charitie where none contendeth in fight but resteth in euerlasting peace Now heauen is called the mountaine of God for these causes First because it was figured by the mountaine of God euen as Christ is called our Passeouer Secondly because of the height thereof whereby it is eleuated farre aboue the earth For albeit in respect of vs who are now placed within the compasse of heauen and behold Comavam coeli superficiem as it were the inward roofe thereof it cannot so fitly be called a mountaine notwithstanding as it is the throne of God who sitteth on the globe of heauen as it were his throne and as it is the seat of the blessed spirits whose conuersation is in the highest heauen as it were in the top of an hill it is not vnfitly called the mountaine of God Vnto this mountaine if we should ascend but in thought as Scipio once did in his dreame and from thence should behold the earth we should easily contemne this inferiour world with the desires thereof For the whole globe of the earth together with the water which seemeth none so great vnto vs if we could see it from the highest heauens would appeare vnto vs like a mote in the sunne But if withall we felt the vnspeakable joyes of heauen and from thence should cast downe our eies vnto this valley of teares there to behold the vanities of vanities and nothing but vanitie in vexation of spirit as Salomon saith it cannot be expressed with how feruent a desire we should be inflamed to haue our habitation in heauen Peter when as hee was present in the transfiguration of Christ in the mount Thabor and had a tast of the heauenly glory he was straightway rauished therewith and desired greatly to remaine there Lord saith he it is good being here let vs make three Tabernacles c. Thirdly heauen is called a Mountaine because it is a safe place free from all hazard or possibilitie of danger where the blessed spirits dwell on high safe from all danger and feare of euill But heauen is not onely called the mountain of God but also the holy Mountaine or which is all one the Mountaine of his holinesse because it is sanctified by the presence of God For which cause Sion also and the mount Moriah are called the holy mountaine of God For where the Lord doth manifest his presence that is a holy place namely because of Gods presence sanctifying it But in the highest heauen the Lord doth principally manifest his presence and reueale his glory Wherefore if mount Thabor after the transfiguration of Christ there wrought and the presence and glory of God there manifested was for that cause called the holy mountaine how much more doth the highest heauen where Christ sitteth at the right hand of his father in majesty and glory deserue to be called the holy mountaine of God The Scriptures ascribe such holinesse to â—his mountaine of God as nothing may enter therein which is not holy Which must teach vs beloued to follow after holinesse without which we shall neuer see God Verely verely I say vnto you saith Christ our Sauiour except a man be borne of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdome of God Our abode in the mountaine of God is expressed in the word dwelling whereby two things are signified Perpetuitie Rest. Perpetuitie for there the children of God remaine not as pilgrims for a time but as citisens and heires for euer Whereupon the kingdome of heauen is also called an heauenly inheritance wherin are euerlasting habitations and an inheritance immortall and vndefiled that fadeth not away reserued in heauen for vs. I wil not stand to proue this point being the last article of our Creed coÌ„firmed by manifold testimonies of scripture which often mentioneth eternall life eternall saluation eternall kingdome let vs rather labor by all good meanes to make sure our calling and election to this eternall kingdome that the meditation therof may teach vs first to contemne in respect thereof the momentarie vanities of this present world accounting it more than madnesse if for the temporarie fruition of sinne wee shall depriue our selues of Gods presence where there is fulnesse of ioy and at whose right hand there are pleasures for euermore if for light and temporarie trifles we loose a superexcellent eternall weight of glorie in heauen Secondly with patience and comfort to run the race of afflictions set before vs looking vnto Iesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the ioy that was set before him endured the crosse and despised the shame and is set at the right hand of the throne of God For the and light afflictions of this life are not worthy the eternall weight of glorie that shall be reuealed which notwithstanding they procure vnto vs whiles we looke not on the things which are seene but on the things which are not seene For the things which are seene are temporall but the things which are not seene are eternall Againe the word dwelling importeth rest For there the children of God doe not wander as pilgrims neither are subject to any molestations but doe wholly rest from their labours And for that cause the kingdome of heauen is called the rest of God and as it were an eternall Sabboth In respect whereof the land of Canaan was a type of our heauenly countrey For as to the Israelits after they had for many yeares wandered as pilgrims through the desert the land of Canaan was the mountaine of their perpetuall habitation and rest euen so to vs after wee haue finished our pilgrimage through the desert of this world there remaineth an heauenly Canaan that Sabbatisme or rest of God which the Apostle testifieth is left to the people of God But as against those Israelites which after they were brought out of Aegypt and were in the way towards the land of promise by their infidelitie and contumacie prouoked God the Lord sware in his anger that they should neuer enter into his rest so shall it happen to so many of vs as professing our selues to bee redeemed out of the bondage of the spirituall Pharao shall notwithstanding neither truly beleeue in Christ nor repent of our sinnes but prouoke the Lord by our infidelitie and disobedience Wherefore as the holy ghost sayth To day if you shall heare his voice harden not your hearts as in the prouocation and as in the day of temptation in the wildernesse where your fathers tempted me c. to whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest Let vs studie therefore to enter into that rest least any of vs fall after the same ensample of disobedience And let vs take heed least at any time there be in vs an euill heart of infidelitie to depart from the liuing God For the
To peruert judgement bribes are taken first by judges and those that belong to them after the example of the sonnes of Samuell who when they were appointed judges did not walke in the wayes of their father for he was free from taking rewards 1. Sam. 12. 3. but turned aside after lucre and taking rewards peruerted judgement Secondly by counsellors and aduocats after the example of Tertullus who so he might haue his fee cared not what false calumniations he vttered against the Apostle Paul Thirdly by witnesses who are hired to giue false witnesse against the innocent according to the example of those who were suborned against Naâ—oth and against our Sauiour Christ both before his death and after his resurrection Of trecherie also we haue examples in the Scriptures as of Dalila who for reward betrayed Sampson into the hands of the Philistines and of Iudas the traytor who for thirtie peeces of money betrayed our Sauiour Christ. But that I may speake to the intendment of the holie Ghost in this place I am to shew that this is a note of Gods children to be free from rewards For the Lord in other places also of the Scripture propoundeth abstinence from rewards as a note of the godly and contrariwise the taking of rewards as a certaine badge of the wicked For as touching the former when question was made who should dwell with a consuming fire that is God the Prophet Esay maketh answer Chapter 33 He that refuseth gaine of oppression and shaketh his hands from taking of gifts c. he shall dwell on high The same is testified Prou. 15. 27. He that is greedie of gaine troubleth his owne house but he that hateth gifts shall liue On the other side taking of bribes is acknowledged in the Scripture to be an vndoubted token of the wicked Prou. 17. 23. The wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosome to wit of the giuer to wrest the wayes of iudgement Of accursed persons Deut. 27. 25. Cursed be he that taketh a reward to put to death innocent bloud And all the people shall say Amen Of reprobates and castawayes Iob. 15. 34. Fire shall deuoure the houses of bribes that is of them that take bribes And Psal. 26. 9 10 where the Prophet praying that he might not be destroyed in the destruction of the wicked and reprobat he describeth them by this note Gather not my soule saith he with the sinners nor my life with the bloudie men in whose hands is wickednesse and their right hand is full of bribes The vse which we are to make of this doctrine is thus much That seeing abstinence from rewards is made by the holy Ghost a note of the righteous which shall be saued and contrariwise taking of rewards an vndoubted marke of the wicked who if they continue in this sinne shall be condemned therefore it behooueth vs to shake our hands from taking of rewards if we would haue any hope or assurance that we shall dwell in the mountaine of Gods holinesse For they that shall dwell in the mountaine of God are such saith the holy Ghost as doe not take rewards against the innocent Wherefore if thou doest take rewards and that against the innocent for the innocent partie doth not vse to giue bribes therefore bribes are commonly taken against the innocent how canst thou hope that thou shalt euer inherit the kingdome of God But these 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 these takers of rewards doe not only depriue themselues of all true hope of saluation but also incurre most certainely the just vengeance of God which they pull not onely vpon themselues and their houses as I shewed before out of Deut. 27. 25 Prou. 15. 27 Iob. 15 34 but also vpon their countrey which should be more deare vnto them than themselues 〈◊〉 therefore said to destroy it Prou. 29 4 For among the 〈…〉 abhominations for which the Lord doth threatâ—â—â—struction against Ierusalem this is none of the least â—zech 22. 12 In thee haue they taken gifts to shed bloud thou hast taken vsurie and increase c. But that which is spoken to all seemeth to be spoken to none I will therefore conuert my speech to all the sorts of them that take gifts seuerally as to corrupt judges aduocats and witnesses For as touching traitours whom euery one knoweth to be worse than common cut-throats and murtherers because to the murther of the innocent whereof they are guiltie they adde persidious trecherie I shall not need to speake First therefore and principally I am to speake to judges officers and magistrats for now adayes briberie hath so corrupted publicke places and functions that euery petite office whereof the stipends and lawfull fees are but small is notwithstanding by such corrupt wayes and indirect meanes as are found out sufficient to gather great wealth But let such men besides the generall arguments before vsed consider with me how dangerous this kind of filthie gaine is how wicked and how pernicious The danger is shewed Deut. 16. 19 Wrest not thou the law sayth the Lord to judges and officers nor respect any person neither take reward for the reward blindeth the eyes not of the vnwise onely but of the wise and peruerteth the words not of the wicked onely but also of the iust But the grieuousnesse of this offence will more clearely appeare if besides the danger to themselues we shall consider how greatly they offend both against God and their neighbour against God for judges and magistrats are by the holy ghost in the Scriptures called Gods because they are the Lords substitutes sustaining his person and the judgement which they execute is not the judgement of man but of God And that is the argument which Iâ—hosophat vsed when he exhorted the judges whom he had ordained to the vpright performance of their dutie Take heed what you doe sayth he for you execute not the iudgements of man but of the Lord and he will be with you in the cause and iudgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be vpon you take heed and doe it for there is none iniquitie with the Lord our God neither respect of persons nor receiuing of reward Whosoeuer therefore peruerteth judgement as much as in him lieth he maketh God whose judgement it is vntrue and vnjust Secondly they offend against that justice which ought to be exercised towards our neighbour first because they doe most grossely abuse the commonwealth of whom they receiue both authoritie and maintenance that they may doe much mischiefe thereunto Secondly because they are as the Prophet Esay speaketh companions of theeues Thy princes sayth he are companions of theeues euery one loueth gifts and followeth after rewards Neither doe they onely helpe the wicked to spoyle his neighbour but themselues also doe rob and spoyle them and that also vnder the colour and shew of judgement and justice So that whereas
