good point of merchandrie for a man to lay foorth his money wythout any gaine So should the seelie poore chap-man be sure to buie and sell and liue by the losse Nay sir if you make no better descriptiōs I pray you describe for your self and let pas our trade without any description at all Eueri-bodie What Softe goodman Pedler you are something too hastie you are not vnlike to those restie iades whiche winch before they are prickte what man He is nowe in describing simplie the thing it selfe wythout due consideration of the circumstaunces annexed vnto it But go to sir 2. The sundry causes of merchandrie hauing alreadie defined the thing proceede I pray you in discouering nexte the causes the kindes the difference the ends and effects of all buying and selling No-bodie With goodwil and first concerning the causes themselues In that I call Merchandrie 1. The efficient cause of merchandry euen by naturall necessitie a saleable exchaunge of saleable things c. We haue therein to consider that a naturall necessitie is that which we properlie call the efficient the accomplishing or the procuring cause of all buying and selling Which necessitie also it selfe requireth a two-folde consideration For either the same consisteth in an honest preseruation of this present life or otherwise in the carefull continuance of christian concord betwene countrey and countrey Ingroser And are these two causes of so waightie importaunce that the trade of Merchaundrie must of necessitie be continued from time to time as ordinarye good meanes to maintaine the same No-bodie Yea verelie For euen as thys naturall life of oures can not continue one hower without the naturall supplie of naturall thinges So hath the Lorde also in wisedome ordeined this lawfull trade of buying and selling as a moste necessarie meanes to maintaine the same And as hee hath againe in a Guil. pariss in lib. de vitiis par 4. his owne councell determined that no one countrey in all the worlde shoulde haue sufficient for it selfe in all the necessarie matters of this present life So hath hee likewise blessed some other countreis againe with a more plentifull encrease of that whyche they want and further hath with all engraffed suche an indissoluble league of naturall loue betweene countrey and countrey that by meanes of this lawfull trade of buying and selling the one may haue a mutuall accesse to the other for the easier attainement of suche interchaungeable traffike as tend most to their mintenance And all this I saye especiallie for a further encrease of loue and the greater continuance of concorde betweene countrey and countrey Ingroser This naturall necessity then tending so fitlie to the preseruation of life and continuaunce of concord between Countrey and Countrey is that whyche you call the efficiente the accomplysheing or the procuring cause of all buying and selling Wee perceyue it well But goe to I praye you proceede in the rest No-body Secondly in that I cal merchandrie a saleable exchange of saleable things 2. The materiall cause of merchandrie there we haue in like manner the materiall cause of al buying and selling I meane the temporall blessings commodities and profites of this present those are the matter and stuffe wherevppon must be builded all that buying and selling which men doe accustomablie practise on earth Eueri-bodie If the temporall commodities and profites of this present life bee as you say the onelie matter wherevnto must bee employed all buying and selling it foloweth then very necessarily that these our occupiers may at no hand exchaunge their temporall blessings for trumperie or trash Oh this pintcheth I dare saye my freend Pedler to the heart But proceede I praye you in the course you haue taken No-bodie Thirdlye 3. The formall cause of merchandrie in that I call merchandrie a saleable exchange of things here wee haue also the formall cause of all buying and selling I meane a saleable exchange of saleable thinges That alone and onelie that must bee the cause whiche formeth which fashioneth and frameth foorth the whole matter Ingroser If onely a saleable exchange of thinges as you say must make vppe the market that deceit then that guile and that fraudulent dealing which most men accustomably vse may at no hand be admitted in making the match But what more remaineth No-bodie Lastly 4. The finall cause of merchandrie in saying that merchaundrie must tend onlie to publike commoditie and preseruation of life there haue we in like manner the finall cause of all buying and selling namely an honest care of publike commoditie and the preseruation of life those are the onelie and peculiar endes allotted vnto the publike practise of euery such trade Nowe for that the aforesaide endes may in no wise be attained vnto wythout a continuall vse of suche saleable exchange of temporall things wee therefore conclude that Merchaundrie is a thing most necessarie for manne and the lawfull practise also thereof very laudable and godlie Because the same so aptlie seruing for naturall necessitie maye bee generallie applied not onely to the publike profite of forraine nations but also to the priuate commoditie of our naturall countrie and the preseruation of this present life And thus muche for the trade of Merchandrie in generall Pedler In generall Why what sir I pray you maie further bee spoken concerning this matter Mee thinke you haue sayed so much as maie bee and perhaps a great deale more then you shal haue thanks for No-bodie As a Christian manne in the discharge of his christian duetie should gape for no thankes So surelie for mine owne parte if a Gal. 1. 