of the people vpon a man Neither Ieremie nor any of the Saints of God we can reade of that euer was tainted with Vsurie Admit then that the wit of man could picke a case so cleane in Vsurie as to make it lawfull What then it is scandalous it is of ill report he therefore who shall offend his brethren the people of God who shal cause the enemy to blaspheme and giue prophane dogges occasion to barke at Christians by any such vnchristian practise it were better for him that a milstone were hanged about his necke and he cast into the bottome of the sea CHAP. XII The third argument from our statute law LEt vs looke home into our owne Countrie and heere we shall find a law expresly forbidding all kind of Vsurie bee it neuer so little and withall punishing the same if a man bee lawfully conuicted I demand then in the next place if we bee not bound in conscienceto obey this law I say not in court of Iustice only before man but in conscience before God The Apostle maketh a direct answere for me Wherefore we must be subiect not because of wrath onely but for conscience sake A conscience so bound as nothing can set it at liberty in this case except only the law it selfe be vnlawfull and then we must obey God rather then men Therfore when this kind of argument is vrged for obedience men haue vsed to quarrell with the law as if that were not agreeable to Gods law But heere is no place for any such cauill for it is the same law which God himselfe made for his owne people witnesse euen those who haue most defended vsurie I haue heard many and some of no meane vnderstanding who doe earnestly endeuour to let loose their consciences and teach vs so to doe by making a disiunctiue interpretation of a penall statute As if the meaning of the law were but this Either abstaine or pay thus much if thou be conuicted Making the penaltie a branch of the law as if either of the branches being obserued the law were fullie kept and no offence made either to God or man Which because it is a point much stood vpon and as yet for ought that I know vnhandled giue me leaue by your patience a little to looke into it In the examining whereof I shall not much step out of my way For albeit the interpretation of a statute doth belong vnto another profession yet this particular point coasteth vpon Diuinitie and pitcheth directly vpon the common grounds of reason In euery penall statute there be two things to be considered the law and the penaltie Which two howsoeuer they be combined in the statute yet there must be a distinct consideration of each 1. First euery good and iust law in his owne nature as it is a law hath a binding power by which it is not directiue only as by way of aduertisement but compulsiue as proceeding from authoritie 2. Secondly this binding power of the law doth not onely proceed from the nature of the thing therein commanded or forbidden but from the powerfull will of the Commander or lawgiuer For if a common person shall admonish me as a brother of some thing which is hurtfull or preiudiciall I am bound to follow his aduice from the nature of the thing it selfe because it is hurtfull else I should offend But if the authoritie of parents Magistrates or law shall moreouer forbid the same I haue a second bond thereby laid vpon me which if I shall breake then vnto my former offence I shall adde the sinne of disobedience Which as it is a distinct sinne from the former so be these two distinct obligations the one deriued from the nature of the thing prohibited the other from the law or persons in authoritie 3. Admit then in the third place that the thing prohibited by the premised authoritie haue no binding power in it own nature without a law published against it but be a thing arbitrarie and in my power to doe or leaue vndone then am I freed indeed from the former bond in respect of the thing it selfe notwithstanding I stand obliged to the authoritie of the law for the faithful obseruing of the same except only in case the thing thereby forbidden be of such a nature as doth dissolue this bond by some opposition to a superiour law For those matters therefore which bee not determined by any law of God there is giuen to the wise sages and gouernours of Common-weales a iudiciall power not onely to discerne what is for the common good but also to enact impose and establish lawes and statutes vnto which we are bound both to
subscribe in iudgement and in practise to obey Albeit such a law cannot by euident consequence bee necessarily deriued from any law of God or reason yet if it doe not crosse or oppose the same it is sufficient As lawes which are apparantly friuolous containing matter of little moment need not much to trouble our consciences because there appeareth some opposition betweene them and the law of reason which teacheth vs that a law is a matter of maiestie and serious command and therefore the subiect of it ought to be answerably a matter of waight and moment as the matter of vsurie is Be it therfore proposed that those wholesome lawes and statutes which carrie no shew of opposition to a superiour law though they command or forbid such things as before were held indifferent yet euen as they are lawes doe they binde the conscience by vertue of Gods law 4. Which lawes thus enacted by humane authoritie be in force not onely before the Iudge to the vndergoing of temporall punishment but also to binde the conscience before God not by any power in themselues for they be but humane but as secondarie causes doe worke in the vertue of the first cause so doe these lawes worke vpon the conscience by vertue of his law who alone hath the soueraigne authoritie ouer the inward man He hath commanded vs to obey not because of wrath only not for penalties displeasure or outward respect only but for conscience sake Thus much I hope we shall be able to proue Whereupon it must of necessitie follow that admit euery act of vsurie were not simply in it selfe vnlawfull yet if it be simply forbidden by a law published as a thing perilous among Christians or preiudiciall to the common good then are wee bound in conscience to auoid euery vsurious act as malum prohibitum forbidden by a good and wholsome law Which law if we shall transgresse we doe sinne against God Let this therefore in the first place be propounded that such humane lawes as be not opposite vnto the law of God or nature haue a binding