LECTVRES ON THE XV. PSALME Read in the Cathedrall Church of S. Paule in London Wherein besides many other very profitable and necessarie matters the question of Vsurie is plainely and fully decided By GEORGE DOVVNAME Doctor of Diuinitie Whereunto are annexed two other Treatises of the same authour the one of Fasting the other of Prayer LONDON Printed by Adam Islip for Cuthbert Burbie and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Swan 1604. TO THE MOST HIGH AND MIGHTY KING IAMES BY THE GRACE OF GOD KING of great Brittaine Fraunce and Ireland defender of the Faith c. YOVR Maiesties gracious acceptance of my Treatise concerning Antichrist hath emboldened me to dedicat these my labours vnto your Highnesse which are in no other respect worthie of your royall patronage but that they haue bene imployed in the explanation of an excellent Psalme of the royall Prophet Dauid whose writings the holy Ghost hath the rather commended to posteritie that by his example Kings and Princes might be admonished to spend part of their time which they may spare from their royall administration in heauenly meditations and spirituall exercises whereby they might gather assurance to themselues that after their earthly kingdome is ended they shall inherit an euerlasting kingdome in heauen for although it be a singuler fauour of God vouchsafed vnto them that they should so beare the image of his power and authoritie amongst men as that they should bee called Gods yet godly and Christian kings are not so much to glorie in the fruition of their temporall crownes and kingdomes as to solace themselues in the comfortable expectation of that incorruptible crowne of glorie which is laid vp for them in heauen For which cause King Dauid thought it to be his dutie to giue all diligence as Peter since hath exhorted vs all to make his calling and election sure and by vndoubted testimonies and infallible tokens to gather assurance vnto himselfe that hee was the true child of God And that he should not take his marks amisse as men are apt to deceiue themselue in this point he intreateth the Lord in this Psalme to reueale vnto him the vndoubted marks of the sons heires of God which hauing learned by the information of the holy Ghost he publisheth them to the common good of the Church Shewing as it were from the Oracle of God that not all that professe the true religion nor all that are able to discourse therof but those that walke worthie of their calling that behaue themselues as it becōmeth the children of the light that is that liue vprightly worke righteousnesse speake the truth from their hearts c. are the sound members of the Church militant vpon earth and shall bee inheritors of glorie in the Church triumphant in heauen The meditation and practise of which things I do so much the more boldly commend to your Maiestie because it euidently appeareth by your former both studies in priuat and also speeches in publicke and writings published you haue propounded Dauid to your selfe as a patterne for imitation And now as a Minister of God I exhort your Highnesse to immitat him still as in speaking and writing so especially in the conscionable practise of Christian duties that you may bee more and more as he was a man according to Gods owne hart walking before the Lord as he did in truth and righteousnesse and vprightnesse of heart and gouerning and guiding the people of God according to the integritie of his heart and the singuler wisedome of his hands So shall the Lord take pleasure in you as he did in him and will not onely giue your Highnesse long and prosperous dayes but will also blesse your posteritie after you and establish them in the throne of these kingdomes for euer to the euerlasting glorie of his name and the perpetuall good of his Church which mercies the Lord graunt for his Christs sake Amen Your Maiesties obedient and loyall subiect George Downame LECTVRES ON the 15. Psalme Verse 1. A Psalme of Dauid Lord who shall soiourne in thy Tabernacle who shall dwell in the mountaine of thy holinesse THis Psalme of Dauid is a Psalme of doctrine wherin the Kingly Prophet sheweth by what markes and notes a sound member of the Church militant and a true citizen of the kingdome of heauen may bee discerned and knowne And it is set downe in forme of a dialogue betwixt Dauid and the Lord consisting on two parts Dauids question Verse 1. and Gods answer in the rest of the Psalme The occasion of the question seemeth to haue beene the disguising and counterfeiting of many professors in all ages who liuing in the Church and not being of it but as goats among the sheepe and as tares among the corne doe notwithstanding by an externall profession of religion and false opinion of true pietie deceiue not only others but sometimes themselues also For many there are who place all religion in the performance of the outward worship And therefore such persons if they frequent the Church heare the word receiue the sacraments call vpon God with the rest of the congregation they imagine that they haue sufficiently discharged their dutie though their life and conuersation be irreligious and vnrighteous Yea and not a few seeme to repose such trust and affiance in the very name of the Church that if they imagine themselues to bee in the true Church and doe not gaine say the doctrine therein professed they take no further care for their saluation but liue securely as though all the members of the visible Church were also members of the inuisible and as though all which haue the externall Church to their mother had also God to their spiritual father in Christ. Wherefore to the end that men should no longer deceiue themselues with vaine opinions fond conceits the Prophet hauing first consulted as it were with the Oracle of God setteth downe certaine marks or notes of a true Christian and citizen of heauen wherby euery man may discerne himselfe And withall he teacheth that in a sound and liuely member of the Church an externall profession of the faith and an outward communion with the Church of God is not sufficient vnlesse the vprightnesse of our life be answerable to our profession And the same is confirmed by our Sauiour Christ Not euery one that saith vnto me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdome of heauen but he that doth the will of my father which is in heauen Many shall say vnto me in that day Lord Lord haue not wee prophecied in thy name and cast out diuels in thy name and done great wonders in thy name And then will I professe vnto them saying I know you not depart from me you workers of iniquitie But now let vs search out the true sence and meaning of this question By the names of Tabernacle and Mountaine we are to vnderstand the two parts of the
against them to straine out gnats and to swallow cammels to tythe mint and cummin and to neglect the weightier duties of the law judgement mercie and faith Consider to this purpose two examples of the Pharisies and Priests When Iudas brought them backe the money which they gaue him to betray Christ they would not put in into the treasurie because it was the price of bloud but the precious bloud of Christ himselfe they were not afraid to spill and to draw the guilt thereof vpon their consciences They were not afraid to be defiled by giuing Christ the immaculat lambe of God through enuie vnto death but they were at the same time afraid to goe into the common hall least they should be defiled 8. Another note of an vpright man is Humilitie For when a man is indued therewith it is a plaine signe that he hath humbled himselfe to walke with his God As contrariwise pride is the companion of hypocrisie as the Prophet Habacuc saith Behold he that lifteth vp himselfe his soule is not vpright in him For he that walketh with God as the vpright man doth cannot lightly be lifted vp with pride Indeed whiles we looke vpon the earth and behold other men whom we conceiue to be any way our inferiours we may perhaps take some occasion to be lifted vp in a conceit of our owne excellencie but hee that hath God before his eyes and setteth himselfe alwayes in his presence he will be readie with Abraham although an excellent Patriarch standing before the Lord to confesse his owne vilenesse with Esay that eloquent and zealous Prophet to crie out That he is a man of polluted lips with Iob the patterne of patience when he seeth God to abhorre himselfe and to repent in dust and ashes with Peter being in the presence of Christ whom he perceiued to be God to acknowledge himselfe a sinfull man 9. Againe the vpright man being indued with a good conscience is confident in good causes and couragious in time of perill as Salomon saith He that walketh vprightly walketh boldly And againe The righteous are bold as a Lyon but the hypocrite contrariwise by reason of his bad conscience is ouertaken with feare as the Prophet Esay speaketh and such doe flie when none pursueth 10. It is the priuiledge of an vpright man to bee constant in good things and to perseuere to the end keeping also a continued course of pietie for the vpright man is he which hath built vpon the rocke and therefore cannot vtterly be ouerthrown by any blasts or tempests of temptations it is he which receiueth the seed into good groūd and therefore taketh root downward and bringeth forth fruit vpward with patience he being not only in the church but also of it shall surely remaine in the Communion of the Church and as the Psalmist here saith shall neuer be remooued But contrariwise the double minded man is vnconstant in all his wayes his religion and goodnesse is as a morning cloud and as the morning dew it goeth away his profession is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a time for hauing receiued the seed among stones and wanting root when the Sunne of temptation ariseth he fadeth away hauing built vpon the sand whē the blasts of temptations arise his building falleth to the ground Hereunto we are to referre patience in affliction as a note of the vpright wherupon affliction is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the trial of our faith or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereby 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those that are found and approued are knowne from those which be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnsound 11. And to conclude it is the propertie of the sound and vpright to joyne together pietie towards God and charietie towards our neighbour the loue of God and the loue of our brother for it cannot be that a man should loue the Lord truly whom he hath not seene and loueth not his brother whom he hath seene neither do we loue our neighbour aright vnlesse we loue him in and for the Lord. And therefore no man can loue his neighbour as he ought vnlesse he loue the Lord much more The loue of God therefore or pietie if it be sound will shew it selfe in the loue of our brother or in the duties of righteousnesse and the loue of our brother or righteousnesse if it be sincere must be deriued from the fountaine of pietie Contrariwise it is the hypocrits guise to seuer these two which the holy ghost hath joyned together holinesse and righteousnesse the obedience of the first and second Table of the law For there are many as glorious professors among vs as the Pharisies were among the Iewes who making profession of religion and pietie towards God doe altogether neglect the duties of charitie and righteousnesse towards men And againe many there are among vs as famous for ciuile vertues as Aristides or Socrates among the heathen who resting in a ciuile conuersation and outward honestie among men are void of all religion and of the feare of God Both sorts are hypocrits the righteousnesse of the former not exceeding the righteousnesse of the Phariseyes who notwithstanding their glorious profession were notorious hypocrits the righteousnesse of the latter professing themselues to be Christians not exceeding the righteousnesse of the heathen who knew not God Now I come to the fourth point namely to consider by what arguments we may be stirred vp to embrace this vertue if we want it or to continue and increase therein if we haue it The arguments may be reduced to three heads the excellency the profit the necessitie of vprightnesse The excellency of it is so great that the Lord accepteth of the vpright indeuour of his children as perfect performance insomuch that vprightnesse as I haue said goeth in the Scripture vnder the name of perfection Neither are we otherwise to vnderstand the duties which in the word of God are said to bee done with the whole heart but that they are performed with an entire or vpright heart Therfore those that are vpright though they be subject to many infirmities yet they are esteemed as just and that before the Lord the Lord accepting in his vpright seruants the will for the deed Againe wheras Christ the bridegrome is said to be delighted with the beautie of his spouse this may not be vnderstood of the outward apperance for so she is something blacke and browne by reason of affliction and the cause thereof which is sinne but of the inward beauty in respect wherof she is sayd to be all glorious and beautifull within which is that vprightnesse or truth in the inward parts wherewith the Lord is delighted For this we are also to adde that vprightnesse is that wherewith the Lord is especially delighted insomuch that to be vpright and to please God in the Scriptures do signifie the same
