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
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
the lesse if it be his owne than the greater if it be anothers For although manslaughter be a more grieuous sinne than theft yet it is worse to steale than to be killed Secondly he thatlyeth that he may not be forced to whordome or some other sinne to auoid an vncertaine sin he runneth into a certaine Thirdly neither may they be sayd to commit sinne vpon whom whordome is enforced against their will for they do but receiue wrong whereas the others which enforce them do commit the sin Neither is whordome which is enforced vpon another against their will in respect of the sufferer a corruption but a vexation For the mind remaining vncorrupt the body is not corrupted Who therefore seeth not whether a man ought rather to auoid the permission and suffering of another mans sinne which he cannot hinder or the doing of his owne 4. But what if by my lie I may further the saluation of my brother may I not lye in that case as for exāple of an hereticke to make a true Christian and to reclaime a heathen man from paganisme to Christianitie Neither may we lie in this case as Augustine proueth at large for when as the Priscillianists who were a pernicious sect of heretiks did so cloke their heresie that they could hardly be discouered diuerse professors of the truth faining themselues to be Priscillianists denied the true faith that they might insinuat themselues into the company of the Priscillianists that so they might be discouered and reclaimed to the profession of the truth This fact of theirs Augustine condemneth Neither doubteth he to affirme that the professors of the truth that they might discouer the heretickes did lie more perniciously or at lest more dangerously than the heretickes did lie in couering their heresie from them And againe farre be it from a Christian saith he that he should deny and blaspheme Christ to the end that he might make another man a Christian Et percando quarrat inueniendum quemsi tale doceat perdat inuentum And by casting away himselfe seeke to find another whom being found be shall also if he teach him such doctrine cast away For if this once be granted That it is lawful to lie for thy neighbours good yea for his saluation all faith will be abolished for thou shalt not bee able to say any thing wherein he may not thinke that thou doest lye for his good And that it is not lawfull to lie for the saluation of men hereby it is euident Because we may not lie for Gods cause Iob. 13 For whosoeuer will lye for God he shall be found guilty of false witnesse against God And thus it appeareth that we may lye for no cause 1. And that we may abide firme and resolute in this truth let vs first hold this as a firme principle in Diuinity We may not do cuill that good may come thereof For those that say we may their damnation is just But to lye is to doe euill as hath bene proued therefore we may not lye that good may come thereof Yea but say they actions are to be esteemed according to their end Therefore to lye to a good end is good That is true in things which be in their owne nature indifferent but lying is in it owne nature euill and vnjust 2. We are to consider that we are not to lye for our owne life or safety otherwise Peter had not offended when being in feare of his life he lied saying that he knew not Christ and therefore we are not to lye for the life or safety of another 3. Euery lie is pernicious if not to the neighbour yet to the speaker For euery lie is cōtrary to the vertue of truth and therfore is a lye contrary to the law therfore 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sinne or transgression of the law and euery transgression of the law maketh vs subject to the cursse of the law Therefore the lye which in respect of the neighbor is officious in respect of the speaker is pernicious Therefore no lie is lawfull What then will you say is the truth alwayes to be professed 2. That is the other question Whereunto I answer That the truth is neuer to be denied that an vntruth is neuer to be affirmed and yet notwithstanding the truth is not alwayes to be professed For the profession of the truth is sometimes necessary sometimes free and in our owne choice sometimes vnseasonable Necessary when as the consideration of Gods glorie our neighbors good or our owne duty requireth it at our hands As first in causes spirituall when a man is called to an account of his faith and religion for then the Christian Apologie and constant profession of the faith is necessary 1. Pet. 3. 15 Be ready alwayes to giue an answer to euery man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you For as with the heart we beleeue vnto righteousnesse so with the mouth we confesse vnto saluation He that confesseth me saith Christ before men him will I confesse also before my father which is in heauen But whosoeuer shall deny me before men him will I also deny before my father which is in heauen In causes ciuile as in the place of judgement when as a man is lawfully called as a witnesse to testifie the truth For then as we are forbidden to beare false witnesse so are we commanded to beare witnesse to the truth The profession of the truth is vnseasonable when as there being no necessity of vttering it in respect either of Gods glory our neighbors good or our owne duty it is joyned with our own or our neighbours danger or harme for then the truth may yea must be concealed either in whole or in part It is free and in our owne choice when it is neither necessary nor vnseasonable for then we may either professe it or conceale it And herein as in all other Christs action must be our instruction For whē as he was conuented before the Priests and Pharisies whom he perceiued to offend of prepenced malice he would answer nothing to their demands lest he should seeme to cast holy things before dogs or pearles before swine which would not onely trample the truth vnder their feet but also persecute the professor thereof But before Pontius Pilat he is said to haue witnessed a good confession For not onely he confessed himselfe to be the King of the Iewes but also made this profession For this cause am I borne and for this cause came I into the world that I should beare witnesse vnto the truth c. Againe when the Priests questioned with him concerning his doctrine he sendeth them to his hearers For it was against all equity that he should accuse himselfe But when the high Priests adjured him that he should plainely tell whether he was the sonne of God or not then although the profession of the truth were ioyned with manifest danger