power howbeit not alwaies from the nature of the thing it selfe thereby commanded or forbidden but euen as they be lawes proceeding from that authoritie which is the ordinance of God Which that it may the better appeare it is obseruable that almightie God did first assume vnto himselfe that libertie and power of binding mens consciences meerely by his commanding authoritie as hee was a law-giuer Next that hee did impart the same though not in the same degree to his vicegerents vpon earth It was his diuine pleasure to manifest this power euen in the first law that euer was giuen for what hurt could there haue been in eating of the forbidden fruit if it had not bin forbidden why might not that tree haue been touched and tasted as well as the rest if there had not been an edict against it Abraham likewise after the fall was commanded to offer his sonne Isaac which commandement if it had not bin giuen Abraham could neuer haue found any motiue for such a sacrifice but much might he haue found against it in that law of nature which was written in his heart This degree of power God as the supreme lawgiuer hath reserued wholly vnto himselfe so as it shall not bee lawfull for any created power whatsoeuer to enact a law against the law of nature or to dispense with a diuine statute Yet notwithstanding in case it carrie no opposition to a superiour law God hath giuen a binding power euen to the commandement of man though not against yet without any obligatorie vertue in the thing commanded he adiudging in his diuine wisedome that this was the best for the establishing of authoritie amongst men for the keeping of men in obedience and euery way for the publique good For if men should not obey the lawes and commands of their superiours before such time as they saw something in the thing commanded which should exact the same at their hands verely the Centurion did not well in approuing his souldiers for comming going and doing this at a word yea masters had better a great deale goe about their businesse themselues then send many seruants and if this were our case all gouernment and humane affaires would be soone at a stand Wherefore God doth not only allow those lawes which doe enact that which is alrâ—â—â—â—…e enacted by his law or which may bee thence deriâ—â—â—… by necessarie consequence as a conclusion out of the premisses but all those determinations and particular constitutions which doe not crosse the law of God or nature are in his estimate accounted iust and to bee obeyed For as Christ in the Gospell said of those who did cast out diuels in his name He that is not against vs is with vs so may God rightly be conceiued to esteeme of all humane lawes made for the reformation of manners those which are not against him are with him and therefore by his law confirmed and made of force to binde the conscience This appeareth by the example of the Reahabites in their obedience to their father Ionadab the sonne of Rechab whom they obeyed not because the things forbidden were in themselues 〈◊〉 for houses vineyards and fields are the good blessings of God neither was it for feare of displeasure for Ionadab was dead three hundred yeeres before but only they thought themselues bound in conscience to obey their fathers commandement Which opinion of theirs was iustified and approued of God to be true and sound in that he did not only commend but reward their obedience Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel because ye haue obeyed the commandement of Ionadab your father and kept all his precepts and done according to all that he hath commanded you Ionadab the sonne of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for euer If a father then haue such command ouer his sonnes for so many generations as were betweene the daies of Iehu and the raigne of Iehoiakim how much more shall the lawes and statutes inacted by the gouernours of Common-weales and the bodie representatiue assembled for the publike good binde euery subiect to the obedience of the same But wee shall not neede to goe farre for an instance of this point Our law at home is a pregnant proofe that a law doth binde euen as it is a law though the thing thereby imposed be of it selfe most free and indifferent I speake of that Common or municipall law of our Countrie whose maxims are not meerely grounded vpon the axioms and principles of reason and common equitie but vpon the peculiar customes of this Countrie I demaund then whence this law hath a binding power Is it from the nature of the thing imposed doth it command or forbid nothing but that which out of the principles of nature and reason may by demonstration be proued to be good or bad in it selfe Verely then were it
of as great power beyond Douer as it is on this side for the law of nature and reason is euerie where alike But it is the custome of place and people which addeth power for euen a custome doth bind taking vpon it the nature of a law Ligat consuetudo quatenus interpretatiue lex est Be it custome then or be it a perfect law it must haue a greater power of binding euen as it is a custom or a law thē can alwaies be raised out of the nature of the thing accustomed or imposed For circumstances may so alter the matter as that which is imposed may be sometimes not so conuenient as in common intendment a good law doth presume Yet hath it been euer though more conuenient that some particular inconuenience should bee borne then an ancient custome or law should bee broken And if the binding power of a law should worke no further then the thing it selfe of it selfe doth moue the conscience without a law then were it no power at all but euery mans priuate conscience should haue power to abrogate and disanull as fast as authority doth inact A priuate power then must not abrogate that which is publicke Nihilagit vltra suam speciem but euery priuate man doth stand bound to a humane law vntill the same authoritie which bound him doe absolue him All things therfore considered it is a dangerous conceit to imagine that the power of humane lawes doth extend no further then the qualitie of the thing it selfe doth carie the conscience and so dangerous as if it should take palce it would violate that authority which is the ordinance of God and shake the very pillers of the earth § 2. 