as being both profitable and necessary forts profitable First because by them we may make sure our calling and our election as Peter teacheth they being so many testimonies vnto vs thereof True indeed it is that we were elected without respect of workes and we are called by grace not according to workes we are justified by faith without workes and by grace we are saued through faith and not by workes But if a man would know whether he be elected called justified and shall be saued as we are bound to giue diligence that we may haue a firme knowledge of these things we are not to pry into the secret counsell of God but we are to examine our selues by our fruits for both we and others are to be discerned by our fruits As our Sauiour saith by their fruits you shall know them do men gather grapes of thornes or â—igges of thistels a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit By the fruits therefore of righteousnes we may euidently discerne our selues to be sanctified And none are sanctified but such as first are justified and whosoeuer are justified are effectually called and none are effectually called but such as are elected and none are elected but such as shall be saued To this purpose Iames sheweth that the faith whereby we are justified must be demonstrated by good workes And Iohn affirmeth that by the the loue of our brethren which is all one in effect with righteousnesse we know that we are translated from death vnto life Againe good workes are profitable because they haue the promises both of this life and of that which is to come They are also necessary not as the causes of our justification and saluation as though we were either justified by them or saued for them but as necessary fruits of faith and testimonies of our justification according whereunto the sentence of saluation shall be pronounced for although vnto the act of justification good workes do not concurre as any causes thereof yet in the subject that is the partie justified they concurre as fruits of our faith and consequents of our justification For as breathing is such a fruit or consequent of life as where that is we judge the body to liue where that is not we judge it to be dead so is the exercise of righteousnesse and performance of good workes such a consequent of faith as that where good workes are the faith is liuely where they are not at all the faith is dead They are necessary also in respect of saluation not as the causes thereof but partly as the way for we are his vvorkmanship created vnto good workes which he hath prepared for vs to walke in them and therefore they are fitly sayd to be Vni regum non causa regnandi The way to the kingdome not the cause of reigning and partly as the euidence according vnto which the Lord proceedeth in judgement to the sentence of saluation Come you blessed of my father sayth Christ the judge inherit you the kingdome prepared for you from the foundations of the world For I was an hungrie and you gaue me meat I thirsted and you gaue me drinke c. It is most certaine that Christ our Sauiour by his obedience hath merited and purchased eternall life for all those that beleeue in him according to the maine promise of the Gospell that whosoeuer beleeueth in him shall be saued By that righteousnes and obedience of Christ apprehended by faith not by or for any righteousnes inherent in vs or obedience performed by vs are we made sonnes heires of God entituled vnto the kingdome of heauen acquitted from our sinnes and accepted vnto eternall life Notwithstanding seeing all that be in the Church professe themselues to beleeue whereof many deceiue either themselues with an opinion or others with a profession of faith therefore the Lord proceedeth vnto judgement according to the fruits either of faith or infidelity taking for granted that in those who are members of the true visible Church where good workes are there is faith and where are no good workes there is no faith And therefore it behoueth vs as we desire either to haue assurance of our saluation whiles we liue here or to heare the comfortable sentence of saluation pronounced to vs in the day of judgement so to be carefull to demonstrat our faith by good workes And hereby it appeareth against the malicious slaunder of the Papists that although we deny good workes to be meritorious of euerlasting life yet we do not teach men to cast off all care and well doing Now for the auoiding of errour Whereas the workes of righteousnesse are made a proper note of the sons and heires of God we are first to restraine this part of the Lords answer to that subject whereof Dauids question is propounded namely to those who liue in the true visible Church and professe the name and religion of God Of these because there be many hypocrites and vnsound professors among them Dauid desireth to be informed who are the true professors The Lord answereth He that worketh righteousnesse and so by his good workes doth demonstrat his faith There are many workes materially good to be found not onely among heretickes and idolatours as the Papists but also among Turkes and Pagans But we speake not of those that are without for they are not within the compasse either of Dauids question or Gods answer And secondly we are to know that all works in respect of the matter or the thing done seeme to be good workes are not straightwayes the workes of righteousnesse neither doth he which performeth them alwayes worke righteousnesse For it is not a good and a true worke of righteousnesse indeed vnlesse it proceed from the right fountaine vnlesse it be done in a right maner and to a right end As touching the fountaine it is a good rule of Gregory That the streames of righteousnes towards our brother must be deriued from the fountaine of pietie towards God For we loue not our brother aright vnlesse we loue him in and for the Lord and we cannot loue him in and for the Lord vnlesse we loue the Lord much more and we loue the Lord because we are by faith persuaded that he loueth vs first his loue being shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost and we cannot beleeue in God and Christ our Sauiour vnlesse we know God aright and vnderstand the mysterie of our saluation by Christ. If therefore we be ignorant persons we haue no faith if we be vnfaithfull persons we haue no true loue or feare of God nor any other sanctifying grace If we haue no true loue of God we haue no true loue of our brother For euen as the loue of God seuered from the loue of our neighbour is hypocrisie so is the loue of our neighbor seuered from the loue of God counterfeit The good workes therefore that are done either by an ignorant
therefore of all reproches an ingenious man can least brooke this that another to his face should say Thou lyest But if the very heathen people doe so highly esteeme of Truth how much more doth it become vs Christians to loue and embrace it who are his children that is the Truth who are redeemed by him that is the Truth and vnto whom wee are to conforme our selues who are regenerated by the spirit of truth by whome we are to be led into all truth who are sanctified by the word of God which is the truth who are of the truth so many as are of God Therefore nothing lesse becommeth a Christian than lying nothing more than truth Eightly but if no other arguments will preuaile with vs let vs consider on the one side what rewards the Lord hath promised to them that speake the truth and on the other side what â—udgements he hath denounced against lyars To the speakers of truth the Lord hath promised that they shall neuer be remooued that they shall be established for euer that they shall dwel in Gods holy mountaine as before hath beene shewed against lyars the Lord hath threatened fearefull judgements A false witnesse shall not be vnpunished and he that speaketh liesâ— shall not escape For first he is punished with infamie and looseth his credit insomuch that no man will beleeue him when he speaketh the truth For as one sayth What truth can be spoken of a lyar Secondly he is discarded of the godly he that telleth lies sayth Dauid shall not remaine in my sight But these are light punishments in comparison of those that follow for God doth not onely punish lyars but also destroy them Psal. 5. Thou shalt destroy them that speake lies Prou. 19. A false witnesse shall not he vnpunished and he that speaketh lies shall perish For God destroyeth them either with a temporall death as Ananias and Sapphirâ— because they had lied were stricken dead Act. 5. or with eternall for who so euer loue or make lies shall be excluded out of the heauenly Ierusalem and shall haue their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death Ninthly and lastly seeing the holy ghost hath reckoned Truth among the markes of Gods children it behoueth vs as we desire to haue any assurance that we belong vnto the Lord or shall dwell with him in the mountaine of his holinesse so to loue and embrace the truth and to detest and abhorre falshood And thus haue we shewed in generall that lying is wicked and detestable and that the truth is to bee loued and embraced of all those who would be held citisens of heauen But here are two questions to be decided of vs. First Whether it be lawfull for a Christian man at any time to lie Secondly Whether he be bound alwayes to professe the truth and how farre forth As touching the former we are to hold a distinction of lics or vntruths for an vntruth is either vnproperly so called or properly that is vnproperly called an vntruth which being true in sence is false onely in shew of words as figuratiue speeches and fabulous parables the lawfulnesse where of is warranted by the vse of speech in the Scriptures for howsoeuer if we respect the sound of the words they seeme to containe some falshood yet if we regard the sence and meaning of the speaker as it is fit we should they expresse the truth either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more significantly or more profitably More significantly as figuratiue speeches especially such as we call Hyperbolae where of there are some examples in the Scriptures As when the holy ghost would signifie a very great or innumerable multitude he vseth to compare it with the sand of the sea And likewise Iohn the Euangelist when he would signifie that Christ our Sauior did work very many or rather innumerable miracles and other acts worthy to be registred he sayth That if euery one of them should be set downe in writing he supposeth that the whole world could not contain the books that should be written And as for fabulous parables they hide not the truth but more profitably lay it foorth that it may be more clearely discerned and more sincerely acknowledged for the truth is more clearely discerned when as by a fit sâ—â—ilitude for such these parables are it is illustrated And it is more sincerely and vnpartially acknowledged when the person of whom it is meant is withdrawne For better doe men comprehend vnder the person of another what is to bee thought of themselues examples hereof see 2. Sam. 12. 1. Mat. 21. 33. 41. Iudg. 9. 7. 2. King 14. 9. and 2. Chron. 25. 18. 19. A lie or vntruth so properly called is such a speech as in sence and meaning at the least is false And such an vntruth is deliuered either for no cause at all as that which is called merum mendacium a meere lie or else for some purpose The meere lie is that which is vttered neither with a desire to hurt nor purpose to helpe any but onely in a vanitie and pleasure taken in lying Which sheweth our notable vanitie and pronenesse to lying that many are delighted therewith for it selfe But this vanitie especially sheweth it selfe in those persons who in all their speeches almost loue to tell of strange and wonderfull things And of this kind of lie there can be no question but that it is vnlawfull The lie which is told for some cause is either to hurt some man or to pleasure him That which is told to hurt any body it is called mendacium perniciosum a pernicious or hurtfull lie neither can there be any controuersie but that this is wicked and diuellish The lie which is told to pleasure any is either mendacium iocosum the merry lie or officiosum the lie for aduantage And of these two sorts is all the controuersie For there are which thinke these lies either to be no sinnes at all or else not mortall sinnes because they seeme to them not to breake that commaundement wherein lies are forbidden For these lies say they are not spoken against our neighbor but rather for him namely either to delight him as the jeasting lie or to helpe him as the officious lie I answere that the ninth commaundement whereof they speake is generally to be vnderstood for first vnder false testimonie we are to vnderstand all false speech concerning our neighbour and not onely false speech but also all vaine talke For the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifieth both As also the other word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is vsed in the third commaundement And in the fift of Deuteronomie where the law is repeated Moses in the ninth commaundement in stead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putteth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wee may vnderstand not onely false speech to be forbidden but also that which
counsell or example For he that loueth his brother abideth in the light and there is no scandale in him Nay they desire to be so farre from hindering the saluation of others as that they acknowledge it to be their dutie to further by all good meanes the saluation of their brethren and to win them to Christ and to that end obserue one another to stirre them vp to charitie and good workes They instruct the ignorant reclaime those that erre admonish those that are backward and exhort them reproue those that are fallen and restore them comfort the weake minded go before others in good example and by all good meanes desire to edifie them Neither are they hurtfull to them in temporall matters but labour as much as in them lieth to preserue the life the chastitie the goods and good name of their neighbour Neither doe they good onely to them that deserue well at their hands but also to those that deserue ill they requite good for euill striue if it be possible to ouercome euill with goodnesse For howsoeuer the wicked deserue ill of them yet they will not defile their hands with doing ill but with Dauid they will say according to the ancient prouerbe Let wickednesse proceed from the wicked but my hand shall not be vpon thee For if we be the true children of God we will doe as our Sauiour Christ exhorteth Mat. 5 Loue our enemies blesse them that curse vs do good to them that hate vs and pray for them which hurt vs and persecute vs resembling therein the disposition of our heauenly father who maketh his sunne to arise on the euill and on the good and sendeth raine on the iust and vniust This is the studie and indeuour of Gods children howbeit sometimes they faile through infirmitie contrary to their purpose But in the rest who are not Gods children this innocencie cannot be found for although all men almost are readie to alleadge that they neuer did any man hurt as though it were a very easie thing for a man to containe his hands from euill yet as Basill saith This is a dutie hard to be performed and requireth great diligence neither is it comon to the reprobat but peculiar to the childrē of God for as Iohn saith The whole world that is the whole company of the wicked lieth as it were buried in euill And as Paul testifieth This is the common corruption of all that are not regenerat by the spirit of God not to do good but euill Rom. 3 There is none righteous no not one all are gone out of the way they are become altogether