gaine which from the time of the contract untill the time of paiment accrueth to the Lender Interest is a recompence of the losse which after the Day appointed for the paiment the Creditor sustaineth through the Borrowers default 4. Vsury is against equity conscience and reason Interest standeth with them all When as therefore men pretend the honest name of Interest to their gainefull Vsury it is pernicious Sophistry saith Melancton Exc. But 1 may not I may some Vsurer say expect consideration for the gaine which I might have raised from the imploiment of my money all that time which I lent it as well as 〈◊〉 recompence post moram as they say after delay c. 2 I might have imployed it my selfe and perhaps have beene a good gainer 3. And therefore I have forborne it to my hinderance and by consequent deserve recompence even for the time of lending before delay Rep. I answer in order to the three branches of this Exception To the First By no meanes For by the ordinance of GOD and Law of nature lending is free and charitable intending the good of the Borrower and not of the Lender and therefore ought not at all to become saleable and mercenary An Act of charity should not be bought and sold. See before in divers pages and Luke 6. 34 35. Where lending is commanded without providing for indemnity in receiving the principall if so their Brothers need truely require much more without requiring an overplus above the principall Which CHRIST saith in the same place even sinners would doe Now therefore if there could no other reason be given why men should lend freely and not for gaine yet this alone were sufficient because GOD would have us lend freely and not for gaine It ought to have beene argument sufficient to our first Parents to restraine them from the forbidden fruit That GOD had forbidden it though they had had other reasons to induce them to eare thereof And as in that case so in this it is sinne and folly to enter into disputation against the Word of GOD according unto which we shall be judged in the last day The will of GOD is the Rule of justice and whatsoever He willeth it is therefore good and just because He willeth it and consequently simple and absolute obedience must be performed thereunto whatsoever arguments impediments or inconveniences can be pretended to the contrary Secondly Thou mightest saiest Thou have imployed it thy selfe But how By negotiation and traffique That 's not likely Usurers love not to be Adventurers there is too much hazard in Traffique But suppose Thou haddest it may be thou shouldest have beene a looser And therefore set Thy feare of losse by adventuring which Thou escapest by not hazarding the principall against thy hope of gaine which Thou looked to receive if thou haddest adventured And let thy possible game which Thou hast missed bee recompenced with the possible losse which thou hast escaped And know this that the hinderance of uncertaine gaine is not to be allowed after delay much lesse before Neither can uncertaine hopes be sold with a good conscience for certaine gaine especially to those that doe not buy them Thirdly But thou forbearest thy money to thy hinderance Lay aside usurious pretences Canst Thou not indeed without thine hinderance forbeare thy money Consider then the state of Him that is to borrow 1. Is He a prodigall or riotous person feed not His sensuall humour and vanity 2. Is He a covetous dealer in the world that seekes to compasse great matters and to be an engrosser or forestaller of commodities to the prejudice of the Common-wealth Make not thy selfe accessary to His covetous practises To such thou oughtest not to lend 3. Hath the party no great need to borrow To such Thou needest not lend or if Thou doest thine hinderance if Thou sustainest any is meerely voluntary and of such an hinderance Thou canst require no recompence of Him who hath not beene the effectuall cause thereof 4. Is the Party 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 sometimes though thou shouldest hazard the principall Thou must willingly yeeld unto 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 duty at thy hand See Deut. 15. 8. Psalme 112. 5. Matth. 5. 42. Luke 6. 35. But before I passe out of this point let mee acquaint you with an Hypocriticall Tricke of some cunning Usurers Who if they heare a man preach or argue against Vsury and feele themselves toucht They presently labour to dawbe and divert by asking whether Hee meane all Vsury And they hope all Vsury in generall is not to be dislikt c. Is there not some Usury allowed by some Divines as liberall Usury Recompencing Usury c. Whereas they cannot but know in their owne consciences except they wilfully blind themselves that this is nothing to the purpose that they meddle not these waies that hence they get no patronage or defence at all for their wretched Trade and practise of Vsury truely so called poysoned by the covenant for certaine gaine where it is uncertaine whether the Borrower shall gaine at all or loose Which differs formaliter as they say from these now mentioned For they are onely called so improperly and equivocally as we speake in the Schooles As a dead man is called a man I say the 〈◊〉 which is not to bee found in liberall or recompencing Usury empoisoneth For it is said Exod. 22. 25. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non imponet is super cum Vsuram you shall not impose or lay upon Him Usury And workes of mercy bounty or favour as giving and lending are in their owne natures not any waies capable of bargaine and sale See before many reasons to this purpose scattered here and there as occasion was offered But lest any mistake and deceive themselves and others Consider the Latitude which Divines give to this terme of Covenant in the definition of Usury truely so called It may bee either 1. Reall by pawne laid in both for principall and Vse 2. Or literall by writing without pawne as by Bill Booke or Bond. 3. Or Personall without writing in taking an other Man for surety besides the Borrower 4. Or verball either by promise without surety before witnesse or by secret stipulation betweene themselves without witnesse 5. Or silent without word witnesse writing or pawne And this silence either 1 Of one Party thus An Usurer saith I will lend you thus much money but so much use you shall pay mee The Borrower takes it in silence this silence is a promise and that promise a covenant 2 Nay where there is silence on both sides there may bee an Vsurious covenant A common Borrower comes to a common Vsurer to take up an hundred pound for
it with so many cautions and limitations that in the end they make it no Vsury at all See in this point Dow. posit of Usury pag. 53. Dow. pag. 273. c. Fent pag. 62. After they have examined the point and answered the reasons as they think which are usually brought against Usury by the Schoole yet in conclusion put all their limitations together they agree upon no Usury at all as it shall be defined by and by Single them out one from an another there is not any one of them who dares defend any such ordinary Usury as is amongst us practised with greatest moderation Fent pag. 144. And therefore in the third place I say 3. Though some have somewhat declined the beaten way in this point 1. Transported perhaps with some prejudice against the Truth by reason of some weake Arguments they have met with in the point 2. Or because in detestation of Usury some lawfull contracts also have beene condemned by some for Usury which doe but coast upon it Yet where dwelt that Divine that to this day durst ever appeare in print a Patron of Usury properly and truly so called commonly practised at this Day in this Land and condemned in the Booke of GOD Which onely I ordinarily preach against and at this time oppose And thus define For upon purpose I deferred the definition to this place as fittest and most seasonable Usury is a gaine above the principall exacted by covenant meerely for liew of lending Or thus Usury is gaine upon covenant for loane Or thus A lending for gaine by compact See how this definition distinguisheth Vsury from all other contracts F. pag. 16 17. Dow. pag. 157. c. This I say is Vsury truly and properly so called commonly practised now adaies forbidden in the Booke of GOD questioned by Covetousnesse onely in this last Century past And which I censure in my Book and Sermons and oppose in this Discourse There is as some call it 1. A liberall Vsury Which is onely a gratuity or free Gift which the Borrower finding Himselfe much benefited by the Lenders curtesie doth of His owne accord in testimony of His thankefullnesse freely give to the Lender who neither intended when Hee lent nor expected whiles Hee forbore any gaine much lesse covenanted for it But in this Case although the Lender receive some allowance above the principall yet He committeth not Vsury Because neither the contract which He made was lending for gaine neither is the over-plus which He receiveth againe either covenanted or intended or required for loane But a gratuity or thankfull curtesie which may with good conscience bee given and received from an able and willing Giver There is also as some call it 2. A recompencing Usury Which is nothing els but a just recompence which the Debtour having through His default beene the effectuall cause of the Creditors hinderance doth owe unto Him by the Law of nature Understand it thus A man lendeth for a time freely that time being expired His money is retained longer against His will for want whereof Hee is damnified If the Lender receive an over-plus in this case above the principall answerable to the dammage which Hee hath suffered this is no Vsury but due and just satisfaction No Usury because increase is not taken for the loane Forloane is a voluntary Act whereas this money was not willingly lent but retained by force after the time it was due If the Lender had beene