2 Then for the penaltie which maketh it a penall law I demand what power that hath to alter the premisses Is the vndergoing of such a penaltie an expiation of the sinne committed in transgressing the law God forbid The least sin deserueth a greater punishment then man can inflict Or hath it a power to dissolue that bond which by vertue of Gods law lieth vpon my conscience Or is it so incorporate into the law that it leaueth a free choice vnto men indifferently either to obserue such an act or to vndergoe such a penaltie Verily this is auerred but the contrarie seemeth vnto me very pregnant vpon these reasons following 1 First to make some way to that which followeth it is much to the preiudice and weakning of good lawes to giue such interpretations as doe dispence with the conscience and set that at libertie For if men be taught to make no conscience of this kind of obedience as God knowes they make but little such lawes shall lie as contemptible in the estimate both of good and bad as well of the obedient as of lawlesse and vnruly people euery man keeping or breaking the same as shall seeme best for his owne priuate aduantage But I would rather thinke and teach that as God Almightie is not an idle beholder of mens affaires but hath a powerfull working in euery action either to effect it or dispose it vnto good so sitting as Dauid speaketh in the parliament or assemblie of gods hee giueth an influence into euery good law enacted and by his owne law bindeth the conscience to the obedience of the fame 2 The end of a law is to withold men from vnlawfull acts such as bee thought vnfit to bee done or suffered in a well established gouernment For if men would of themselues refraine there should be no vse of lawes as the Apostle saith The law is not giuen to the iust man but to the laxlesse and disobedient They be snaffles and bridles to curbe those horses and mules which wil not otherwise be ruled And consequently the end of a penall law is by such a penalty to withhold the disobedient that such people might seele the smart of punishment who haue no sense of conscience First therefore if men would bee good of themselues there should need no lawes Next if men would make a conscience to obey that law which is made there should need no penaltie to be annexed As the law therefore is ordained for good manners so the penaltie is a thing subordinate to the law Now it is premised that euery good law without the penaltie by vertue of Gods law doth bind the conscience shall the penaltie then bee added to disanull that bond shall law and penaltie bee so incorporate and tempered together that the one shall disable the other this is no good morter Wee did rather thinke that penalties were annexed to corroborate and strengthen the law that by punishing transgressors according to the proportion and degree of the offence men might bee the more afraid to offend 3 But to speake in their language who doe vrge this interpretation if a penall law be disiunctiuely to be vnderstood that is either to be obeyed or else to vndergoe such a forfeiture I demand whether of these two is principally intended by the law Doth the statute first intend the penaltie or doth it lie indifferent vnto both alike If either of these then is it an vniust law For a good lawgiuer had rather haue his law kept then broken the reason is because the obseruation or keeping of it is simply good but the punishment of a transgressor hath in it the nature of euill tearmed malum poenae therefore a good intention is first moued vnto that which is good that the law may beekept And in the second place a punishment is intended as it is a remedie against a greater euill then it selfe I stand bound then euen in conscience vnto a good law according to the simple intent of it that is to say not because of the penalty only or to speak in the phrase of the holy Ghost not because of wrath onely which is all one but chiefly that I may performe that good thing which the law doth chiefly intend which if I shall trangresse the penaltie is indeed a satisfaction to that law but no expiation of my sinne of disobedience 4 Last of all that we may cleere this statute of all such imputation a statute which hitherto hath had no blemish cast vpon it being without the compasse and reach of their ordinarie exceptions the opposition to Gods law the abridgement of Christian libertie scandall and such like stones which they vse to fling at lawes If the Statute had any such purpose to make a disiunctiue law how shall that appeare For if it be not expressed then is it by common intendment to be vnderstood according to the premised rules and to put it out of quarrell that the contrary is intended shall appeare by three points within the statute 1 First there is a speciall clause in this statute of Vsurie that it shall bee most largely and strongly construed for the repressing of Vsurie against all persons who shall offend But this construction doth contrariwise giue a liberty to commit Vsurie so a man will
venture the forfeiture in case he bee conuicted Like the Pharisies Corban who if the offrings be brought will dispence with obedience and honour due to parents This is * to eate the sinnes of the people which is not iustifiable in any law 2 The nature and extent of the penaltie doth import no lesse For it doth not only punish excessiue Vsurie aboue ten in the hundred but all vnder ten vnder nine vnder eight be it neuer so little it is punishable by the statute and therefore simplie forbidden by the intent of the same For the Vsurie or ouerplus which is taken aboue the principall is not restored to the borrower for then were it no punishment because euery partie were in statu quo prius as he was before the couenant But it is all forfeited by the law to the king and the informer in the name of a punishment shall be punished in forme following which if it be a iuft punishment must presuppose a breach of iustice in the parties punished 3 The third is the motiue which moued the Parliament to make this act For as much as all Vsurie being forbidden by the law of God is sin and detestable be it enacted c. It was therefore enacted against vsurie because it is a sinne and detestable forbidden by the law of God Is there any doubt then but it was the meaning of the statute simply to forbid it It is true indeed that the preamble is no essentiall part of the act yet is it as a key to open the intention and true meaning of the law