vnprofitable there is none that doth good no not one c. And as in respect of Gods children that prouerbe is verified Homo homini Deus Man towards man resembleth the goodnesse of God so in respect of the rest that other is no lesse true Homo homini lupus Man is as a wolfe to man For that we may descend to particulars If any man receiue an injurie who either may or dares requite it he will neuer lightly vnlesse he be the child of God suffer it to go vnreuenged For not to reuenge the lest injurie that may be it is with most men esteemed cowardise For that which the children of God thinke to be a glorious thing namely to passe by an offence that the rest account to be ignominious The vnderstanding of a man maketh him long-suffering and it is his glory to passe by an offence Now the children of God abstaine from reuenging wrongs which the rest will neuer suffer to go vnreuenged for these causes First because they acknowledge Gods singular prouidence in all things and are assured that nothing can happen to them which the Lord himselfe hath not before ordained And therefore when wicked men do them any wrong they acknowledge them to be the instruments of God which being euill he vseth well to their either chastisement or triall and therefore they will not with the dogge snarle at the staffe neglecting the smiter but they wil looke vp vnto God and as Esay speaketh Turne vnto him that smiteth them Dauid when he was reuiled by Shemei acknowledged Shemeis cursed tongue which was set on fire from hell to haue bene the Lords instrument to correct him when Iosephs brethren feared lest he would reuenge the injurie which they did vnto him in selling him into Egypt he acknowledgeth that God by their meanes had sent him thither for the preseruation of the Church Secondly because they are indued with charitie towards all men and therfore if it be good that the injurie should be dissembled they are content to couer it and to burie it in the graue of obliuion For as hatred stirreth vp strife so loue couereth the multitude of offences But if it be not good either for their neighbour or for themselues or for the common wealth that the injurie should be put vp then flye they to the magistrat for he is the minister of God to take vengeance on him that doth euill or if the magistrat neglect his dutie in this behalfe then do they commit their cause to God who hath promised to reuenge it Thirdly because they know all priuat reuenge to be vnlawfull and condemned in the Scriptures as Leuit. 19 Thou shalt not auenge nor retaine a purpose of reuenge against the children of thy people but shalt loue thy neighbour as thy selfe I am the Lord. And Rom. 12 Deerly beloued auenge not your selues but giue place to the anger namely of God For it is written vengeance is mine I will repay saith the Lord. But especially Math. 5 For when as the Pharisies had wrested that law Talionis of requiting like for like which the Magistrates were to obserue in punishing the offences of men committed against their neighbor vnto priuat reuenge Christ opposeth himselfe against this corruption Ye haue heard that it hath bene sayd saith he an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth But I say vnto you resist not euill but whosoeuer shall smite thee on the right cheeke turne to him the other also Which words we are to vnderstād 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say comparatiuely or spoken by way of comparison For Christ would haue vs to be so farre from desire of reuenge that he would haue vs readie rather to receiue a second injurie than to reuenge the former And hereunto appertaineth that admonition of the Apostle 1. Thes. 5. See that none recompence euill for euill vnto any man but euer follow that which is good both towards your selues and toward all men Fourthly because they know that the Lord who is the God of reuenge hath threatned to auenge those that reuenge themselues And well is it said of the sonne of Syrach he that seeketh vengeance shall find vengeance of the Lord and he will surely keepe his sinnes For
I incurre a losse perhaps by forfeiture of a bond pawne or by taking vp money vpon vsurie to preuent that losse or else hauing necessarie occasion to imploy my mony to my certaine or very likely gaine am hindered of that gaine In this case I may lawfully prouide for mine indemnitie by exacting an equall recompence at thine hands and thou art bound in conscience to make good this losse or hinderance which through thy default I sustaine But here certaine cautions are to bee remembred First that interest be esteemed not according to the gaine or benefit which the borrower hath reaped by the imployment of the money but according to the hinderance or losse which the creditor sustaineth through the borrowers default Secondly that interest is not to be required nisipost moraÌ„ but only after delay defalt coÌ„mitted by the borrower for vntill then the borrower vnlesse he were such a one as could compell the creditor to lend is not the effectuall cause of the creditors losse Thirdly that not alwayes after delay it is to be required but onely then when the creditor hath indeed sustained losse or hinderance by the borrowers delay Fourthly that he do not voluntarily incurre any losse meaning to lay the burthen thereof on the borrower but do his true endeuour to auoid it either in whole or in part Fiftly that when he suspecteth losse or hinderance by the debtors delay he descend not vnto extremities with those who haue broken day not through negligence or vnfaithfulnesse but through want and necessitie which they did not foresee and let him remember that where is no fault there ought to be no punishment Sixtly that the estimation of the interest be not referred to the creditors owne arbitrement for it is not fit that euerie creditor should be his owne caruer but committed to the judgement of some other honest and discreet men And for as much as it is supposed that the creditor might to preuent his losse borrow according to the rate permitted by law therefore Iustiniâ—n stinted recompencing vsurie at six in the hundred Which conditions being obserued it is lawfull for the creditor to require an ouerplus besides his principall which ouerplus notwithstanding is not vsurie For there is great difference betwixt vsurie and interest In vsurie the lender intendeth and seeketh gaine by interest he onely prouideth for his indemnitie Vsurie is intended or perhaps couenanted for in the very contract interest is not intended at the first but happeneth after delay Vsurie is a gaine which from the time of the contract vntill the time of payment accrueth to the lender interest is a recompence of the losse which after the day appointed for payment the creditor sustaineth through the borrowers default When as therefore men pretend the honest name of interest to their gainfull vsurie it is pernicious Sophistrie sayth Melancthon And thus you haue heard what vsurie is Now we are to proceed to a threefold destinction thereof And first that vsurie is either inward and mentall or outward and actuall The mentall is a lending for gaine without couenant that is when the creditor onely intendeth and looketh for gaine by lending and forbearing his money but doth not indent or couenant with the borrower for gaine And this may be called the vsurie of the heart for the Law of God being spirituall doth not onely restraine the hands and outward man but also the intent and purpose of the heart in so much that morall actions though in shew good are to be judged euill if they proceed from an ill intent and tend to an ill end For he that intendeth euill hath the like euill will with him that worketh euill And he which by lending onely intendeth his owne gaine he lendeth for gaine And therefore if actuall vsurie be euill then the intent and purpose thereof is also euill For lending is a worke of charitie and an act of liberalitie wherein if we haue true charitie we respect not our owne profit but the benefit of the borrower Wherefore as Augustine saith If thou lookest to receiue more than thou gauest thou art an vsurer And hereunto the most writers referre the speech of our Sauiour Luk. 6. 35 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lend looking for nothing that is for no gaine or profit thence For as the Canonists and Schoolemen say Sola spes vsurarium facit hope alone maketh an vsurer But that is thus to be vnderstood 1. When the expectation of gaine is the cause of our lending and when our owne profit is principally intended that is when we so lend for our owne gaine as that were it not for the expectation of gaine we would not lend For if our chiefe regard bee to helpe our neigbour and haue but a secondary respect to our owne profit as if that were not we would notwithstanding lend for charity and humanitie sake this secondarie respect maketh not an vsurer though it something detract from the puritie of our loue and the commendation of our loane 2. When there is expectation and purpose of gaine without any intent of partaking in the losse For when the lender so intendeth his owne gaine in the borrowers gaine as also he purposeth vnfainedly to beare part of his losse this intent is not vsurious For although his outward act bee a contract of loane yet in respect of the purpose and intent of his heart it is partnership when as therefore the lender principally intendeth his own gaine without purpose to beare part of the borrowers losse that intent or expectation of gaine maketh an vsurer An vsurer I say before God but not before man an vsurer in the inward court of conscience but not in the outward and ciuile court which taketh no notice of mentuall vsurie neither can it be punished by the lawes of men who cannot search the heart Outward and actuall vsurie is when the creditor doth not onely intend certaine gaine by lending but also couenanteth for a certaine summe to be allowed him at a certaine time or times This in the Scriptures is called imposing of vsurie Exod. 22. 25 Thou shâ—lt not impose vsurie vpon him wherefore in actuall vsurie a couenant is made for certaine gaine and in that couenant the verie forme of actuall vsury consisteth For which cause some do call such a contract Formall vsurie And this couenant vseth to be confirmed by obligation either verball as bils and bonds or reall as pawnes or morgage or personall as suretiship whereby the creditor is secured for the receit and the debtor bound for the payment both of the principall and also of the vsurie But in this actuall and outward vsurie there is a couenant vsually made for the payment not onely of a certaine summe but also at certaine times The summe is proportionated or rated according to the quantitie of the principall or stocke which is lent and according to the length of the time For by how much the principal is greater the
time loÌ„ger so much greater allowance is made Now the principall be it more or lesse is reduced to the rate of an hundred to the imitation of the Grecians and Latines For whereas the Mina among the Grecians contained an hundred Drachmas they brought the principall to the rate of the Mina and the vsurie was reckoned according to the number of Drachmas The Romans also reduced the principall to the centenarie number And because the centesimâ— vsurâ— an vsurie of the hundred part that is of one in the hundred monthly was the greatest which by law was permitted among them therefore it was esteemed as As or assis vsurarum that is as the grosse or totall summe of vsurie and all lesser vsuries were tearmed by the parts of the Assis. And for as much as the Assis containeth twelue Vncias and euery Vncia is the hundred part of the principall which was payed monthly for the centesimae vsurae hence it is that the diuerse notes of vsurie among vs may easily be reckoned according to the Romane computation For the centesimae vsurae which were one in the hundred monthly are in a twelue month which is a yeare twelue in the hundred So Deunx is 11. dextâ—ns or decumo 10. Dodrans 9. Bes. 8. Septunx 7. Semiâ— 6. Quincunx 5. Triens that is the third part of the centesimâ— 4. Quadrans which is the fourth part of the centesima 3. Sextans which is the fixt part of the centesima 2. Vncia which is the twelfth part of the centesima is one in the hundred by the yeare As touching the time vsurers among the Grecians and Romans were wont to couenant for their vsurie to bee paid monthly For which cause Basil calleth vsurers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 monthly exactours and compareth them to those vncleane spirits which cause the monthly fits of the falling sicknesse And according to that summe which was monthly payed was the vsurie named if the hundred part of the principall was payed monthly for vsurie which was after twelue in the hundred by the yeare it was called centesiâ—ae vsurae and among the Grecians vsurâ— drachmâ—lis if the 150 part which was after eight in the hundred by the yeare it was called bes centesimae if the 200 part which was after six in the hundred by the yeare semis or dimidiâ— centesimae if the 300 part which was after foure in the hundred by the yeare it was called triens or tertia pars centesimae Seeing therefore vsurie was payed monthly and had the name of that summe which was monthly payed it were too great an absurditie for any man to imagine as some haue done that Semisses vsurae are fiftie in the hundred that is halfe of the principall or trientes to bee the third part of the principall for then Semisses vsurae should be fiftie in the hundred monthly and trientarium â—oenus should be after 33 pound 6 shillings 8 pence monthly for an hundred c. Whereas Antonius Pius is commended for exercising trientarium soenus as the least which then was in vse that with his substance he might heape mony And accordingly Iustinian when he stinteth vsurie permitteth gentlemen and noblemen to take tertiam partem centesimae that is foure in the hundred and to marchâ—â—ts Vsque ad bessem not sortis but centesimae that is â—fter eight in the hundred Secondly Vsurie is either manifest or couert The manifest vsurie is a plaine contract of lending for gaine as when a man lendeth 