of his life notwithstanding seeing it so neerly concerned the glory of God the good of his followers and the conuiction of his aduersaries he made a notable confession of the truth And that the truth sometimes may be concealed it may be proued by the authoritie of God himselfe For when as the Lord appointed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to annoint Dauid king Samuel desired to be informed how that might safely be done for if Saul should heare thereof he would be sure to kill him The Lord therefore teacheth him this godly pollicy Thou shalt take an heifer with thee and say I am come to sacrifice or as some read to selebrate a feast to the Lord. Whereas therefore Samuel was sent to Bethlehem for two causes he was by the commandement of God to conceale the more principall which teacheth vs that the simplicity of doues is to be tempered with the wisedome of seruants The same is proued by the example of Abraham which himselfe doth justifie for whereas Sara was not onely his sister according to the Hebrew phrase but also his wife he professed the one that she was his sister and concealed the other that she was his wife when as therefore the profession of the truth not necessary is joyned with the damage or danger either of our selues or others and so is vnseasonable howsoeuer we may neither deny the truth nor vtter an vntruth yet we may or rather must conceale the truth either wholly or in part As for example An innocent man who is persecuted for righteousnesse sake is sought for by his persecutors that he may be brought to punishment committeth himselfe to your fidelitie and safe custody The persecutors come and demaund of you where this partie is What will you do in this case If you tell where he is you betray the innocent If you knowing where he is shall say you cannot tell where he is or shall say he is where you thinke he is not you shall lye Will you offend in lying against your owne soule or in treachery against the innocent Forsooth the circumstances are to be considered If you plainely see that notwithstanding whatsoeuer you shall say he cannot be concealed it is all one in respect of the innocent partie whether you conceale the truth or confesse it For neither by confessing the truth shall you betray him nor by concealing it saue him If it be doubtfull whether by concealing the truth he may be preserued or not hide the truth so much as thou mayst and by telling some other truth as Raâ—ab did diuert the fury of the persecutors another way But if the partie be so hid that vnlesse thou discouer him he cannot be found and perhaps thou be asked concerning the very place where he is whether he be there or not here if you say nothing you betray him if you say I cannot tell you lye Therefore as Augustine faith A man in such a case must say I know where he is but I will neuer tell you for which Christian humanitie whatsoeuer you shall constantly endure it is so far from being worthy of blame that it is to be commended And here unto belongeth that memorable example recorded by Augustine in the same place of a certaine Bishop Firmâ—â—s by name but more firme as he saith in resolution For when as messengers sent from a persecuting emperour enquired of him concerning a Christian whom he had hid as secretly as he could where he was he answered them that neither could he lie neither would he betray the man neither could they by any tortures make him to discouer the partie Whereupon they bring him to before the emperour who admiring the constancie and courage of the Bishop was content for his sake to pardon the other Likewise in heathen writers the constancy of Zeno the Philosopher is highly commended who rather than he would be forced by any tortures to vtter secrets against his will he did bite off his tongue and spit it in the tyrants face And thus much may suffice to haue spoken of the three generall notes this onely remaineth that we should apply them to our selues Wherefore from this proposition of the holy Ghost Those that walke vprightly worke righteousnesse embrace the truth are such as shall inherit the kingdome of heauen and reciprocally those that shall inherit the kingdome of heauen are such as walke vprightly exercise iustice speake the truth in their hearts let vs consider what euery mans conscience will assume for if thy conscience shall make this assumption But I walke vprightly worke righteousnesse embrace the truth though with great imperfection yet with my true endeuour and vnfained purpose and desire of mine heart then vpon these premises will follow this happy conclusion Therefore thou are one of those that shall inherit the kingdome of heauen But on the other side if this be the assumption which thy con-conscience maketh Thou playest the hypocrite before God and dealest deceitfully with men thou liuest vnjustly and followest after lies vpon these premises it will follow necessarily That thou art not such an one as shall inherit the kingdome of heauen And therefore as thou wouldest hope to be saued so repent of these