nothing better But the restlesse wit of man if it bee once set vpon contradiction will neuer giue ouer I haue heard it obiected that whereas it is said in the statute For as much as all Vsurie being forbidden by the law of God is sinne and detestable those words being forbidden by the law of God are inserted not as a reason of the assertion but as a part of the subiect of the proposition all vsurie being forbidden that is to say all Vsurie which is forbidden by the law of God is sin and detestable As if some Vsurie were not forbidden Wit whither wilt thou The sequel runneth thus For as much as all Vsurie being forbidden by the law of God is sinne and detestable he it enacted that all Vsurie loane c. shall be punished in forme following Doth not the consequence plainely shew that the law meant honestly in the antecedent that for as much as all Vsurie is forbidden by the law of God be it therefore enacted that all Vsurie shall bee punished Whether it be a cleere case or questionable that all Vsurie is forbidden by Gods law is not materiall for this argument lay that by for another place This notwithstanding is cleere that the iudgement of the lawmakers in that Parliament was that Vsurie is simply euill in it selfe and therfore the meaning of that law is simplie to forbid it For as they conceiued it to bee forbidden by Gods law so did they also by their iudiciall power and authoritie adiudge and determine it to be not onely scandalous but perilous and preiudicious to a Christian common-wealth and therupon enacted a law and prescribed a punishment against all Vsurie whatsoeuer What hindreth then why we should not submit our selues to this act euen for conscience sake Admit the lawmakers did erre in thinking euery vsurious act to be forbidden by the law of God shall euery supposed error disanull such a solemne act God forbid A man for the purpose is moued to chuse such a wife supposing her to be of so great wealth and of so good qualities hee is somewhat deceiued in both his motiues What then Shall his error make his mariage void nothing lesse so long as the errour is not essentiall to the act it selfe the act shall thereby receiue no preiudice or hurt at all It appeareth then that these conclusions following doe necessarily arise out of the premisses 1. First in this statute of Vsurie there is nothing inacted contrary to the law of God and therefore in Gods account it is a iust law 2. If it be a iust law then doe we stand bound in conscience to obey it according to the simple meaning of the same In conscience I say not by any inherent vertue in the statute but by vertue of his command who bids vs obey for conscience sake 3. It is the simple meaning of this statute simply and absolutely to forbid all Vsurie whatsoeuer and therefore albeit in Germanie and Geneua their consciences may be free from this obligation of a positiue law because their lawes against Vsurie be not so precise yet in England we are cleerely condemned for any increase or ouerplus whatsoeuer condemned in the court of conscience by vertue of the law of God for transgressing of this statute condemned euen by the rule of master Caluin himselfe Ne excedatur modus constitutus in quauis regione vel republ Some branch of this argument is questionable yet is the inference cleere this being a statute for the publike good CHAP. XIII The fourth argument that it is vnnaturall THat the Heathen writers who neuer heard text of Scripture against vsurie at whose light notwithstanding for nature and art we doe all light our candles should with consent condemne it it makes mee thinke that there is somewhat in nature against it especially seeing how that sunne of nature Aristotle whom his mother loued so deerely that she kept few things from him hath concluded it to be an vnnaturall increase Few things haue dropped from his pen but with good congruity of reason let vs therefore briefly examine what we find 1 First it is euident that the primitiue life was most naturall and therefore the most innocent when men liued vpon that increase which God gaue by the yeeld of the earth and liuing creatures For the first trade that euer nature taught was to till the ground by which man might be fed wherein Adam his eldest sonne was trained The next was the keeping of sheepe which Abel learned to clothe their nakednesse And as from these two all other trades and professions for worldly commoditie were deriued so must they be content as from the originall to take some direction The first in each kinde is a rule The innocencie and integritie whereof God approoued in that he would be worshipped himselfe in the first fruits and haue his priests maintained by the tithes and oblations of such increase Stipendarie maintenance was first the inuention of that Idolater Micha yet such is much better then none at all Meate and drinke a suite of apparell tenne shickles of siluer by the yeere for a Leuite it is well But how well the Leuits master came by those shickles is more then the Leuite wel knowes That which came by the sickle sithe was the best and fittest for God because most agreeable to nature which the ancient Doctors of nature haue obserued But
but a reasonable moderate conscionable vsurie like an honest kind robber who alloweth a man part of his owne money back againe to beare his charges and thus resolueth to liue vpon this practise he by heaping vp moderate sinnes wreaketh his conscience vpon a sand and so sinking into this sin by little and little his soule is at length easily swallowed vp without sense or feeling at all 2. Secondly it is not euer so sensible because as the Vsurer moderating himselfe doth not seeme to bite the borrower so the borrower relieuing himselfe by others hath no cause to complaine Yea many borrowers concurring in this practise by their very multitudes are able to sway and inhaunce the market in such manner that they may liue themselues and pay the Vsurer besides So that in conclusion those doe all set vpon the Common-wealth which being a great bodie is able to beare many dogges before she need to complaine and feeling the wound as in time she must she knoweth not well of whom to complaine Burdensome therefore it is to the Common-wealth yet so dispersed amongst many that it is the lesse sensible but neuer a whit the more allowable For these and the like causes the biting of vsurie being sometimes not so sensible to particular persons Almightie God in his wisedome foreseeing how readie men would be to cauill at the word Neshec hath of purpose expressed his meaning more fully by the exegeticall addition of another terme which simply signifieth any increase at all And this hath he done not only in the Comments of the Prophets but in the very text of the Law it selfe Leuit. 