10 pounds with this couenant expressed that at the yeares end he shail receiue 11 pounds And this vsurie commonly is contained within those limits and bounds wherewith the positiue laws of countries doe stint and circumscribe it The couert vsurie is a couert lending for gain which is practised either when men being ashamed of vsurie seeke some honest pretext to hide their couetousnesse or not being contented with that moderat vsurie which is permitted by humane lawes find out other deuises which some call mysteries whereby they may defeat the lawes which stint vsurie and may exact without danger of the law immoderat and excessiue gaine But this mysticall vsurie is not vnworthily of some called terrestris pyrâ—ticâ— land-pyracie Now it is called couert vsurie because whereas vsurie is a contract of lending for gaine this in apparance seemeth to be a contract either not of lending or not for gaine When it seemeth not to be a contract of lending it is cloaked vnder some other contract which is to be resolued into loane for vsurie masketh sometimes vnder the vizard of selling or buying or letting or partnership or exchange or aduenturers vsurie examples of all which are to be produced and first of selling For when the seller exacteth an ouerplus more than the just value of the ware onely for the time of forbearance which himselfe graunteth to the buyer hee committeth vsurie When I say an ouerplus aboue the just value I cal that a just value when there is an equalitie betwixt the ware and the price according to the common estimation at the time of the sale but of that equalitie there is some latitude and we may not thinke that price to bee vnjust which is but a little vnder or ouer the precise Arithmeticall equalitie And therefore the seller who graunteth time so long as he keepeth himselfe within the latitude or compasse of an ordinarie and equall price he may not be thought to commit vsurie And it may so fall out that the buyer will not bee brought to giue the equall price vnlesse he may haue some time graunted for the payment In which case though the buyer may perhaps thinke that he payeth the dearer for the forbearance yet there is no vsurie because the seller doth not sell the dearer for time And when I say onely for the time of forbearance I insinuate that there may be some other reasons why the seller graunting time may sell the dearer as first when he knoweth that the value of the thing will be more at the day of payment than at the day of sale he may sell it for so much more as in all likelyhood it will be clearely more worth his charges hazard if there shall be any and the impairing or deminishing of the thing if it be subject therunto for the mean time being deducted And secondly if the thing which he selleth hath a fruitfull vse and yet notwithstanding that vse shall bee in all likelyhood of no lesse price at the day of payment than it was at the day of the sale hee may take so much the more as the fruitfull vse of the thing is in the meane time clearely worth the estimation of the hazard and charge being deducted As for example when a man selleth land and graunteth time for the payment c. I adde for the time which himselfe graunteth to the buyer because if the buyer detaining the price longer than the appointed time shall bee an effectuall
vsurie vnderstand to be forbidden in the law is biting vsurie and excessiue increase Therefore the vsurie which the patrones of vsurie themselues vnderstand to be forbidden in the law is forbidden in the morall law of God 5. Whereupon followeth another consequent That seeing the same vsurie which is forbidden in the law is permitted towards a stranger therefore this permission of vsurie is prooued to be judiciall and the prohibition morall But for the better vnderstanding of this law we are to consider who is meant by stranger in this place The Hebrew word vsed here is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wherby is meant not euery stranger which is not an Israelite by birth For on him that was either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is aduena a proselite dwelling among them who though he were a stranger by birth was a brother in religion or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inquilinus a stranger by birth but not by dwelling or affection but such an one as dwelled friendly among them though not circumcised as appeareth Exod. 12. 43 45 48. vsurie was not to be imposed Leu. 25. 35 Thou shalt relieue him viz. the brother the stranger also and sojourner that he may liue with thee but onely on him that was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extraneus or histis as the word histi was wont to signifie an aliant as by birth so also in dwelling in religion in affection See Obad. vers 11. and Lament 5. 2. Now in this sence the word may signifie either more generally any one that was a meere aliant from the commonwealth of Israel or more specially such aliants as were the remnants of the Canaanits If we vnderstand this permission of vsurie to be extended towards all aliants there might be two causes rendered why the Lord permitted the same the one the hardnesse of the Iewes hearts the other the vnjustice of the Gentiles For the Lord as a wise law giuer in his judiciall lawes permitteth in a ciuile respect some things euill in themselues for the auoiding of a greater mischiefe not to allow or justifie the same from the guilt of sinne as before him in the court of conscience but to exempt the same from ciuile punishment in the externall court before the magistrate as for example the hardnesse of the Iews hearts being such that when they set their affections on other women and waxed wearie of their wiues they would either put them away to their shame and vtter vndoing or else tyrannize ouer them if they continued with them the Lord therfore by a ciuile or judiciall law permitted men to put away their wiues without the crime of adulterie so as they could giue them a bill of diuorcement wherein they should giue testimonie to their wiues chastitie And yet whosoeuer did put away his wife without the crime of fornication howsoeuer he were by this ciuile permission free from punishment of the magistrat notwithstanding he was guiltie of adulterie before God as our Sauiour Christ teacheth Matth. 19. So the hardnesse of the Iewes harts and couetousnesse being such that if they were not permitted to practise vsurie towards strangers they would exercise it against their brethren and likewise the injustice of the Gentiles with whom they did traffique being such as they would be sure to exact vsurie of the Iews therefore that neither the Gentiles by inequalitie of negotiation should eat vp the Iewes nor yet the Iewes should oppresse one another by vsurie it might be that in these ciuile respects the Lord permitted it towards the Gentiles And therefore as the permission which gaue leaue to the Iews to put away their innocent wiues with a bill of diuorcement doth not disprooue the law forbidding adulterie to be morall but prooueth it selfe to be judiciall so the permission of vsurie towards strangers doth not prooue the law forbidding vsurie to be morall but it selfe is euidently prooued to be judiciall And as he which without the crime of adulterie putteth away his wife is notwithstanding that ciuile permission an adulterer before God so hee which practiseth vsurie as permitted to him either by the law of Moses against any stranger or by the ciuile lawes of men is notwithstanding a theefe before God But in my judgement we shall more rightly expound this place if by stranger wee doe not vnderstand any stranger but that stranger that is to say the remnants of the Canaanites by whose impouerishing the L. would haue the Iewes enriched For first the words are not Lenokri as Dent. 14. 21 but Lanokri that is extraneo ifti as Tremellius and Iâ—nius translate adding this exposition extraneo ifti to this stranger that is to the reliques or remnants of the Canaanits whom the Lord had appointed to destruction and would haue by little and little consumed And to the like purpose Ambroâ—e expoundeth this place But perhaps sayth he you will say it is written thou shalt lend vpon vsurie to a stranger c. Who then was the stranger but the Amalekite but the Amorrhite but the enemies of the people of God there sayth he exact vsuric whom thou desirest to hurt worthily against whom thou goest to warre lawfully on him thou mayest lawfully impose vsurie whom thou canst not easily ouercome by warre on him thou mayest easily wreakethy selfe by vsurie Ab hoc 〈◊〉 am exige quem noâ— sit crimen occidere Take vsurie of him whom thou mayest lawfully kill therefore vbiius belli ibietiam ius vsurarum against whom there is right to wage warre against them there is right to practise vsurie And this exposition seemeth therefore the rather to be embraced because when these remnants of the Canaanites were rooted out all vsurie afterwards is generally and absolutely forbidden without exception of any as Psal. 15. Prou. 28. 8. Eze. 18. and 22. Rabbi Salomo as Lyranus reporteth in Exod. 22. 25. denieth it to be lawfull for a Iew to take vsurie of a stranger And the Hebrew glosse so vnderstandeth this text That hath not giuen his money to vsurie no not to a Gentile sayth he Which P. Galatinus also doth note to haue bin the judgemeÌ„t of the Rabbines And this progresse Ierome well obserued Vide profectum See the proceeding sayth he of the holy ghost In the beginning of the law vsurie is forbidden onely towards brethren but in the Prophet it is forbidden towards all without limitation But this permission or if you will allowance of vsurie towards the Canaanite doth no more prooue the law against vsurie not to be morall than the allowance of manslaughter in warre doth prooue the law forbidding murther to be judiciall For although the law condemning vsurie be neuer so perpetual or morall yet notwithstanding as all other commaundements of God so is it to be vnderstood with this limitation and restraint namely vnlesse God otherwise appoint It is a morall law which forbiddeth other theft as well as vsurie but if the Lord by speciall warrant allow the Israelites to spoyle the
aduantage by his neighbours want seemeeth vnwilling to sell him any food will not this party in his extremitie offer the other twelue pence for that which is not worth two pence and intreat him that he would take his money and perhaps tell him that in so doing he shall saue his life and yet no man is simply willing to giue twelue pence for that which is worth but two pence or if he were his desire would not excuse the receiuer It is euident therefore that the vsurer breaketh the generall law of justice and charitie in doing to others as he would not that others should do to him and also in taking another mans goods without the others mans good will But I will shew you seuerally first that vsurie is vnjust and secondly that it is vncharitable All illiberall contracts are vnjust wherein commutatiue justice is not obserued and commutatiue justice is not obserued where is not equality kept of the things committed whether the commutation be of the things themselues for recompence or of the vse onely for hire Now that there may be equality allowance is to be made of the necessary cost hazard and labour which appertaine thereto for all these are valuable as for example A merchant trauelling beyond seas buyeth commodities there at an easie rate which hauing transported into his owne countrey he may with a good conscience sell so much dearer according to the proportion of his necessarie labour cost and hazard And where none of these considerations are there ought to be no gaine or if there bee there is inequalitie and so vnjustice But you will say what if a man sustaine losse is not allowance to be made thereof If any man hath bene the effectuall cause of that losse he and no other is to make recompence but if losse be sustained by the hand of God we must beare it as a crosse which the Lord hath laid vpon vs and not presume to lay it vpon any other mans shoulders who hath not bene the effectuall cause of our losse But now say I vsurie is an illiberall contract and although it be in truth no other contract but lending for gaine yet it putteth on the habit of letting exchange partnership and is not onely an vncharitable lending as shall be shewed but also an vnjust letting an vnequall exchange and an vnconscionable partnership And first it is a most wicked and vnjust kind of letting agreeing with true letting in nothing else but in taking an ouerplus for first as I haue shewed heretofore Location is of such things as are not spent in the vse but haue a fruitfull vse in themselues which may be valued apart from the propertie and dominion and therefore he which letteth any thing he alienateth the vse for an equall price retaining to himselfe the property But vsurie is of such things as are spent in the vse and are lent to bee spent neither haue they anie fruitfull vse in themselues which may be valued apart from the propertie because they be spent in the vse and therefore hee which putteth forth vpon vsurie alienateth not onely the vse but the propertie also from which as it is the subject of mutuation or vsurie the vse cannot be seuered As for example If I let an house or a peece of ground c. I let the fruitfull vse which is in themselues naturally retaining still the propertie to my selfe But he which putteth forth money or meat or any thing else that is spent in the vse he cannot let the fruitfull vse of them or value it apart from the property for there is no such fruitfull vse in them that can bee valued apart and therefore with the vse if he lend them to be spent he must needs alienat the propertie also For the vse of money and victuals and such like things as they are the subject of mutuation is the spending and distraction of them if any fruit or profit be raised by the distractiō of them it is to be ascribed to the industrie and skill of him that doth imploy them and consequently the gaine if there be any of right belongeth to him who being now the owner thereof for as I sayd in mutuation the propertie is transferred to the borrower bestoweth his skill and industrie to raise a profit out of that which is his owne Secondly in location the letter alienating the vse only and not the propertie is to receiue againe the selfe same particular after it hath bene vsed of the hirer being for the most part impaired in the vse in respect whereof there is a second reason of demaunding and taking the hire But in vsurie the lender alienating not onely the vse but the propertie also couenanteth to receiue againe not the selfe same particuler impaired in the vse but the full value thereof in the same kind without any impairing or diminution of the principall and therefore in vsurie there is no such reason of an ouerplus as in location Thirdly in location the letter as he retaineth the propertie of that which is let so he also beareth the hazard thereof In so much that if it miscarie without the hirers default it miscarieth to the letter and not to him for he is onely to pay the hire Exod. 22. 