sinnes and embrace the contrary vertues which are here set downe as the proper notes of Gods children But let vs come to the fourth note which as also the third whereof euen now I spake respecteth the tongue and the same in part may be sayd of the eight Now whereas the holy Ghost among the ten notes of Gods children taketh two or three from the toung it appeareth that great regard is to be had of the tongue For howsoeuer many make but light account of their words which are they say but wind notwithstanding the holy Ghost affirmeth that death and life are in the power of the tongue and as men loue to vse it so shall they eate the fruit thereof And Christ our Sauiour after he had said that men are to giue an account of their idle words he adjoyneth this reason for by thy words saith he thou shalt be iustified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned Wherefore let vs learne to gouerne our tongue otherwise we shall be conuicted by three notes out of this Psalme that we neither are sound members of the Church militant nor shall be inheritors of glory in the Church triumphant but rather shall shew our profession of religion though otherwise neuer so glorious to be but vaine For as Iames saith If any man among you seemeth religious and refraineth not his tongue but deceiueth his owne heart that mans religion is vaine Moreouer betwixt the third note and this fourth there is great assinitie For thereby are signified two duties of the tongue which may not be seuered the contrary affirmatiue being vnderstood vnder this negatiue namely that the speech of the vpright man concerning his neighbour is full of charitie whereby The is so farre from
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
not commaund diuorces for so he should haue bene contrarie to himselfe but to such as could not bee got to retaine their wiues hee commaunded them to giue their wiues a bill of diuorcement that prouision might be made for them against their husbands crueltie and yet for all that they which put away their wiues ceassed not to be adulterers before God So say I againe The lawes of men do not commaund nor allow vsurie For so should they be contrarie to the lawes of God and yet to them who cannot be got to lend freely they permit to lend vpon vsurie so as they do not exceed such a stint that prouision might be made for men that be in need both that they might borrow and also that when they must needs borrow they should not be too much oppreâ—â—ed And yet for all this as he was an adulterer that put away his wife vnlesse it were for the crime of adulterie as our Sauior there proueth so is he guiltie of theft before God who practiseth vsurie though it be permitted by men But as I sayd our law doth not permit vsury as men commonly imagine but is as well contriued considering the iniquitie of the times as could almost be wished Onely these two things I desire may be now considered of in parliament First whether it were not more behoofefull for the common weale if vsurie were stinted at six rather than at ten in the hundred or rather that all vsurie being forbidden men should be allowed to vse in steed thereof the contract of redemption in that manner which before I approued buying a rent after fiue as in Germanie or because of our greater vse of money in traffique by reason of our more commodious nauigation after six in the hundred or more if more be thought more equall with a couenant of redemption in the behalfe of the borrower or rather seller if he desire it For first it may seeme vnreasonable that wheras of an hundred pounds worth of land which is fruitfull by nature a man can hardly raise a rent of fiue or six pounds a yeare an hundred pounds in money which hath in it selfe no fruitfull vse should without his paines cost or hazard yeeld him ten pounds a yeare Secondly it would in mine opinion be a notable meanes to diminish the number of vsurers and also to ease both the borrowers in particuler of oppression and the common wealth in generall of that great burden of vsurie whereof I spake before And thirdly it would be a meanes to preuent both the vsuall committing of this sinne and also the punishment which God hath threatned for the same The second thing which I desire may be considered of is the permission of vsurie in the behalfe of orphanes For if it be simply euill it cannot bee good in them neither can the respect had of them make it good in others And it is a principle in Diuinitie Euill may not be done that good may come thereof Augustine giueth this charge which afterwards was placed among the canons of the law That men should not lend vpon vsurie though they would giue that which is gotten by vsurie as almes to the poore And Chrysostome when some made this excuse I lent indeed vpon vsurie but that which I gained thereby I gaue to the poore he sayth plainely that God doth not accept such sacrifices and addeth that it were better not to giue to the poore than so to giue It is a good rule in the Canon law if one cannot be relieued without another be hurt it were better neither should be holpen than either wronged Charitie as it rejoyceth in the truth so also in justice and therefore whatsoeuer is vnjust and against the law of God it cannot be charitable Neither doth charitie require that I should sinne to do another man good or to cast away my soule by sinne though it were to saue another mans life For he that shall be saued doth not put forth his money to vsurie and he that doth shall he liue saith the Lord he shall not liue but he shal die the death Wherefore vsurie being simply euill and generally forbidden in the word of God it cannot in any case be exercised with a good conscience You will say then What shall become of Orphanes if they may not be maintained with the increase of their stocke but be forced to liue vpon their stocke