25. 36. vetarbith and vers the 37. vbemarbith Which word Salomon forgetteth not to adde for Salomons daies being both peaceable and rich in siluer and gold men would be then more readie in all likelihood to deuise any cauill or colour to maintaine that sinne While the people of God were trauelling in the deseit or troubled with warres in the land of Canaan there was little borrowing of money but only by the poore for the supplie of their want And of them to take vsurie was a more sensible biting and oppression in that they borrowed not to lay out for commodities but to spend for necessitie Therefore Dauid in his troublesome daies vseth the word Neshec onely for vsurie as best fitting those times where the poorest were most bitten by this sinne But in King Salomons daies being daies of peace and plentie plentie of money and merchandizing both by sea and land for all manner of commodities those men who were then rich in moneys might sit still at home and lend foorth their money to such as by their skill and paines in trauelling and trading abroad might returne them vsurie for their money and bee many times gainers themselues In which case because there is no such apparant personall biting of the borrower as when money is lent to the poore to supplie present wants therefore Salomon to preuent these cauils at words might adde to the word Neshec that word also which signifieth Increase or ouerplus Thereby teaching men that it was the direct meaning of Almightie God simply to forbid all manner of increase whatsoeuer Neither are these my priuate coniectures against the groundlesse distinction of biting and toothlesse vsurie but Master Caluin himselfe vpon whom they seeme to relie as a chiefe patron of vsurie doth not only condemne it as friuolous but addeth further that it was the purpose of the Holy Ghost by adding that other word to preuent such cauils Quia homines hac in parte nimium sunt acuti versuti excogitant subterfugia quibus crudelitatem suam tegant ideo addit Et incrementum non acceperit Because saith Caluin men in this kinde be ouer acute and subtill and deuise euasions how they may more cunningly couer their crueltie therefore he addeth in the text vsurie or increase And for the distinction it selfe Caluin his censure is Ludunt homines suis cauillis sed Deus non admittit tales versutias Men cauill and play with words but God admitteth no such sleights His meaning is simple and plaine that all increase aboue the principall is forbidden I should idle the time too much and wearie the reader if I should dilate vpon the fond conceits of some to auoid the word Tarbith or increase Because that word in his natiue and vsuall sense directly forbiddeth all vsurie whatsoeuer therefore they bend their wits against it Some would haue Tarbith being ioyned with Neshec to signifie excessiue increase or multiplication beyond measure Another sort referre Neshec to money and Tarbith to victuals only as if it were lawfull to take some increase for money but no increase for victuals at all These fantasies we finde in certaine blinde Manuscripts without name or author which walke vnder hand like the pestilence in the darke to infect the mindes of simple men who are very prone to imbrace euery thing for Gospel which some men write in priuate or preach at their tables in maintenance of their profit But tell vs in good sooth is Tarbith to be referred to victuals only and not to money so that it shall be lawfull to take Tarbith for money then doth not Tarbith signifie excessiue increase or multiplication beyond measure for I hope it shall neuer be accounted lawfull to take excessiue increase for money or to multiplie vsurie beyond measure Doth Tarbith signifie multiplication beyond measure then verely both Tarbith and Neshec are forbidden in money as well as victuals See how fitly these conceits doe agree one ouerthrowing another directly and both being ouerthrowne by the text and constant interpretation of all authoritie both moderne and ancient The text as it doth not appropriate Neshec vnto money but applieth it vnto any thing which passeth for vsurie as in Deut. 23. 19. Vsurie of money vsurie of meate vsurie of any thing that is put to vsurie so doth it vse Tarbith for the vsurie of money aswell as of any other thing For the Prophets who be the true expositors of the law do ioyne both words together applying them both indifferently euermore to one and the same thing Ezek. 18. 8. cap. 22. 12. Prou. 28. 8. and that Tarbith being ioyned with Neshec should signifie any excessiue increase it hath neither ground in the text nor any authoritie at all The Greeks translate it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Latines incrementum augmentū that is simple increase So others vse words to the same purpose Plus amplius supra accessio any more any ouerplus any thing aboue or besides the principall That is to say as the ancient Latine translation readeth Leu. 25. 36. Thou shalt not take vsurie of him nor more then thou gauest or as S. Ambrose readeth the 37. verse In amplius recipiendum to receiue more vbi omne sortis excludit augmentum where it excludeth all increase aboue the principall as he obserueth vpon the same place