10. I woulde goe about to please men I were not the seruant of Christ Notwithstanding that which wee haue spoken before tendeth no farther at all than the generall description of the facultie it selfe where also nexte to consider the sundrie and more especiall kindes of buying and selling 3. The sundry kinds of Merchandry which are principallie three Ingroser Which bee they sir I praie you No-bodie The first kind of Merchandrie is called Nauigatio 1. The first kinde of Merchandrie which is a chargeable conuayaunce of wares from Countrey to Countrey by shyppe into all the nauigable partes and coasts of the worlde And this is doone eyther by bringing into a Countrey such kyndes of Merchaundrize as the Countrey moste needeth whych manner of dealing is fitlie termed Importatio or else by carrying foorth the commodities aboundinge in anie one Countrey into such other coasts and quarters of the worlde as wante the same and this also is aptlie called Exportatio All which the aforesaide traffiquers by the Latines also are named Mercatores and wee in our Countrey language doe fitlie tearme them Merchaunts Of these Merchaunts generally there are two sortes First Merchaunts of the Staple who now transport our woolles and felles into the lowe Countreys as also in times past they did our Tallows Hydes Worsteddes Butter Cheeze and suche lyke
mouth that you dealt especially against vs that be chapmen No-bodie Although I spake then against those ougly abuses which be generally practised in buying and selling yet will no man I am sure affirme that I applied my said speeches especiallie against anie one particular person No my whole care was to rip vp the sinnes in generall leauing the particular application thereof to euery mans conscience The question proued it followeth consequently that therefore the ministers may reprooue all abuses in buieng selling so farre foorth as he felt himselfe to be touched therewith Ingroser Well sir hauing hitherto prooued that the preachers keeping a generall course against sin may nowe and then also put in practise some suche particular reprehensions as occasion time place and person requireth you are now by promise to discouer those generall faults which you finde in buying and selling and for the whiche you shewed your selfe so sharpe this day in your sermō against vs that be chapmē No-bodie Very true as you say And because that contraries do more timelie appeare by their contraries I thinke it expedient for the better performance hereof first to lay downe the lawfulnes of buying and selling and then next the vnlawfulnes thereof That so aswel the excesse as the wants being plainlie perceiued the abuses in both maye more liuelie bewray themselues Pedler Well then shew first I pray you the lawfulnes thereof No-bodie I am willing with al my heart to performe the same The end of our creation an infallible touch-stone to trie the lawfulnes or vnlawfulnes of merchandrie And therefore because the lawfulnes of euery action is to be tried and approued by some infallible rule it shall not be amisse or euer we proceed in this point first to set down that principall end of our creation which is as it were the very square or shoot-anker wherevnto in al our actions wee ought to haue a principall regard and then next to make throughlie knowen vnto you the facultie it selfe of buying and selling with the causes the kindes the difference the effectes and ends therof that so by conferring faithfully the one with the other you maye the better perceiue howe farre men are swarued from that perfection wherevnto in a christian care they are to direct the continuall practise of their seuerall professions Otherwise if I should presentlie enter vppon the discouerie of all those crimes which be commonly incident to buying and selling the very buiers and sellers themselues being before vnacquainted either with the said ende of their creation or with any one parte of the true facultie it selfe many things be you sure would be esteemed for trifles which yet by this meanes will bee found most hainous offences Ingroser I like this your order excellently well proceed therefore I pray you first of all in penning downe the principal end of mans creation then next to the description of the trade it selfe No-bodie The principall ende of mans creation is the a Pro. 16. ◠glorie of God the practise whereof consisteth especially in a christian conuersation Wherein we are bound to shew our selues not only careful of our own saluation but also very diligent in procuring the good and profit one of another Now because the affections of our a Psal 7. 9. Psal 139. 1. 