and so to spend it Answer You might better aske what shall become of those Orphanes who haue no stocke for whom notwithstanding the Lord doth graciously prouide according to his mercifull promises I answer therefore that orphanes and widowes haue a notable priuiledge of diuerse gracious promises peculiarly made to them Let them therfore or their friends for them depend vpon the gracious prouidence and promises of God in the vse of lawfull meanes Let them either imploy their goods in some honest trade or negotiation wherein they haue as good cause to expect a blessing from God as any other or let them deale by partnership or if other meanes faile let annuities be bought for their liues or lands or rents purchased for euer or let some other honest course be tataken which wise men can easily deuise if they list how orphanes may be maintained without impairing of their stocke Againe if any man to make good the former objection concerning the profitablenesse of vsurie to common weales shall alledge as some haue done that the ciuile law alloweth thereof and doth not onely permit but authorise vsurie according to the rates aforesaid I answer that by the law it selfe it euidently appeareth that it doth not allow it as good but permit it as euill for the auoiding of greater inconueniences and permit it with a threefold restraint The first in respect of the quantitie for the law stinteth the merchants vsurie at eight the gentlemens and noblemens vsurie at foure and the vsury of other men at six in the hundred The second restraint is in respect of the continuance For the ciuile law prouideth that when the vsurie which in the continuance of the loane hath bene paid already doth amount to as great a summe as the principall it selfe that then it shall ceasse and whatsoeuer is paid afterwards should be reckoned in the principall As for example ten in the hundred do match the principall in ten yeares after which time no more vse is to be payd or if any be payd it is to be abated in the principall The third restraint is in respect of the compound vsurie which is called vsurie of vsurie for that is absolutely forbidden by the ciuile law Which two latter restraints doe also prooue that vsurie by the ciuile law is judged a thing euill in it selfe For if vsurie of ten in the hundred be lawfull for ten years together why not for the eleuenth and twelfth c. the principall being still forborne and if the vsurie of the principall be lawfull the
lawful and good to lend to the rich with a iust increase as to giue or lend freely to the poore and that the like opposit blessing of plenteousnesse equally belongeth to both As if Salomon had also said he that giueth to the poore freely and cheerefully and lendeth to the rich to increase himselfe shall vndoubtedly attaine to great riches Thus you see how a partiall and prejudicat mind seeketh rather to draw the Scriptures to it selfe than to conforme it selfe to the Scriptures This prouerbiall sentence is diuersly expounded the most of them that I haue seene expound the latter clause as a punishment of the former As if this were the sence and meaning of this prouerbe That he which seeketh to enrich himselfe by oppressing the needie shall contrarie to his expectation either by bribes giuen to magistrats that he may escape the punishments which by the lawes belong vnto him or else by forfeiture of his goods into great mens hands fall into pouertie Others obserue here to be noted two practises of worldly men which they read copulatiuely that is to take from the poore and to giue to the rich both of them in their intent and purpose referred to the enriching of themselues but by the just prouidence of God so disposed that in the euent they tend to their impouerishment As if Salomon had said He that taketh from the poore to enrich himselfe and giueth to the rich that from them he may receiue greater benefits which commonly is the end of gifts giuen to great men shall by the just judgement of God come to pouertie or as one vnderstandeth this prouerbe He that oppresseth the poore to enrich himself also who giueth to the rich small things that he may receiue from him greater matters and that he may do it oppresseth the poore in the meane while that he may haue to giue to the rich hee shall surely come to pouertie But suppose the holy Ghost did here match these two as equall sinnes to take from the poore and to giue to the rich yet the latter is not generally to bee vnderstood either as a sinne in it selfe as though it were simply vnlawfull to giue any thing to the rich or as great a sinne as to lend vpon vsurie to the poore but with limitation to such things as are giuen to the rich being vnjustly taken or vncharitably withheld from the poore Howsoeuer it is the holy ghost doth not speake here of lending at all and therefore those two collections from hence are absurd and impudent either that lending freely to the rich is as great a sinne as lending vpon vsurie to the poore or that lending vpon vsurie to the rich is as good a thing in his kind as lending freely to the poore Which wicked and shamelesse assertions of this patron of vsurie I wish may bee an admonition both to others that haue taken vpon them the defence of the same cause that through the partialitie of their affections they runne not into the like extremities and also to vsurers that they relie not much vpon such patrons nor hazard their saluation vpon their credit who are now growne to this passe as to call vertue vice and vice vertue Would a man thinke it credible that a Christian man hauing knowledge and learning joyned with a profession of the truth should euer conceiue and much lesse commit to writing That to lend freely to the rich is as great a fault as to lend vpon vsurie to the poore and to lend vpon vsurie to the rich as lawfull and good a thing as to lend freely to the poore O tempora â—o mores in which it is a sinne not to be an vsurer and a vertue not to be liberall friendly courteous or ciuile In which religion is made to countenance vsurie for a vertue and to condemne liberalitie and humanitie for a vice Fourthly they alledge Ier. 15. 