make so sufficient a comment vpon the law of God concerning vsurie as a man of learning and modestie would not easily gainesay 6. But we haue yet a larger field to walke in for this is a question of that nature as is not onely determinable by the law of God in Scripture but also by the law of Nature those maximes and principles of common equitie which are written in the hearts of men by the finger of God Those students of Nature therfore the Philosophers may of right challenge a voice in this businesse And because the experience and practife of States and Common-wealthes doth adde much to the twilight of Nature especially in these matters of negotiation and commerce betweene man and man it will not be much out of the way to obserue by the way what such writers haue obserued in their Politikes for the publik good which in this point is especially to bee obserued euen for conscience sake 7. Last of all because we haue not a better rule to proceed by in the searching of what is good and lawfull in a well gouerned estate then those wholesome lawes which haue been established vpon sage aduice and deliberation out of long experience and the receiued grounds of common equitie it will be behooffull and materiall to listen a little to the Canon and Ciuill lawes which haue gouerned so many Nations both Christian and Heathen and finally to returne home and note though briefly as becommeth Diuines what the Municipal or Common law of this land vnto which wee are subiect hath decreed concerning this matter Now if these authorities shall ioyne in one against vsury they who shall oppose themselues in defence thereof had need to come well appointed with strong arguments and sound reasons or else me thinkes we should hardly beleeue them CHAP. II. The Testimonie of Scripture IF we take our Sauiour Christ his diuision of the Scriptures which he made to his disciples going to Emmaus into Moses the Prophets and the Psalmes these bee all three against vsurie Moses wrote fiue bookes two of historie and three of law In euery one of his law-books Exodus Leuiticus and Deuteronomie there is an expresse law against vsurie Exod. 22. 25. If thou lend money to my people to the poore with thee thou shalt not be as an Vsurer vnto him thou shalt not oppresse with vsurie Leuit. 25. 35. If thy brother be impouerished or fallen into decay with thee thou shalt releeue him and as a stranger or a soiourner so shall he liue with thee thou shalt take no vsurie of him nor vantage or more then thou gauest Thou shalt not giue him thy money for vsury nor lend him thy victuals for increase Deut. 23. 29. Thou shalt not giue to vsurie to thy brother as vsurie of money vsurie of meate vsurie of any thing that is giuen to vsurie Vnto a stranger thou maist lend vpon vsurie but thou shalt not lend vpon vsury to thy brother that the Lord thy God may blesse thee Thus farre is the letter of the law which is vehemently vrged by the Prophet Ezechiel by the Psalmist and his son Salomon Against which law three exceptions haue bin deuised § 2. The first is verball which wee touched in the second Chapter of the first booke in laying hold vpon the biting word Neshec auoiding the other word Tarbith as if that would bite the cause This verily is hard dealing when the holy Ghost ioyneth two words of purpose together both in the law and Prophets to make his meaning full that we should presse the one and leaue the other When God is not content to forbid biting vsurie onely in Neshec but all increase in Tarbith and Marbith doubling the second frō the same roote as if he would set the Emphasis purposely vpon increase these will haue it set vpon Neshec biting vsurie What is it then which they would so gladly wring out of Neshec Forsooth that no vsurie is forbidden in Gods law but onely biting vsury And that there is no biting vsury but when it is felt and knowne to bite for wee must giue them that in besides or else they be neuer a whit the neerer Alas good simple widowes who are taught to liue securely in the feare of God vpon vsurie can they tell when or whom or how many their vsurie doth bite Nay can the wisest vsurers of them all tell For if the borrower be bitten he had best to keepe his owne counsell and to set his best face vpō it otherwise if the Vsurers do once smel him to be downe the wind he shall seldome find them within Can they tell when the Common-weale is bitten Can they discerne how many poore people shall pay a pennie in the pound the dearer for them and their fellowes No no vsurie walketh in the darke it biteth few know when where or how Onely thus much in general we must needs know that the borrowers vpon vsurie cannot afford their ware so good cheape by nine or tenne in the hundreth as if their stocks were free and yet must they needs sell as the market goeth Therefore if there be not a sufficient number to raise the market to their price and so to cast the burthen vpon the people they themselues shall feele the weight of it To make this more plaine by the most accustomed and modederate vsurie of these times If money be lent to spend vpon necessaries there is no manner of question made but the borrower is sore bitten in paying vsury when he hath spent the principall If it be lent to lay out for gaine then must the borrower first be sure of so much cleare gaine as will pay the vse which is a reasonable gaine of it selfe For the Vsurers of nine or tenne in the hundreth doe liue well of their trade and grow rich by it Yea many honest tradesmen will confesse that if they could with their owne free stocke raise the like gaine one time with another that the Vsurer doth with his moneies and with the like securitie of the principall they would thinke they had made a very good market notwithstanding all their care and trauell This reasonable gain then must first be raised by the borrower to pay the Vsurer and ouer and aboue he must exceed this reasonable gaine to maintaine himselfe and his seruants because this gaine is none of his If he doe not exceed then and that in some proportion he hath lost his labour and shall feele himselfe sore bitten If the borrower doe exceed the Vsurers gaine to maintaine himselfe I demand then who paieth this excessiue gaine ouer and aboue that reasonable gaine of tenne in the hundred Who but the Common-weale Not so saith the Vsurer for the borrower must sell as the market goeth It is very true Therfore say I if hee and his fellowes be not able to raise the market to their owne price they shall bee losers If they can inhaunce it as they may the more easilie because