14 in respect whereof there is a third reason of the hire demaunded as being in part the price of the hazard But in vsurie the lender as he alienateth the propertie with the vse so also with the propertie he transferreth the hazard to the borrower in so much that if the principall or any part thereof miscary it miscaries to the borrower it is safe to the lender by the verie contract of mutuation Now it is a principle in the law Vbi periculum ibi lucrum collocandum est To whom the hazard belongeth to him appertaineth the gaine And that no man ought to reape gaine by that whereof he beareth not the hazard and againe That there is no gaine allowable by law which hath no hazard joyned with it Lastly the letter many times is at charge about such things as he doth let as in repairing of houses in keeping of houses c. which may be a fourth reason of demāding hire but there is no such respect in vsurie Nay the vsurer hauing transferred the propertie of that which is lent to the borrower with the propertie the labor which is to be imployed the hazard which is to be sustained the cost which is to be borne for the raising of any commoditie by the imployment of the money notwithstanding he would haue the money to be thought his in respect of the gain though the borrowers in respect of the losse Now if you lay these things together you shall in part perceiue how vnjust vnconscionable a gaine vsurie is euen then when the borrower seeketh to be a gainer by the imploimēt of that which he hath borrowed 1. In that the vsurer letteth that which is not lettable requireth an hire
hath turned it into an act of inhumanitie and crueltie For as Basil well sayth In very deed it is an excesse of inhumanitie when the borrower wanting necessaries and seeking to borrow for the comfort of his life the lender should not content himselfe with the principall but should out of the want and necessitie of his needie brother seeke gaine and aduantage vnto himselfe And therefore as it is said of the good man that he is mercifull and lendeth so may it be said of the vsurer that he is cruell and lendeth For that which is said of wicked men in generall may principally be applied to the vsurer That his very mercies are cruell For when he would seeme to support a man he doth supplant him when he seemeth to cure he inflicteth a deeper wound and when he seemeth to haue relieued a man he casteth him into greater want And therefore Luther doubted not to call the vsurer a blood sucker of the people And in the judgement of the wise Cato it is no more lawfull to be an vsurer than to be a murtherer Thus you see how vsury hath peruerted lending conuerting it from a work of charitie liberalitie and mercie into an act of selfeloue couetousnesse and crueltie And for this cause the vsurer is not vnfitly compared by some to the Magicians of Egypt for whereas the Lord hath ordained the contract of lending to be as a staffe which the wealthier man is to put into the hands of his neighbour to stay and support him when his hands doe shake and himselfe doth shrinke vnder the burthen of his want the vsurer hath turned this staffe into a serpent But vsurie doth not only corrupt and depraue the dutie of lending but also extinguish all free loane where it taketh place drying vp the fountaine of loue whose streames were wont to run foorth to the refreshing of others And it doth not onely harden the heart and shut vp the hands and close the bowels of compassion in the vsurers themselues as wofull experience sheweth but in others also it hath made the dutie of free lending to seeme so great a benefit and of so high a price that as Bucer truly sayth A man may seeme now adayes to be very impudent that shall desire to borrow freely For he that lendeth freely doth for the most part make this estimation of his benefit that besides the forbearance of his money wherewith he doth pleasure the borrower he doth as much for him besides as if he gaue him the tenth part of the principall out of his purse And thus by meanes of vsurie charitie is frozen among men and the bowels of compassion shut vp needie men are driuen vnto extremities and the wealthier sort depriued of that great reward which is promised to those that lend freely But I will shew more particularly how vsurie offendeth both against priuat and publicke charitie as being euer hurtfull and pernicious either to the particular men that doe borrow or else to the body of the common-wealth whose common profit is in all contracts especially to be regarded The partie that taketh vp mony vpon vsurie doth either borrow for the supply of his necessitie and want or else to raise a gaine by the employment of the money to his best aduantage Hee that imposeth vsurie vpon him that borroweth for meere necessitie in stead of helping him increaseth his need vnder a shew of relieuing him he seeketh his vndoing for such a one commonly the more and the longer he borroweth the more vnable he is to pay and so at length is brought vnto extreame penurie vsurie hauing turned all his substance into debt and eaten him out of house and home And therefore though the vsurers sometimes doe vaunt how kindly they deale with their debtours in forbearing them from yeare to yeare yet the truth is the longer they forbeare the greater is their gaine and though they deferre the borrowers misery yet in deferring it they do increase it and therefore by some are not vnfitly compared to the greedy cat which though for a while she plaieth with the silly mouse yet in the end she will be sure to deuour it And here I cannot omit that notable speech of the authour of the worke vnfinished vpon Matthew though it be commonly cited by those which write of this argument Christ therefore sayth he commaundeth vs to lend but not vpon vsurie For he that lendeth vpon vsurie at the first sight seemeth to giue his owne but indeed he is so farre from giuing his owne that he taketh that which is another mans for he seemeth to relieue a mans necessitie but indeed casteth him into a greater necessitie He looseth him of one bond and binds him with more neither doth he lend for the righteousnesse of God but for his owne gaine For the vsurers money is like the biting of the Aspe for euen as he which is bitten of the Aspe goeth to sleepe as if he were delighted and through the pleasantnesse of his sleepe dieth so he which borroweth vpon vsurie is delighted for a time as one that had receiued a good turne and so through the pleasure of the imagined benefit be doth not perceiue how he is taken captiue For euen as the poyson of the Aspe secretly conveying it selfe into all the members corrupteth the whole bodie so vsurie dispersing it selfe through all the borrowers goods conuerteth them into debt And euen as leauen which is put into meale infecteth the whole lumpe drawing it to it selfe turneth it into the nature of leauen so when vsurie entreth into any mans house it draweth all his substance vnto it and turneth it into debt But the patrones of vsurie themselues confesse that vsurie imposed vpon a man that borroweth for need is euer a biting and damnifying of him and that men ought by the commaundement of God to lend to such freely and therefore I shall not need to prooue such vsurie to be vncharitable If therefore the borrower taketh vp mony to imploy it to his gaine it may be that hauing vsed all his skill and employed all his industrie in the occupying of it he shall not be able to gaine so much clearely as will pay the vsurer but allowing more than all his gaine to the vsurer and getting nothing but his labour for his pains and gaining nothing towards his liuing but losse at length becommeth a bankrupt And that this also is vncharitable I shall not need to prooue seeing the patrones of vsurie themselues allow no vsurie but that which is part of the borrowers gaine But suppose the borrower doe gaine yet notwithstanding the contract of vsurie is neuerthelesse vnequall and vncharitable because the vsurer couenanteth for certaine gaine out of the borrowers vncertaine traffique and whether he gaine or loose whether he sinke or swim or whatsoeuer become of the principall whether it be lost by fire or be taken away by theeues or miscarrie by any other
of the aforesaid English Treatise vnderstandeth thus That they should not in taking vsurie exceed the centefima that is twelue in the hundred as if Iohn had approoued vsurie so it exceeded not that rate I answere That the Publicans who came to Iohn were not Romanes of the worshipfull order of knights or other Gentiles but certaine of the Iews who being called socâ—â— publicanorum the Publicanes associats as Beza rightly judgeth were hired by the Romane Publicanes to helpe and assist them in gathering the customes tolls tributes and reuenewes which were due in Iurie being a prouince to the citie of Rome for which cause though they practised not vsurie these Publicanes being Iewes were hated and detested of the other Iews and esteemed as most notorious sinners insomuch that they might not enter into their assemblies both because they associated themselues vnto Gentiles and also assisted them in a businesse most odious to them viz. in exacting tributes and tolls from them being a free people These Publicans therefore being in this common disgrace and comming to Iohn Baptist to be baptized propound this question to him Whether it were lawfull for them to exact the tributes in behalfe of the Romanes or if it be how they were to demeane themselues and to that purpose aske him What shall we doe Vnto which question Iohn answereth thus Require or exact no more than is appointed for you Which answere most plainely concerneth their dutie in exacting of tributes tolls and customes that they should extort no more than was due as the Publicans by forged cauillations many times did Vnto these testimonies the same authour addeth two more Mar. 4. 25 To him that hath it shall be giuen and Act. 20. 35 It is a more blessed thing to giue than to receiue but I will not trouble the reader with them And these are their allegations out of the Scripture Now I desire euery Christian in the feare of God and without partialitie to compare these allegations which haue beene made for vsurie with those testimonies of Scripture which before I produced against it namely with that one Ezek. 18. 13 He that lendeth vpon vsurie or taketh increase shall he liue saith the Lord he shall not liue but he shall die the death and his blood shall be vpon him And let him vprightly consider to which part he ought rather to incline For this may not be denied but that if vsurie may be lawfully practised it is to be done in faith that is in a sound persuasion out of the word of God that it is lawfull But whereupon shall this found persuasion be grounded On a few far-fetched allegations drawne into the defence of vsurie perforce contradicted with such manifest testimonies of scripture and confuted by most euident arguments But it may be though their allegations out of scripture be weake yet their reasons are strong Though they were neuer so strong yet ought we rather to denie our owne reason than not to yeeld simple and absolute obedience to the word of God But let vs examine their strength And first that vsurie so qualified as I said before is not vnlawfull they prooue first by the name thereof For say they Although the name vsurie in English tongue be odious through the abuse of the ignorant yet in the learned tongues it is of a middle and indifferent nature Answ. By the learned tongues are commonly vnderstood the Hebrew Greeke and Latine the first and ordinarie name of vsurie in Hebrew is Neshek in Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Latine foenus Neshek signifieth biting and is deriued from the same verbe which oftentimes in the scripture is ascribed to the biting of serpents 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is deriued either of the Hebrew Toc which signifieth deceit and by the Grecians is translated 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal. 55. 13 72. 14. as also Isb Tecachim Prou. 29. 13. The man of deceit is commonly vnderstood to be the vsurer and so by diuerse is translated Or else of the verbe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to signifie as the Philosopher rightly noted that vsurie is a monstrous and vnnaturall contract whereby money and other things which naturally do not fructifie nor haue no fruitfull vse but are spent in the vse are made against nature to fructifie and to bring forth gaine For which cause Châ—ysosiome calleth vsurie a pestiferous wombe Others giue this reason of the Greeke name that vsurie is called Tokos because it breedeth griefe to the borrower or as Ambrose sayth because it worketh in the borrowers soule griefes answerable to the paines of childbirth In Latine it is called foenus either quasi foetus as Nonius Marcellus and others haue taught by the same reason that it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greeke because it is as it were the monstrous and vnnaturall brood of that which is borrowed or else it is named foenus quasi funus for in many Latine words u is changed into oe dipthong as in Pomoerium for Pomurium and Moenia a muniendo because it is the graue of the borrowers state and of the lenders soule Wherefore Ambrose sayth Nihil interest inter foenus funus And Leo sayth Foenus pecuniae sunus animae The other words viz. Tarbith and Marbith in Hebrew signifying increase and vsura in Latin were as Caluin faith deuised by vsurers themselues when as the odious names of Neshek and foenus did seeme to make their practise odious And therefore disclaiming Neshek and foenus they professed themselues to take Tarbith and vsura euen as vsurers among vs and the French refusing the name vsurie as growne odious haue deuised the names of interest vse and vsance But for as much as the vsurers among the Iewes vnder the name Tarbith exercised Neshek among the Romans vnder the name vsura practised foenus euen as the vsurers among the French as Caluin sayth and also among vs vnder the names of interest vse vsance practise plaine vsurie therefore the words Tarbith and Marbith are euery where taken in the ill sence and are forbidden as well as foenus and vsura among the latter Latine writers growne as odious as foenus Quid foenus Calendarium vsura sayth Seneca nisi humanae cupiditatis extra naturam quaesita nomina What is foenus and the Kalender for so the vsurers debt-booke was called and vsurie but names of mens couetousnesse sought out besides nature And therfore it is a wonder that any learned man should affirme that the name of vsurie in the learned tongues is of a middle and indifferent nature Wherefore from these premisses this first argument may be retorted vpon them which made it For if as the names of things be such commonly be the things for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sayth Aristotle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 names doe follow or imitate the things and Plato calleth names the similitudes and resemblances of things then odious and detestable names are