damnified by the forbearance of His money during that time which Hee lent it He could in strict justice have exacted no satisfaction because it was His owne voluntary Act Volenti non fit injuria But the time being come out to receive over-plus for His losse sustained is no Usury but a just recompence Which is properly termed interest Which may grow due say Divines two waies 1. Ex damno emergente By losse arising For example I lend Thee an 100 lb. which Thou undertakest to repay at the end of sixe moneths which time being expired and thou either through negligence or unfaithfullnesse failing of thy promise I incurre a losse as the forfeiture of a Bond bargaine or lease c. or by taking up money upon Vsury to prevent that losse c. 2. Ex lucro cessante by gaine ceasing As when by missing my money at the day till which I lent it I am hindred of buying at the best hand provision for my house wares for my trade stocke for my grounds or some other certaine or very likely gaine Where by the way we may see why it is called interest because one may say intersuit meâ habuisse It behoved me It stood me upon to have had it And now by your default I sustaine this losse I am thus hindred Now in these two Cases I may lawfully provide for mine indemnity 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 herein observe such cautions and conditions as these 1. That interest is to be rated and proportioned not according to the gaine or Benefit which the Borrower hath reaped by the imploiment of the money but according to the hinderance or losse which the Creditor sustaineth through the Borrowers default 2. That Interest is not to be required nisi post moram but onely after delay and default committed by the Borrower For untill then the Borrower unlesse He were such an One as could compell the Creditor to lend is not the effectuall cause of the Creditors losse 3. Neither is it ever to be required after delay but onely then when the Creditor hath indeed sustained losse or hinderance by the Borrowers delay 4. That the Creditor doe not voluntarily incurre any losse meaning to lay the burthen thereof on the Borrower but do His true endeavour to avoid it 5. That He put difference betweene Him that breakes day through negligence and unfaithfullnesse and Him that breakes day through want and necessity which He did not foresee and let Him remember that where is no fault there ought to be no punishment 6. That the estimation of the interest be not referred to the Creditors owne arbitrement For it is not fit that every Creditor should be His owne 〈◊〉 but committed to the judgement of some other honest and discreet men Such conditions as these attended and observed It is lawfull for the Creditor in the forenamed Cases to require an over-plus besides His principall which over-plus notwithstanding is not Vsury For there is great difference betwixt them 1. In Vsury the Lender intendeth and seeketh gaine by interest He onely provideth for His indemnity Or thus The Usurer seeketh by lending to bee a gainer But the receiver of interest truly so called seeketh onely to be no looser 2. Vsury is intended or perhaps covenanted for in the very contract Interest is not intended at the first but happeneth after delay 3. Vsury is a
day of paiment of the money then it was at the time of sale and delivery 2. Or in Case a man can neither vent His commodity for present money nor keepe it longer without corruption or detriment to the ware nor forbeare the money without sensible prejudice to Himselfe These may seeme valuable considerations without compasse of this Teane But admit a man will sell dearer of purpose for the forbearance and forbeare of purpose onely that Hee may sell dearer without pregnant likely-hood of the market rising at the time of paiment or of damnifying Himselfe by keeping His ware or such like valuable considerations that is Vsury For it is all one as if He lent so much money for lucre upon covenant III. Sometimes Vsury masketh under the colour of buying thus A 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 unto an other 100 lb. The principall to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 10 lb. a yeare in ten yeares and ten pound a yeare over-plus for the use of that money This were extreame Vsury within the Statute If therefore purposely to avoide the Statute Hee should agree with the Borrower to alter the nature of the contract thus With the same 100 lb. He will purchase an Annuity of 20 lb. foe ten yeares of the same partie This is bargaine and sale yet is it the very same Thing in Truth differing onely in the parchment and manner of covenanting subject to the same iniquity and inequality poysoned with their joynt purpose of avoiding the penalty of Usury by other conveiances For if their purpose could by any precedent communication of borrowing or other pregnant circumstances be discovered the same Statute would condemne them of Vsury But yet if simply without any