with the best customes of this Countrie then the ancient inhabitants of this land led only by the light of the gloworme shal condemne vs for this point who reside in the sunneshine of the Gospell After of ancient it was enacted by the statute of Iudaisme forbidding all vsurie that if a Iew lent in that kinde to a Christian he should haue no remedie for his principall debt yet the Christian might recouer his pawne In the 3. of Henry 7. all cloaked vsurie was also forbidden vnder the termes of Damnable bargaines grounded in vsurie coloured by the name of new cheuisans contrarie to the law of naturall iustice to the common hurt of this land and to the great dishonour of Almightie God Which statute is more fully explained by another made in anno 11. Hex 7. that the said law did extend first to all lending for a time and taking for the loane any thing more besides or aboue the money lent by way of contract or couenant made at the time of the same loane sauing lawfull penalties for the paiment of the principall 2. To the selling of goods to any person in necessitie and buying the same againe within three moneths for a lesse summe then they were sold for 3. To the lending of money vpon lands or bonds for the paiment thereof with couenant to receiue the reuenues of the borrowers land vnder paine of the forfeiture of the money goods or merchandise so lent or sold After which in 37. of Henry 8 all former statutes concerning vsurie being repealed the three points last before mentioned remained in force in case the vsurie did exceed tenne in the hundred thereby not allowing any vsurie vnder tenne but leauing it only vnpunished This law seeming ouer loose was repealed in 5. and 6. of Edward 6. wherein it was enacted that all vsurie increase lucre gaine interest for loane for bearing or giuing daies of any summe of money had receiued or hoped for aboue the summe lent giuen set ouer deliuered or forborne should be punished not only with the forfeiture of the principall and all but with imprisonment and ransome at the Kings will and pleasure This law on the other side seeming too strict for an humane law was repealed in 13. Elizabeth and the former statute of Henrie 8. reuiued but with additions of the restraint of vsurie First that all bonds contracts and assurances for any intending or doing any thing against the tenour of the said statute thus reuiued should be vtterly void Secondly that all brokers solicitors and driuers of such bargaines or contracts shall incurre the danger of a premunire Thirdly that the same statute reuiued shall be most largely and seuerely vrged for the suppressing of vsurie against the persons offending Fourthly that the Ecclesiasticall censure shall also proceed against such offenders aboue tenne in the hundred Fiftly Because all vsurie is forbidden by Gods law as a detestable sinne that euery Vsurer though he doe not exceed tenne in the hundred shall forfeit so much as shall be reserued by way of vsurie aboue the principall for any money so to be lent or forborne This last is the statute which England now standeth subiect vnto and which wee are bound to obey by the rule of the supposed patron of vsurie Ne excedatur modus constitutus in quauis regione But the law of our Countrie doth not tolerate any at al and therefore by his rule it is not lawfull for vs to take any vsurie at all Thus much for that inartificiall argument which is taken from the testimonie of authoritie An argument I confesse very inartificiall as I haue made it yet is the authoritie so sufficient as I would desire Authoritie of all sorts diuine and humane Ecclesiasticall and prophane naturall and morall of all ages old new midling of all Churches primitiue superstitious reformed of all Common-weales Iewish Christian Heathenish of all lawes forraine and domesticall It remaineth now that we take a view and examination of this point with our own eies And though I be very hartlesse and timorous of my selfe yet being thus well backed me thinkes I am much emboldened to encounter with him who is most forward to confront these authorities First therefore I will put in order such reasons as I haue learned for the discouerie of this sinne by which it shall the better appeare what substance and validitie there is in these colours and apparitions which are brought in defence of it So that in conclusion men may the more easilie resolue their owne consciences for this point and accordingly amend their liues as God shall moue their hearts CHAP. X. The first argument from the nature of the question IF there be any as God knoweth there are too many who cānot resolue their consciences against vsurie as against a thing vnlawfull yet I hope there is none of so vnyeelding a forehead but will giue thus much to the authoritie aforesaid as to thinke the lawfulnes of vsurie very questionable and doubtfull at the least If any shall be so singularly conceited of himselfe as to make no question after all these but that vsurie is lawful I will leaue him in the number of those wise men whereof Salomon speaketh who are wiser then seuen men that can giue a reason Then men yea then Churches and Common-weales And to the rest who doe make doubt and question of it I say it is vnlawfull because it is doubtfull for the heathen mans principle Quod dubitas ne feceris is likewise deliuered for a rule by the Apostle that Whatsoeuer is not of faith is sinne There be three opinions then concerning vsurie some are resolued that it is vnlawfull and to them the practise of it is a sinne a knowne sinne a sin against their own consciences directly Secondly some are not resolued at all but hang in suspence and to them it is a sinne if it were in no other respect yet onely because they doubt of it for that which S. Paul speaketh of eating is likewise appliable to all other actions He that doubteth is condemned if he eate because he eateth not of faith So he that doubteth of any morall action whatsoeuer if hee doe it is condemned because hee doth it not of faith for what soeuer is not of faith is sinne If thou doubt therefore keepe S. Augustine his rule Tene certum dimitte incertum thou art most sure it is no sinne to abstaine from vsurie then keepe that resolution firme and thou shalt be safe though perhaps thou thinke if thou abstaine thou shalt haue the lighter purse yet withall thou shalt haue the lighter heart when the sorrowes of death shall make thee heauie Though in mysteries of Diuinitie the narrowest sense is the safest yet in matters of moralitie the largest sense is the best for securitie in that it keepeth vs farthest off from consenting vnto sinne 3. If there be a third sort who be cleerely