or passing on in hope of transâ—ation to a better estate This word therefore the holy-ghost doth vse to signifie that a citizen of heauen is a pilgrim on earth and that his life here is a pilgrimage And so Peter calleth the time of our life the time of our pilgrimage And Iacob professeth that the daies of his pilgrimage meaning his life were few and euill And likewise Dauid I am a stranger saith he before thee and a pilgrim as all my forefathers were In a word it was the profession of all the faithfull That they were strangers and pilgrims vpon the earth Here therefore wee are taught so many as desire to be citisens of heauen to behaue our selues as pilgrims on the earth Who being exiles in a forraine land desire to come vnto our owne country He that hath a good patrimonie in his owne countrey great wealth kind and able kinred and friends and is forced for a time to sojourne in a strange land where he is ill intreated disturbed molested assailed by his enemies on euery side hee will affect nothing in that strange countrey neither will he set his heart vpon any thing there but his mind is vpon his countrey desiring nothing more than to returne thither But our countrey is in heauen where we haue an euerlasting inheritance an incorruptible and inestimable treasure where is God our heauenly father Christ our eldest brother and the rest of our brothers and sisters the Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and all the quire of heauenly Saints and celestiall spirits and wee are pilgrims for a time here vpon earth where we are hated ill intreated assaulted with the temptations of Satan the world and the flesh subject to many inward infirmities and outward troubles And therefore it behooueth vs not to set our hearts on worldly things or to place our paradise vpon the earth For if our hearts be on the earth how is our treasure in heauen if the earth be our countrey how are we citizens of heauen Wherefore if we bee pilgrims in the world let vs not bee addicted to worldly desires let vs not mind earthly things but being wained from worldly cogitations let vs mind those things which be aboue Let vs vse the world as though we vsed it not and let vs be so affected towards earthly things as pilgrims and wayfaring men are toward such delights or commodities as they see in their journey or at their inne Which if they vse as meanes to further them in their journey yet they set not their hearts vpon them And yet assuredly our abode in this life in respect of our continuance in the mountaine of Gods holinesse is not so much as the time of our lodging or bait in an Inne Therefore howsoeuer such as be but earth-wormes doe crawle as it were vpon the earth and mind earthly things Yet must we remember that we are citisens of heauen and pilgrims on the earth Are wee pilgrims liuing as it were exiled from our celestiall countrey and heauenly father What ought wee then more feruently to desire than to be in our country and that this earthly Tabernacle of our body being dissolued wee might dwell in that habitation made without hands eternall in the heauens Are we such pilgrims as indeed desire to be in our countrey Let that then bee our chiefest care and indeuour to trauell into our countrey Let vs first seeke the kingdome of God and his righteousnesse and carefully vse the meanes of our saluation And let vs thinke that if wee bee pilgrims wee must also be wayfaring men Are we wayfaring men in this life then will wee vse hac vita vt via This life as a way and the things of this life as they may bee helpes vnto vs in this way Let vs make choise of the high and as it were the Kings way which leadeth vnto heauen the way of true faith and vnfained repentance Let vs insist and persist therein though it bee a narrow and an afflicted way Let vs walke before God in the duties of our lawfull callings and in those good workes which God hath prepared for vs. This is the way let vs walke therin Let vs not returne to our sinnes let vs not deâ—â—â—ne from the way of Gods commaundements either to the right hand or to the left let vs not stand at a stay nor looke backward with Lots wife and much lesse goe backward but with Paule let vs doe one thing forgetting that which is behind and striuing to that which is before let vs make on towards the marke vnto the price of the high calling of God in Iesus Christ knowing that whosoeuer perseuereth to the end he shall bee saued And this was the former part of the question concerning a true member of the Church militant which the holy ghost hath expressed in these wordes Who shall soiourne in thy Tabernacle calling the Church militant the Tabernacle of God and teaching that hee which is an heire of the kingdome of heauen is a pilgrim on earth Now followeth the later part of the question which is concerning the member that shall bee of the Church triumphant and inheritour of the kingdome of heauen in these words Who shall dwell in the mountaine of thy holinesse The kingdome of heauen by a metonymy of the signe he calleth the mountaine of God For the mountaine of God was a type of the kingdome of heauen And this mountaine was either the land of Canaan which was a type of the coelestiall Canaan as it is said Exod. 15. Thou shalt plant them O Lord in the mountaine of thine inheritance in the place which thou hast made for thine habitation or else the mount Sion which elsewhere is called the mountaine of Gods holinesse and was a type of the heauenly Ierusalem or lastly the Mount Moriah where the Temple was placed which is somewhere called the mountaine of the congregation standing on the North part of Sion and is therefore called the holy mountaine because it was the place of the holy assemblies which the Lord sanctified for his habitation and for his worship and this alâ—â— was a type of the temple of God that is to say of heauen Whereas therefore heauen is called the mountaine of God it is a metonymy such as wee find elsewhere in the Psalmes I cried vnto the Lord and he heard me out of the mountaine of his holinesse that is heauen And thus the most interpret this place as namely among the Greekes Basil saith this mountaine doth signifie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The supercelestiall religion which is euery way conspicuous and bright which some call Coelum Empyrium wherof the Apostle speaketh Heb. 12. Among the Latines P. Lombard in thy holy mountaine that is saith he In euerlasting blisse where is the vision of peace signified in the name Ierusalem and the supereminence or height of
it selfe of lending that is of making that which is mine to be thine for a time no gaine ought to be required or if there be it is damnable vsurie Whereupon I inferre another consequent that if thou mayest not require gaine for the act of lending it selfe whereby thou makest that which is thine to be another mans for the time because the Lord forbiddeth it and the patrons of vsurie confesse so much then canst thou not require a gaine much lesse a certaine gaine not onely out of the profit which hee may perhaps reape of the money which now is his and whereof besides his skill industrie and charge hee alone doth beare the hazard but also out of his losse Thus therefore it appeareth that vsurie is a very vnjust letting 2. It is also a very vnequall exchange when for an hundred pounds deliuered an hundred and ten pounds is required Why But by this reason you will say you condemne all gaine and negotiation for gaine May not the merchant lawfully for his wares bought in another countrey for one hundred pounds require one hundred and ten here I answer as before that there are three considerations viz. of necessarie cost industrie and hazard for all or any whereof a proportionable gaine may bee allowed but where none of those are found there ought to be no gaine consider then whether any of these are to be found in vsurie or not doth the vsurer therefore take any paines for the gaine which he requireth by vsurie Nothing lesse Vsurie is a gainefull idlenesse whereby men do eat of the sweat of other mens browes For whether they eat or drinke sleepe or wake worke or play their gaine by vsurie commeth in alike Is he at any cost for the getting of this gaine Not of an halfepenie Doth hee beare any hazard It is no part of his meaning He requireth a couenant of the borrower for the payment both of the principall and also of the vsurie at a certaine time and for the performance of that couenant before he will lend his money he will be sure of so much securitie as himselfe thinketh to be sufficient whether it be by bonds or statutes by pawnes or sureties so that if the principall or any part thereof be lost it is lost to the borrower but it is safe to the vsurer by the very contract of vsurie ratified by other securities What then is the reason of this excesse or inequalitie in the contract of vsurie that for an hundred pounds one hundred and ten pounds of the like mony should be required Forsooth saith one this gaine I require for the forbearance of my money Why but say I if thou lendest thy money for a time thou must needs forbeare it for the time of the loane And if thou must lend it freely and take no gaine for the courtesie of lending thou must also forbeare it freely and take no gaine for the courtesie of forbearing for the time of the loane Yea but I forbeare it to my hinderance and therefore so much as I am hindered I may lawfully require by way of interest Hinderance I confesse is to be recompenced by him who is the effectuall cause thereof and interest I haue shewed before to be lawfull and therefore if the borrower through his default bee the effectuall cause of the lenders losse the lender may with a good conscience require interest and thereby prouide for his owne indemnitie But indeed the borrower vnlesse hee forced the creditor to lend is not the effectuall cause of the creditors losse vntill he hath made delay Neither is the creditor after delay to demaund interest vnlesse by the delay he incurre some losse or sustaine hinderance of some lawfull and certaine gaine We confesse say they that the casuall or moment anie interest whereof you speake is not to be allowed or regarded but after delay but the promiscuous or successiue interest is to be allowed according to the proportion of the time of the loane euen before delay And what is this successiue interest I pray you Forsooth an allowance to be made for the forbearance of money pro rata temporis according to the rate and proportion of the time which is also called inter vsurium and by our vsurers interest I heare new names but the thing thereby signified is the grosse and common vsurie which is forbidden in the Scripture and hath bene condemned in all ages as I haue shewed heretofore For interest is to be esteemed not according to the borrowers successe in the imployment of money but according to the hinderance which the lender sustaineth by the forbearance of his money and thereof it hath the name And whereof is the hinderance which he sustaineth Forsooth of so much gaine as either himselfe might haue raised by his money in the same time or another would haue allowed him according to the lawes Wouldest thou then haue imployed it thy selfe Perhaps it is but a vsurious pretence But be it so How wouldest thou haue imployed it By negotiation or traffique That is not likely Vsurers loue not to bee aduenturers there is too much hazard in traffique But if thou wouldest it may bee thou shouldest haue bene a looser and therefore set thy feare of losse by aduenturing which thou escapest by not hazarding the principall against your hope of gaine which you looked to receiue if you had aduentured and let thy possible gaine which thou hast missed bee recompenced with the possible losse which thou hast escaped And know this that the hinderance of vncertaine gaine is not to be allowed after delay much lesse before neither can vncertaine hopes be sold with a good conscience for certaine gaine especially to those that do not buy them Yea but another would haue allowed mee after ten in the hundred But lawfull interest is an allowance of lawfull gaine After delay made by the borrower the lender cannot with a good conscience by way of interest require allowance for the hinderance of either vncertaine or vnlawfull gaine much lesse may it be required before hand and yet much lesse may it be couenanted before hand Yea but what reason is there that I should susteine hinderance without recompence Lay aside vsurious pretences Canst thou not indeed without thine hinderance forbeare thy money consider then the estate of him that is to borrow Is he a prodigall gentleman or riotous person feed not his riot and vanitie Is he a couetous tradesman that seekes to compasse great matters and to bee an engrosser or forestaller of commodities to the prejudice of the common wealth make not thy selfe accessarie to his couetous practises to such thou oughtest not to lend Hath the partie no great need to borrow to such thou needest not lend or if thou doest thine hinderance if thou sustainest any is meerely voluntarie and of such an hinderance thou canst require no recompence of him who hath not bene the effectuall cause thereof Is the partie an honest man and hath need to borrow