10. I neither lent vpon vsurie neither haue they lent me vpon vsurie Whence they gather that lending vpon vsurie is of the same nature with borrowing vpon vsurie and both of them are there mentioned as indifferent things I answer that the Prophet speaketh not of lending vpon vsurie or borrowing vpon vsurie though some translations so read but of lending vpon securitie or with purpose to exact that which is lent And this signification better fitteth the purpose of the Prophet which is to shew the contentious disposition of the people who contended with him when he had giuen them not onely no cause as he had done if hee had bene an vsurer but none occasion of cursed contention for he had forborne all worldly though otherwise lawfull contracts from whence many times contentions arise among men as if he had said I did neither meddle nor make with them in worldly affaires neither bought nor sold neither borrowed nor lent and yet they contend Or if the Prophet had spoken of vsurie in this place it would serue rather for the condemnation of borrowing vpon vsurie which in manie cases is vnlawfull than for justification of lending vpon vsurie which in no case is lawfull the Prophet disclaiming the one as well as the other as causes or at the lest as occasions of contention And these with some few other before confuted are all their allegations out of the old Testament Let vs come to the new for as some of them say It is not to be omitted that the Apostles of Christ in their sundry catalogues of sinnes do neuer once make mention of vsurie which is an argument that it is lawfull especially seeing in the Romane empire vnder which they liued it was commonly exercised euen vnto twelue in the hundred as also among the Iewes to whom Iames Peter and Iohn did write I answer first although it be not forbidden by name in the new Testament yet that proueth it not to bee lawfull An argument drawne from the testimonie of some one part of the Scripture negatiuely doth not hold it is sufficient that it is forbidden in the old Testament and namely in the morall law of God which is common and perpetuall And farre be it from vs to thinke that Christ in his Gospell alloweth any sinne which is forbidden in the morall law as I haue prooued vsurie to be Againe there are many other sinnes forbidden in the morall law which are not once mètioned in the new Testament For to seeke no further biting and griping vsurie is condemned in the morall law and is a thing in the confession of all simply and vtterly vnlawfull and yet thereof is no mention made in all the new Testament and therefore if this argument be good no vsurie at all be it neuer so immoderat or excessiue is vnlawfull Secondly I answer that vsurie is forbidden and condemned in the new Testament not indeed expresly and by name neither is that needfull for many things are contained in the Scriptures which are not expresly mentioned in the Scriptures There be I doubt not some sinnes condemned in the morall
apparrell of person as when a man wanteth necessaries for his familie charge depending on him of state as when a man wanteth present meanes for the maintenance of his credit and estate in that calling wherein God hath placed him and consequently for auoiding of discredit or of some notable impairing of his estate The third that it be not a sleight but an vrgent necessitie The fourth that the partie who is to borrow haue no present meanes of his owne to supply his want For he that hath meanes of his owne to supply his need though it be by selling of any thing which he may spare hath no vrgent necessitie to cause him to borrow The fift and last is that being by vrgent necessitie forced to borrow he cannot borrow freely and therefore for auoiding of a greater inconuenience is faine to yeeld to a losse Without necessitie men do borrow vpon vsurie when there is no necessitie that they should borrow either first because they cannot borrow without sinne as when they cannot persuade themselues that they shall be able to repay or secondly because they be not in want and therefore borrow not for need but either for pride for ryot or for couetousnesse for the satisfying of any wherof there is no necessitie or thirdly because it is no vrgent but a sleight necessitie which may easily be either auoided or vndergone or fourthly because they haue present means of their owne whereby their want may better be supplied or fiftly and lastly when they may if they will be so much beholden to others borrow freely 2. The second distinction which after a fort is implied in the former is that men borrow either for good and lawfull causes or for bad and vnlawfull purposes For there is no necessitie of borrowing for wicked and sinfull respects 3. The third that vsurie is either offered by the borrower or imposed by the lender And that it is offered either at the first or after the lenders plaine deniall or pretended excuses 4. The fourth that men borrow vpon vsurie either with assurance of future means to heale the biting of vsurie without the injurie of others or impouerishing of themselues or without any such assurance 5. The fift that the necessitie whereupon men borrow is either contracted and drawne vpon themselues by their own default or else it is a blamelesse necessitie By helpe of these distinctions it will not be hard to cleare this controuersie which otherwise is very intricat For hereby it wil appeare that neither all borrowing vpon vsurie is to be allowed nor all generally to be condemned For against the former assertion which alloweth all