2. hart are onely knowen vnto the Lord him selfe and our outward actions are also a testimony thereof vnto the world it is therefore verye apparant that then the care of Gods glorie is rightly couched in the closet of our breastes when both wee keepe our selues b Collos 1. 22. Iam. 1. 27. the vnspotted of the worlde and withall doe so witnes our loue vnto our brethren by that equity and vpright dealing which wee keepe with them in out common affaires as euen c Psal 15. 3. in our lippes appeareth no guile For otherwaies how can we be said d 1. Iohn 4. 20. to loue God whom we haue not seen if we loue not our brethren whom we se daily before our face In whom assured lie the Lorde presents him selfe vnto vs as it were in a liuelie glasse representing the image of his glory which glory of God so shining in them we shold seeke also by all possible meanes to garnish with that our christiā loue aparantly tendred vnto them Now because the discharge of this our christian loue wher with we are a Rom. 13. 8. thus deepely indebted towards our christian brethren may in no wise be measured by our priuate affections the Lord therfore him self hath giuen a generall lawe requiring vs b Math. 7 12. Luke 6 3. Tobi. 4. 13. to do to other men as wee would bee doone vnto our selues Vnto the equitye of which so generall a rule it behoueth vs all to haue a speciall regarde euen in those our faculties and trades which wee practize on earth not so much in respect of our selues as for the good estate of the rest of our breethren And this is that principall ende of mans creation wherevnto also euen you that bee Chap-men ought to haue a speciall care and must witnesse the same by the continuall practize of that your vpryght dealings wyth other in the selfe-same facultye and trade whych your selues doe professe Ingroser If this be the allotted end of mans creation our actions as you say either are or ought to be an aparant testimonie thereof vnto the worlde and that those our actions also may in no wise exceed their limits boūds alowed them in the lawes of the Lord I feare me the most part of our men must come short in their reckoning But proceede now I pray you first in describing the lawfulnes of Merchandry and then next the vnlawfulnes therof from the abuses incident vnto it No-bodie With all my heart 10. The lawfulnes of merchandrie apparant from a consideration of the matter it selfe And therefore to the end we may rightly describe the lawfulnes of Merchandry indeede we will according to the true order of teaching beginne first with the description of the matter it selfe and then next to the causes the kindes the difference the endes and effects thereof Because that beeing made thorowlye known both the rest of the building may more fitlie be framed and the abuses also them selues will more easilie breake forth to the view of all Pedler Indeed as you saye sir But what is that I pray you which we call Merchandrie Is it not a buying and a selling of one thing for another No-bodie I confesse indeed it is a buying and selling of one thing for another but that is no full description therof For merchandrie 1. Touching that matter we haue to consider what Merchandrie is euen by naturall necessitie is a saleable exchaunge of saleable thinges tending to publike profite and preseruation of life without al sinister affection of filthie gaine Loe this is a perfite description thereof Pedler A perfite description in deede Call you this a
being either naturall or vnnaturall and therefore in respecte of it selfe very necessary and commodious for man yet for all that suche difference there is of buying and selling that the the trade it selfe requireth a two-folde consideration For either the same is naturall and then very necessarie and commendable or else it is vnnaturall and then not so much necessarie as hurtfull and horrible Ingroser And when is the same I pray you to be accounted naturall No-bodie Verely 1. Naturall and how when as it tendeth truely to the aforesaid endes I meane to a publike commoditie preseruation of life and that also wythout all sinister affection of filthie gaine which was the difference I putte in the definition it selfe Being thus vsed the same is most naturall and commes in the right kind Pedler And when againe is it to be accounted vnnaturall No-bodie Euen at euerye suche time as the same is not practized vppon speciall regard of the causes and endes aforesaide 2. Vnnatural and that both from the vse and the ende but only vpon an insatiable desire of gaine and for the loue of money Eueri-bodie Call you this an vnnaturall kinde of chopping and changing No-bodie What else 1. Vnnatural in vse how Whether we respect the vse or the ende For first concerning the vse who seeth not the same to bee verie vnlawfull seeing it swarueth so shamefully not onelie from the naturall and proper vse by seruing the insatiable desires of menne whiche neuer crie hoe but for that also it tendeth to an infinite toile and leadeth menne headlong into an endlesse labyrinth For a couetous man a Eccles 5. 