then if the Lord hath enabled thee to lend thou art bound to lend though thou shalt sustaine some hinderance yea though thou shouldest hazard the principall thou must willingly yeeld to both as imposed of the Lord neither must thou seeke gaine out of his need but lend freely for the Lords sake who requireth this dutie at thy hand and will be sure to recompence thee not by ten in the hundred but by hundreds for thy tens if not in this life as many times he doth yet in the life to come Lend saith our Sauiour Christ looking for nothing thence and your reward shall be great c. If then the forbearance of the mony and this vsurious interest as the Law doth terme it be not a good reason to justifie the inequalitie which is in vsurie what other reason may there be thereof Forsooth sayth another the vse of the money Why but the selling of the vse of a thing is the letting of the thing but money cannot be lawfully let as I haue sufficiently prooued The vse of money is the spending of it as the vse of victuals is the eating of it and in things spent in the vse thou canst not without great inequalitie require one allowance for the thing and another for the vse which cannot be reckoned apart from the thing or seuered from the propertie If thou lend me ten loaues thou shouldest deale very vnequally with mee if thou shouldest require eleuen or if hauing taken the price of the loaues themselues thou shouldest also demaund a price for the vse which is the eating of them and in like sort if hauing lent me ten pounds thou shouldest require eleuen that is ten for the principall and one for the vse which was nothing but the spending of the money But this indeed is not the reason of the ouerplus demaunded though sometimes it be pretended For that in truth is the reason of the vsurie simply according to which the vsurie is proportioned the vsurie being lesse when that is lesse and greater when that is more that is the time of forbearance or successiue interest whereof I spake euen now If you say it is the time of the vse I answere as the time of the vse of meat is the time of eating it so the time of the vse of the mony borrowed is the time of spending it For after it is once spent as perhaps it is the same day it is borrowed the borrower neuer vseth it more though it were lent him for a long time it is gone from him and to him as the lawyers speak extinguished Now if the same day after I haue vsed and in the vse spent your money I hauing receiued as much elsewhere should bring you so much as I borrowed you would require nothing for the vse or yet for the time of the vse which notwithstanding had beene one and the same if you had lent and forborne the money for a tweluemonth This then is not the matter neither the vse nor the time of the vse No saith the vsurer I require not allowance for his vse in spending the money but for the vse of the money employed to his aduantage For what reason is there that another man should gaine by my money and not make me partaker of his gaine This also is another vsurious pretence For in the contract of vsurie the lender maketh an absolute couenant for certaine gaine without respect of the borrowers either losse or gaine and by vertue of the same contract demaundeth his certaine allowance or gaine as well out of the borrowers losse as out of his gaine The borrower you say borroweth the money that he might employ it to his gaine and therefore you couenant for gaine by this loane For why should he gaine by your money and not you I answere though he intend to vse the money to his aduantage and gaine yet many times he prooueth no gainer but rather a looser What then is the reason of your demanded gaine is it not sufficient for him to loose the employment of his labour and skill vnlesse out of his losse he also make you againe And hereby also it appeareth that the best kind of vsurie I meane when gaine is required of those onely that borrow to gaine is an vnconscionable partnership For there is no lawfull partnership where is not partaking in the losse as well as in the gaine The vsurer will partake in the borrowers gaine but in the losse he will haue no part Yea whiles he seeketh nay couenanteth for certaine gaine out of the vncertaine negotiation of the borrower which is most vnequall he exacteth the same gaine couenanted for as well out of the borrowers losse as out of his gaine which is most vnconscionable But what if I couenant for gaine in euentum lucri that is to gaine if he gaine but if he doe not gaine then to require securitie onely for my principall That practise is farre more tollerable than the other yet this also is vnequall vnlesse as you couenant for gaine if he do gaine so you be also content to beare part in that losse which without his default he shall sustaine But why should be gaine with my money and I haue no part therein because the money being his for the time he bestoweth the paines and the cost in the employment of it and also beareth the hazard thereof alone Wherefore if thou wilt couenant for gaine to be raised by the employment of thy money thou must by way of partnership put it forth to be occupied and not hauing transferred the propertie thereof to beare the hazard of the negotiation that it being still thine and occupied at thine hazard a proportionable part of the profit which is raised thereof may in justice and equitie belong to thee Otherwise if thou wilt not enter into a contract of partnership this is all which thou mayest lawfully do Lend thy money to an honest and a thriftie man taking securitie onely for the principall and referre the rest to the blessing of God and the borrowers fidelitie and thankfulnesse but remember this withall that to thine expectation of gaine there must be an answerable purpose of partaking in the losse Or if thou wilt couenant for gaine if he doe gaine thou must also be content to beare part with him in the losse But you will say If I may receiue from the borrower an ouerplus which of his owne accord he giueth to me in testimonie of his good will and thankefulnesse why may not I couenant with him therfore especially seeing it is a generall rule of all contracts that what I may receiue from another when he willingly offereth it I may exact the same of him so that prouision be made for his indemnitie Nay rather this is a rule of contracts That whatsoeuer I cannot lawfully take of my neighbour I ought not to couenant for it but I ought not to take gaine of the borrower when he is a looser and enrich my selfe by
arguments of odious and detestable things but the names of vsurie are odious as hath beene shewed for which cause the vsurers themselues do auoid them and are ashamed of them and therefore such a thing is vsurie it selfe 2. Obiection No vsurie is forbidden by the law of God and by the law of nature but that which is hurtfull and ioyned with the hurt or losse of the neighbour But some vsurie is not hurtfull but rather helpefull to the neighbor Therefore some vsurie is not forbidden First the proposition is vntrue and of dangerous consequence for the law of God forbiddeth all vsurie in generall as a thing in it own nature and in his whole kind simply vnlawfull without any such restraint or limitation euen as it condemneth adulterie lying theft or any other notorious sinne And therefore if it were lawfull thus to argue in fauour of vsurie mincing the commaundement of God in an intollerable presumption and restraining and limitting the same out of our owne braine why may it not be lawfull so to argue in defence of other sinnes as indeed some haue done in defence of lying which as you heard before is generally forbidden as a thing simply euill and yet some haue taken vpon them the defence of such lies as are not hurtfull but helpefull to the neighbour And why might not the pick-thanke as well haue justified his murthering of Saule if he had according to his owne report slaine him in charitie and at his owne intreatie to end his paine being past recouerie and to preuent the scornings of the Philistimes which he feared more than death But they prooue their proposition thus Vsurie is not forbidden but as it is against charitie for charitie is the summe of the law and he which obserueth the rules of charitie keepeth the law But that which is not hurtfull to the neighbour is not against charitie therefore that vsurie which is not hurtfull to the neighbour is not forbidden Answ. Charitie which is the summe of the law hath reference towards God towards our neighbour not only in priuat but also in publicke and towards a mans selfe And in this sence I acknowledge the proposition of this syllogisme to be true viz. that vsurie is not forbidden but as it is repugnant to charitie But hereby the assumption of this syllogisme is prooued to be false for there be many things which are not perhaps hurtfull to our neighbour in particular with whom we deale which are notwithstanding repugnant to charitie The officious lie helpeth the particular neighbour in whose fauour it is told yet because it is repugnant to veritie it is repugnant to charitie God who is truth hath forbidden all vntruth and he will destroy euery one that speaketh lies The lying mouth destroyeth the soule therefore no lying can stand with that charitie and obedience which we owe to God nor with that loue which we owe to our own soules So in like sort suppose that the borrower sometimes is not hurt by vsurie but rather holpen yet notwithstanding all vsurie is against charitie for the practise of it cannot stand with charitie and our allegiance to God who hath forbidden it denounced his judgements against it made gracious promises to them that will do the contrarie nor with our charitie and dutie to our countrey vnto which vsurie is in many respects noysome as hath beene shewed nor with that loue which we owe to our owne soules for whosoeuer putteth foorth to vsurie or taketh increase he shall not liue but die the death And moreouer you may remember what I haue before prooued that vsurie is euer repugnant to charitie if not as a hurtfull thing to our neighbour yet as an vnjust thing in it selfe Yea but say they againe to proue the former proposition That vsurie which is ioyned with the hurt of the neighbour is condemned therefore that which is not ioyned with the hurt of the neighbour is not condemned Answer I denie the consequence for there are other respects which make vsurie vnlawfull besides the hurt of the neighbour as euen now I shewed By the same reason the patrones of officious lies might argue thus God forbiddeth vs to tell a lie against our neighbour therefore the lie which is not against the neighbour but for him is not forbidden But you will say All lying is forbidden so is all vsurie as I haue alreadie prooued And thus I haue shewed against the proposition that all vsurie is vnlawfull though all were not hurtfull Now I add against the assumption of the first syllogisme That all vsury is hurtfull hurtfull I say either to the borrower as commonly it is or else to the commonwealth as before hath beene prooued Obiection 3. Vsurie is not vncharitable neither in respect of the borrower nor yet in regard of the common-weale the former they prooue thus There is no propertie of charitie which may not well stand with vsurie No not that charitie seeketh not her owne for I am not otherwise bound to loue my neighbour than my selfe Nay rather the debtor should offend against charitie in too much seeking his owne if he would haue another mans money freely by which he is sure in all likelyhood to gaine Answer In traffique and negotiation it is lawfull for a man as well to respect his owne gaine as another mans good But in lending which is an act of charitie and a contract ordained for the good of the borrower to seeke gaine it is against charitie which seeketh not her owne We ought to lend by the commaundement of Christ not respecting our profit or gaine but the good of the borrower But the vsurers charitie is by his lending to seeke ease out of the borrowers labour securitie out of his hazard and gaine as well out of his losse as out of his gaine Againe out of the vncertaine negotiation of the borrower to couenant for certaine gaine it is not onely vncharitable but also vnjust and vnequall But in the contract of actuall vsurie there is an absolut couenant for certaine gaine as I haue proued before which the borrower whether he shall gaine or loose is absolutly bound to pay together with the principall And this absolut couenant for certaine gaine is not an abuse happening besides the nature of the contract but of the verie nature and essence of actuall vsurie But the borrower you say is in a maner sure to gaine Why then say I will you not aduenture with him for if the lender will be content to hazard his principall so as he will not onely looke for no gaine but when the borrower gaineth but also will bee content to beare part with him in his losse hee shall not deale by vsurie but by partnership And whereas they say that the borrower should offend against charitie in seeking too much his owne if hee would desire to borrow freely c. I answer by distinction Men borrow either to supply their need or to procure gaine Of the former there is no question