borrowing vpon vsurie we are to hold that the borrower vpon vsurie offendeth either first when he borroweth without necessitie or secondly to ill purposes or thirdly when he induceth the lender to lend vpon vsurie or fourthly when in respect either of the time to come he shall not haue meanes to cure the wound which vsurie hath made without doing wrong to others or impouerishing himselfe or fiftly of the time past when as through his owne former default he hath brought himselfe into this necessitie For although his necessity when he is once in it may excuse his borrowing being rightly qualified according to the foure former distinctions yet his fault in drawing vpon himselfe wilfully or negligently this necessitie cannot be excused But these fiue points need further explication First therefore I say the borrower offendeth who borroweth vpon vsurie without necessitie in any of those fiue respects before mentioned that is if either he find himselfe vnlike to repay that which he borroweth or if he be not in want or if his necessitie be not vrgent or because he hath sufficient meanes of his owne or if he might borrow freely if he would For as touching the first On those who haue no good hope or assurance that they shall be able to repay the Lord hath not laid a necessitie to borrow and much lesse vpon vsurie but to seeke releefe by other lawfull means for although the vsurer deserue to be deceiued and by the auncient lawes of this land it hath bene decreed that it should be no fault to deceiue an vsurer to which purpose Plato prouided also by law that it should be lawfull for the debtour when the creditor hath lent vpon vsurie to pay neither the vsurie nor the det yet I do not see how a man can with a good cōscience borrow in borrowing promise the repayment of that which he purposeth not to repay especially seeing the holy Ghost maketh it a note of the wicked to borrow that which they neuer meane to restore As touching the second and third they offend as accessarie to the sinne of the vsurer who borrow vpon vsurie without necessitie yea without vrgent necessitie for such hauing no vrgent necessitie to compel them to borrow do willingly borrow vpon vsurie and voluntarily consent to the vsurers sinne Now this is the sentence of the holy Ghost that they are worthie of death not onely who commit sinne themselues but also willingly consent to the sinne of others Rom. 1 and therefore he hath giuen vs in charge to haue no fellowship with the vnfruitfull workes of darkenesse but rather to reprooue them Ephesians 5. Such are they who borrow not for any great need but for pride riot or couetousnesse For pride and ostentation as those who desiring to seeme better and wealthier than they are refuse to containe themselues within the compasse of their calling and estate but desiring to beare an higher saile in respect of their diet apparell familie and port take vp money vpon vsurie but such persons sinne first in respect of the vsurer to whose sinne they make themselues accessarie seeing there is no necessitie why their pride and vanitie should be satisfied Secondly in respect of themselues offending against the rules of frugalitie and thrift for whiles they desire to seeme rich they become poore vsurie conuerting their substance into debt For riot as those who being addicted to gaming or to other pleasures as whoredome drunkennesse belly-cheare and such like take vp money vpon vsurie that there may not want matter either to maintaine their gaming or nourish their pleasures for such men so they may haue present money to satisfie their lust they care not vpon what conditions they procure it But as these are of all borrowers vpon vsurie the most foolish so those which lend vnto them to these vses are of all vsurers the most wicked and either of them is accessarie to the others sinne The riotous person to the sinne of the vsurer wherunto he voluntarily and without any necessitie consenteth at the least if also he doe not mooue and induce the lender thereunto The vsurer not only to the borrowers riot whereunto he affoordeth matter but also to his vtter vndoing which he furthereth not onely as an accessarie but as a principall also Wherefore these two sorts of men I
borrowing vpon vsurie are relatiues and therefore if to lend vpon vsurie be vnlawfull it cannot be lawfull to borrow vpon vsurie I answere as before that relatiues are not alwayes of the like nature and qualitie for to offer wrong and to suffer wrong to oppresse and to be oppressed are relatiues and such relatiues are to lend vpon vsurie and to borrow vpon vsurie through necessitie for to lend vpon vsurie to him that borroweth for vrgent necessitie it is to offer wrong and to oppresse therefore he which vpon necessitie yeeldeth to pay vsurie doth suffer wrong and is oppressed Thus therefore I may reason from the light of nature as before I did from the Scripture To suffer wrong is not sinne The borrower which vpon necessitie yeeldeth to pay vsurie doth suffer wrong Therefore he doth not sinne therein The proposition is an axiome of Aristotles in his Ethicks where proouing that it is a lesse euill to suffer injurie than to offer injurie he setteth downe this principle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To be wronged or to suffer injurie is without sinne and vnjustice And in another place he sayth That just dealing is a meane betwixt offering injurie and suffering wrong the one is to haue too much the other too little But yet sayth he justice is a mean not as each other morall vertue is a meane betwixt two contrarie vices but as a meane betwixt too much and two little that is to say as an equalitie from which whosoeuer swarueth runneth into both the extreames for where too much is giuen to the one too little is giuen to the other As for example the vsurer in taking from the borrower