Canon lawes of our countrie as well as the law of God seeing their consciences doe stand equally bound to both alike which to imagine were grosse impiety Another sort there be who doe auerre that we are not any whit bound in conscience to humane lawes from the authority commanding but meerely from the matter commanded So as if the thing inacted by law be not contained within the law of God or nature it is no sinne before God to transgresse that statute Humane lawes say they bee nothing to the conscience but onely interpretations of lawes diuine and naturall So as a subiect doth offend in transgressing a law no otherwise then a patient in breaking the rule of diet prescribed by the Physition wherein hee doth offend God not for disobeying the precept of the Physition but for transgressing the rule of good health which now is made manifest to him by the Physitions skil In like maner humane lawes doe onely manifest and prescribe that which in conscience we were bound to obey before Now as the former assertion doth derogate from the Maiestie of Diuine law which is due vnto it so doth this ouermuch weaken that ordinance of God which he hath established amongst men In medio tutissimus ibis We haue therefore chosen the middle way to wit that men stand bound in conscience to obey good and wholesome lawes not only from the nature of the thing enacted but also in matters meerely indifferent both because the generall obseruation thereof is auailable for the publicke good which in charity we are bound to respect And also because we must bee subiect to that authority which is the ordinance of God Subiect I say not onely in suffring the penaltie which the Apostle tearmeth wrath but in obeying of lawfull commands euen for conscience sake for conscience sake not because of any humane authority which of it selfe hath no command at all ouer the inward man but onely by vertue of Gods law which commandeth vs to obey authority so as if wee shall willingly and wittingly transgresse we shall sinne against God Admit then that Vsurie were a thing in it selfe indifferent yet haue we in England a bond lying vpon vs more then other nations in regard of our positiue law Not onely Ex ipsa legis vtilitate as Stapleton would haue it but in respect of our subiection vnto a lawfull commanding authority as it is the ordinance of God Hauing enquired yet further into the nature of vsurious gaine we haue found it to be most remote from that naturall and most innocent increase which God established and instituted amongst men for that money is not onely barren by nature being a thing meerely artificiall but also void of all immediate vse in it selfe to the possessor while he doth enioy it So as the borrower giueth hire for the vse of that whereof he can haue no vse but in disbursing of it and parting from it and the lender taketh hire for the vse of that which vnto him can neither weare in the vsing nor be worse for the wearing And which is yet more vnkind the more this gaine doth increase and multiplie the more it may contrary to all other increase both of nature and mans industrie Helping our eyesight by the rules of piety and godlinesse wee haue further found it to be an vngodly gaine which is assured against euery act of God as Vsurie is For albeit in wisedome we must secure our selues by all lawfull meanes against earthly casualties and the fraud of men yet notwithstanding in religion we ought most willingly to depend vpon Diuine prouidence for our gaine acknowledging all our profit and increase to bee the blessing of God And as the first table hath condemned vsurie of impietie so hath the second conuinced it to be most vniust Vniust euery way It takes hire for loane and setteth to sale that most liberall and free act of charitie It passeth ouer by couenant all the hazard of the principal and yet taketh hire for the vse of the same against the equitie of Gods law which saith the borrower must not make that good which came for hire It receiueth great gaine without labour cleere gaine without cost certaine gaine without perill out of the industrie the charges the meere vncertainties of the borrower All the parties whom vsurie doth any waies concerne haue condemned it to bee most wicked and odious The Vsurers themselues are ashamed of their profession the townes and cities where they dwell dare not iustifie the trade either of vsurie or brokage but doe suffer the practise in secret only as a worke of darknes All sorts of borrowers condemne it as being a cruell biting to the poore a cursed snare to the prodigall an instrument of oppression to rich borrowers depriuing them also who be of a midling fortune of that most bountifull worke of charitie free loane which vnto them is most proper and peculiar The Common-weale and in it the poore people may rue the time that euer the least vsurie was left vnpunished for their purse in the end must pay for all Yet for all this if charitie might heale where iniquitie doth wound it were the more tolerable But vsurie as it peruerteth iustice euery way so doth it drie vp the verie fountaine of charitie being naturally opposite thereunto turning euery thing to lucre and gaine and straitning the bowels of compassion which otherwise would dilate themselues not onely in free giuing but especially in liberall lending where money for a time might be spared §. 3. These points haue been proued in their seuerall places what must be the conclusion then out of al these premisses Charitie Iustice Pietie Nature her selfe the lawes of God and of men all authoritie ancient and moderne ioyning their forces against the Vsurer how can hee stand inuironed with such a cloude of witnesses or iustifie his conscience against the day of triall Yet few men there be in these daies who haue a remorse of this sinne or doe take it to heart their consciences be seared as with a hot iron there is such a thick skin growne ouer their hearts as they will hardly be circumcised in this point Which senselesse stupiditie may easily be perceiued to proceed originally from three principall causes 1 First the generall practise of vsurie makes euery one in particular to thinke that hee shall shift with his conscience as well as others Lord haue mercie vpon vs saith he if it be such a matter to take vsurie what shall become of such and such who I am sure haue as good soules to God as I I purpose not therefore to trouble my head for that matter I pray God I haue no greater sinnes to answere for and then I hope I shall doe well See the efficacie and power of example when it growes common It was placed before in the first ranke of motiues perswading men that vsurie was lawfull because it is so common Now albeit example