9. May neuer be satisfied with monie Ingroser And howe is the same vnnaturall concerning the end No-bodie Thus 2. Vnnaturall in the end and how namelie when besides the former vnlawfull vse it containeth in it selfe albeit improperlie a certaine filthinesse in asmuch as it importeth an vnhonest ende Chrysost opere impers hom 31. For that manne whosoeuer which maketh filthie Iucre the finall cause of his buying and selling a thinge too apparauntlie appearing in the practize of so manie as doe buie their wares wyth a predeterminate purpose to sell them dearer agayne the propertie of theyr sayde wares remayning vnchaunged and their charges considered vndoubtedlie that mannes buying and selling is meerelie wicked because it proceedeth from a couetous intent and desire of riches which is euermore a sinne not onelie directlie againste the laste Commaundemente b Exod. 20. 17. which saieth Thou shalt not couet thy neighbours goodes but also flat opposit and contrarie to the law of nature a Math. 7. 12. which willeth vs to do to euerie man as we would be done vnto our selues for this saith Christ is the law and the prophets Ingroser Will you then condemne this trade of buying and selling because of some abuses incident vnto it This me thinke is absurd Anabaptisticall and wicked No-bodie I defie the Anabaptists and all their hereticall opinions with no lesse detestation then I abhorre all abuses in buying and selling touching the simple allowance whereof I haue answered partlie before Neither was it the mind of the Apostle b 1. Thes 4. 6. as I taught frō my text simplie to condemne the faculty it selfe For wheras hee onelie forbiddeth the oppression the guile and those fraudulent fetches whych commonlie are incident to buying and selling who seeth not how by the Antithesis he couertly includes a speciall commandement concerning true dealing therein And yet notwithstanding this his simple lowance thereof no wise man I am sure will denie but that manie questions maie grow concerning this matter Ingroser But before we come to these questions I pray you tell mee in trueth whether you thinke this trade in it selfe to be simplie lawfull or flatlie forbidden No-bodie Albeit you buyers and sellers euen by the verie qualitie of that gaine whyche you gette for your wares maie not onelie in some sort bee iustlie approoued but also in some sorte agayne most iustlie reprooued because gayne is commonlie of two sortes I meane either honest or filthie yet notwithstanding the trade of it selfe I graunt to bee meerelie lawefull And againe whereas manie of our Buyers and Sellers bewitched with a blinde and inordinate desire of riches doe both blaspheme the Lorde for their losses grow vnthankefull to him for their gaines yea and oft times also with lying swearing and forswearing themselues doe sell foorth vnto others theyr wares at an vnreasonable reckoning yet this I account rather a fault of the man then of the matter it selfe and therefore doe not thynke the trade for these causes shoulde bee simplye condemned Pedler Then you doe not simplie deny the thing it selfe as vnlawfull but onelie in respect of the abuses belonging vnto it No-bodie It is verye true For as some thinges are flatlie forbydden not by waye of cyrcumstaunce onelie but because they bee also euill in their owne nature namely addulterie murther theft and suche lyke which in no wise maie bee practized of anie wythout a manyfest breache of the lawe of GOD So there are some thynges agayne which be forbydden onelie as it were by occasion not because they are euill of them selues but for that by reason of theyr manifolde abuses great euils oft tymes doe ensue the practize of them as wyne meate fyer water and such lyke Which things albeit in their proper nature they are most necessarie and commodious for man yet oftentimes we see euen in a miserable experience that by their abuse they are turned to his destruction In the selfe same condition consisteth this your facultie of buyinge and sellinge Which although in the owne nature the same bee not euill Yet notwithstanding it maie bee vnlawfull by reason of the abuses incident vnto it Ingroser Thys then I suppose to bee the whole skope of your speeche namelye that the facultie of it selfe is in no wise to bee simplye forbidden notwithstanding the abuses befallyng vnto it No-bodie It is euen the same For as wyne meate fyer water and suche lyke are notwithstanding theyr abuses in no wise to bee vtterlie taken from man but onelie the abuses themselues to bee refourmed So surelie this your facultie of buying and selling albeit manie abuses are incident vnto it maie at no hande bee barred from the common societie of men but onelie the abuses thereof by the Magistrate must seuerelie be punished Pedler You prattle verie much of the abuses in buying and selling I pray you sir what one abuse are you able to name therein No-bodie I prattle not good brother I speake the trueth And wheras our nature is giuen commonly to voate on the thing it desireth Yet would I not haue you so stubbornelie addicted to the swaie of vnbrydeled affections as nothing maye mooue you to acknowledge those euident abuses whych by apparaunt demonstrations maye plainelye bee prooued Ingroser Well sir you haue hytherto handled the lawfulnes of buying and selling describing