pretence such Annuity of rent bee bought and sold wee cannot condemne it for Vsury Howbeit if it be an unreasonable bargaine or bee injurious unto any by circumstances it may bee a breach of justice and charity in an other kinde See ◠pag. 120. Down 173. I will give you a taste of the truth of my two latter Answers to the last Objection in some of the Worthiest of your supposed Writers of Usury 1. Concerning your first Author T. C. His Manuscript is punctually and exactly answered by an Orthodoxe Learned Divine who was ten yeares Professour of the Hebrew Tongue in Cambridge D. Pie in His Booke called Vsuries Spright conjured published 1604. To which for any thing I could ever heard not any Vsurer Ecclesiastique or Laick or any of their Proctors Brokers or Dependants any way have replied any one word And therefore that Answer stands authenticall and impregnable untill some man say something against it 2. Concerning Bishop Iewell I wonder at their foreheads who offer to ranke Him amongst the Patrons of Vsury J never read in Papist or other a more grosse and unconscionable falsification For Iewell reade Him upon 1 Thess. 4. 6. You have Him here or ought to have Him in your Churches is as resolute plentifull and mighty against Usury as ever any I read in my life He is so punctuall and precise so universall and absolute against it that heare His owne words Ibid. pag. 84. in the point of letting out the money of Widowes Orphans and Men distracted He that taketh money to Usury saith He whether He gaine or lose or whatsoever happen unto Him He must answer the whole stock He borrowed And this is it that undoeth so many and maketh them bankrupts But this happeneth not in this Case He that occupieth the Orphanes money or stocke is changed onely to use it as His owne and no otherwise If it perish or decay or miscarry without His fault hee is not bound to answer it Therefore as I said it is no Usury In the Sect. next before thus This is not Vsury saith He Why Because Hee that taketh the stocke of the Orphan or of the mad man or of the diseased Merchant i◠not bound to answer all adventures and casualties that happen As if to like use I take a stocke in cattell and they die without my default or a stocke in money or wares and the wares be burnt by fire or the money stollen without my default I am not bound to answer the principall therefore it is no Usury Here now M. S. come you in with your owne wofull glosse and will needs make M. Iewell for so you call Him here the most noble resolute powerfull confuter and confounder of Vsury that ever J read to bee on your side If a man bee not bound say you to answer it as M. Iewell saith I pray you in what case shall the poore Orphane Mad man or sicke Merchant be in if their stocke bee gone It had beene better for them to have had their stocke lying still in their hands and to have lived of it then when it is gone to starve for hunger These are your owne words M. S. Iewell makes no such Quere therefore Iewell is of none of yours whom notwithstanding you put in your Catalogue by such a trick of falsification as I never read But what shall become of the Orphans c. say you if their stocke be gone And what shall become of those say J that have no stocke at all whom notwithstanding GOD graciously provides for though they use no usurious or injurious waies of getting Who are we that we should exempt Orphans or any from being subject to GODS providence and ordering Let this bee the pestilent property of Usurers to sow as Saint Chrysostome said without land plow or raine upon the matter not to trust GODS providence See Fent pag. 95. And further about Orphans See before pag. 48. c. 3. As concerning Perkins His third condition Vol. 1. pag. 63. upon the eight Commandement which is this Hee must sometimes be so farre from taking gaine that Hee must not require the principall if His Debtor be by inevitable and just casualties brought behind c. In the place quoted by you in His Exposition of CHRISTS Sermon in the Mount Hee onely approoves liberall and recompencing Vsury which I handled before not Usury truly and properly so called commonly practised in this Kingdome and that which J ever preach against and here oppose 4. Willet is an other in the Catalogue Heare His owne words cutting the heart of Usurers and Vsury properly so called commonly practised amongst us This consideration saith He given for the loane of money must not be ex pacto it must not be agreed upon by any certaine compact and covenant as the words here are lo cesimun non imponet is you shall not impose or lay upon Him Vsury As it is not lawfull to covenant with a man certainely to pay so much Hee may loose by using this money He may be in hazard also of the principall For the Lender then to receive a certaine gaine where the Borrower is a certaine looser were not iust Such indifferency must bee used as that the Lender bee contented as to bee made partaker of the gaine that commeth by His