more than his own leaueth to the borrower lesse than his owne 2. You will say to be meerely oppressed or onely to suffer wrong we graunt to be no sinne but the borrower vpon vsurie willingly consenteth to that vsurie which is imposed vpon him yea he intreateth the vsurer that hee will so lend vnto him and therefore he is guiltie of his owne harme accessarie to the oppression of the vsurer I answer he that borroweth vpon necessitie with such cautions as before I mentioned is guiltie neither of the one nor the other For first in respect of himselfe wheras there are two euils propounded vnto him the one the inconuenience or mischiefe for auoiding whereof he desireth to borrow as perhaps the forfeiture of an hundred pounds the other the losse which he shall sustaine by vsurie which perhaps is fiue in fiftie the one whereof he must needs incurre therefore this latter being the lesser euill and hauing the respect of a good or eligible thing in comparison of the greater euill he maketh choise therof not minding or desiring his owne losse but hoping to redeeme a greater losse with a lesse And yet he doth not willingly consent to the payment of vsurie but his necessitie for auoiding a greater euill maketh him seeme willing to that wherunto he is simply vnwilling as I haue said before And as touching the vsurer whereas the borrower perceiueth him resolute to run into one of these two sinnes either not to lend at all or else vpon vsurie from both which it is not in his power to keepe him therefore the former which is not to lend at all to him that vpon vrgent necessitie is desirous to borrow being the greater sinne than the latter which is to lend vpon vsurie his desire is to keep both the lender from the greater sinne and himselfe from the greater euill Why but you will say if the borrower would not entreat the other to lend he should not need to fall into eito either of both those sinnes I answere when a man is in a case of vrgent necessity it is not onely lawfull for him but also he is bound in conscience to vse lawfull meanes to come out of the same When as therefore he wanteth presentmeans of his own it is lawfull for him to borrow hauing an honest purpose to repay yea and to desire those whom God hath enabled to lend vnto him In desiring the able man to lend thou onely moouest him to a worke of charitie and liberalitie but if vpon this motion of thine his couetousnesse cause him to sinne either by refusing to lend at all or by requiring vsurie well may that motion as many other good and lawfull things are be an occasion of his sinne but there is no cause thereof but his owne couetousnesse and the hardnesse of his heart and thou art not accessarie to his sinne But if at the first motion thou intreatest him to lend with promise of vsurie then thou inducest him to sinne and art accessarie to his offence as I haue shewed before either by making him an vsurer who was none before and so art deeper in the sinne than hee or at least by inducing him to the actuall committing of vsurie Which being the vsuall custome of borrowers vpon vsurie whose manner is to goe to the vsurer or to his broker to take vp on interest as they call it so much money as they desire perhaps an hundred pounds where no mention being made but of the principall for the other is presupposed bonds are drawn of two hundred pounds for the payment of a hundred and ten pounds it cannot be denied but that in this respect alone not to mention the rest the most borrowers vpon vsurie are accessarie to the sinne of vsurie At the first motion therefore thou mayest not offer vsurie but only desire to borrow which if thy need require thou mayest lawfully doe But what if the couetousnesse of the partie who is able and therefore ought to lend and the hardnesse of his heart be such that vpon thy motion of borrowing he wil either require vsurie or refuse to lend altogether in the former case if thy necessitie be such that thou must needs borrow and knowest not where to borrow freely elsewhere thou mayest lawfully yeeld to the vsurie imposed for in yeelding thou keepest both him from the greater sinne which is not to lend at all and thy selfe from a greater mischiefe Why but you will say ought I not to admonish him at the least and to dissuade him from the practise of vsurie seeing my yeelding to pay and my silence in not reproouing vsurie may argue that I approoue it and therefore am guiltie thereof as accessarie thereto I answere that difference is to be made of the partie with whom you deale for if the partie be tractable and of any hope that Christian course of charitable admonition and brotherly reproofe is to be taken with him but if he be a desperat sinner such as common vsurers commonly are whom if you admonish or reprooue you shall not profit him but hurt your selfe before such an hog the precious pearle of Christian admonition and brotherly reproofe is not to be cast But me thinkes a man of a tender conscience you will say should hardly seeke to such a man So I say also for
the Lord hath ordained the judgement seat to be a rocke of defence and refuge for the innocent and guiltlesse they haue made it an hill of robbers Thirdly because they haue not onely set judgement and justice to sale which is an abhominable practise but also as the Prophet Amos speaketh They sell the righteous for siluer and the poore for a paire of shoes Such judges Demosthenes compared to a paire of scoles which alwaies incline on that side whence they haue receiued any thing And surely a small weight many times will make them to incline to the wicked who seeketh to corrupt them and to decline from right Prou. 28. 21 To haue respect of persons it is not good for that man will transgresse for a piece of bread It were therefore to be wished that justice and judges now adaies were such as they were wont to be painted for justice was blindfolded and judges were pictured without hands whereby was signified that judges should not receiue rewards nor respect persons which is commonly a consequent of rewards Vpon the greatnesse of this offence followeth the third thing namely that is is pernicious to them that vse it for therefore doth the holy ghost denounce a feareful woe against such persons Esay 5. 23. Woe be to them which iustiâ—ie the wicked for a reward and take away the righteousnesse of the righteous from him therefore as the flame of fire deuoureth the stubble and as the chaffe is consumed of the flame so their root shall be as rottenness c. But it is onely pernicious to themselues but also to the countrey wherein they liue as I haue in generall shewed Ezek. 22. 12. and thereunto wee may adde the testimonie of the Prophet Micah chap. 3. 11 12. for when as hee had said that the heads or princes of Ierusalem did judge for rewards and the priests did teach for hire he inferreth Therefore shall Sion for your sake be ploughed as a field and Ierusalem shall be an â—eape and the mountaine of the house as the high places of the forrest I come to corrupt lawyers and aduocats who so often take reward against the innocent as they doe take vpon them the defence of such causes as they in their owne conscience are persuaded to be euill and vnjust Which being so common a fault among lawyers as that very few which plead causes either in ciuile or ecclesiasticall courts doe seeme to make any conscience thereof to whom all is fish that commeth to their nets therefore all lawyers are to be exhorted to apply this note vnto themselues For if those which shall be saued are such as doe not take a reward against the innocent as the holy ghost here witnesseth how then can they be saued whose vsuall practise is to take rewards against the innocent And that they may the more effectually be dissuaded from this sinne let them a little consider with me how fearefully they sinne against God their neighbour and themselues Against God whiles they seeke to ouerthrow the truth and to peruert the Judgement which is the Lords Secondly against their neighbour And in this regard euery corrupt lawyer is as Salomon sayth of euery false witnesse an hammer a sword and a sharpe â—rrow an hammer or mallet to the judge a sword to his client and an arrow to his adursarie For whiles our lawyers doe their indeuours as the Greeke sophisters were wont 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to make the worse cause the better they doe as it were knocke the judge on the head amasing him so and dazeling his eyes that he may not see and pronounce the truth To their client they are as two edged swords wounding him two wayes to wit in body and soule As touching his bodie and outward estate they notably impouerish him to enrich themselues and plucke off his feathers to feather their owne nest for as the fowlers â—age is full of birds so the houses of these faulconers are full of riches gotten by deceit as Ieremie speaketh The soule also of their client they wouâ—d when they animate him to goe on in offering wrong to his neighbour and cause him to sinne against his owne soule To the aduersarie being indeed the innocent partie euery Tertullus is a sharpe arrow wounding him either in bodie goods or good name against all or any whereof they care not what vntruths and slaunderous calumniations they vtter so their cause may therby be aduantaged Lastly they sinne against themselues and their owne soules first because they aid the wicked vnto euill which is forbidden Exod. 23. 1. and is reprooued 2. Chron. 19. 2 as also Psal. 50. 18. When thou sawest a theefe thou consentedst vnto him and is condemned Rom. 1. 31. Secondly because they haue sold their tongues to speake likes for an euill cause cannot be maintained but by manifold vntruths Now riches or treasures gotten by a deceitfull or lying tongue is vanitie tossed too and fro of them that seeke death Prou. 21. 6. And therefore it is greatly to be feared least these men as they haue set their tongues so also their â—oules to sale for that is truly affirmed of all couetous persons Eccles. 10. 9. The like is to be said of euery false witnesse who for reward is suborned to testifie vntruths That hee sinneth against God whose judgement he seeketh to peruert against the judge whom he endeuoureth to auert from justice and truth against the parties who suborneth him to whom he consenteth vnto euill against the innocent partie whom by his false testimonie he hurteth and sometimes killeth him with a word against his owne soule for seeing a false witnesse is an abbomination vnto the Lord Prou. 6. 18 therefore he shall not escape but surely perish Prou. 19. 5. 9. And yet this is not all that may be said in detestation of false witnesse bearing For seeing witnesses in places of judgement doe not deliuer their testimonies but vpon an oath therefore euery false witnesse is guiltie not onely of false witnesse bearing but also of perjurie whereby he polluteth the holy name of God wrongeth the innocent abuseth the judge and all that are present and that vnder the religion of an oath hee citeth the Lord himselfe and that in the place of judgement to testifie an vntruth and which is most fearfull he tempteth the Lord and as it were dareth him in the audience of allthat are present to execute his fierce wrath and indignation vpon him For in othes wee call vpon God not onely to be our witnesse that we sweare truly but also to be a reuenger of vs if we sweare falsely therefore he which sweareth that which he knoweth to be vntrue he prouoketh the Lord and as it were dareth him to take vengeance vpon him Thus then we see by these two last notes what the sound Christian and citizen of heauen doth not to wit that neither priuatly in contracts nor publickely in place of