Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
nature_n	civil_a	creature_n	great_a	79	3	2.0851	3	false

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10738	A sermon against oppression and fraudulent dealing: preached at Paules Crosse, the eleuenth of December, by Charles Richardson, preacher at Saint Katherines neare the Tower of London	Richardson, Charles, fl. 1612-1617.	1615 (1615)	STC 21017; ESTC S121051	31,098	45

Psal 101.7 And the Prophet Dauid protesteth that hee would not suffer a deceitfull person to dwell within his house This is also confirmed by diuers reasons First as was said of the former sinne so this also is against nature And this the heathen man affirmeth (a) Cum duobus modis aut vi aut fraude fiat iniuria fraus quasi vulpeculae vis Leonis videtur c. Cic. offic lib. 3. Seing iniury sayth he is done two wayes eyther by force or by fraud fraud doth as it were belong to a Foxe and force to a Lion but both of them are most repugnant to the nature of man yet of the two fraud is worthy of greater hatred Secondly it is against ciuill society Man is a sociable creature And this is the Law euen of naturall society that whatsoeuer wee would that men should do to vs wee bee ready to doe the same to them and on the other side Mat. 7.12 whatsoeuer wee would not that men should doe to vs we do not so much as offer it to them Otherwise there can be no commerce nor trafficke vsed amongst men For as Thomas Aquinas sayth well Because man is a sociable creature 2.2 ae q. art 3. one man naturally oweth that to another without which humane society cannot be preserued but men cannot liue and conuerse together vnlesse they may belieue and trust one another as manifesting the truth one to another Thirdly it is a kinde of theft as it is agreede vpon by the most Diuines olde and new Hierome writing vpon that place to the Ephesians In Eph. 4.28 Let him that stole steale no more c. hath these words Because it is an hard matter for them that are conuersant in the affairs of this life though they bee free from other passions Furtum nominans omne quod alterius damno quaeritur as fornication c. not to be guilty of theft therefore now he warneth the Ephesians that by occasion of gaine they incurre not the danger of theft calling that theft whatsoeuer is gotten by another mans losse And Erasmus said Shew mee a lyar and a deceitfull person Ethic. Christ lib. 2. and I will shew thee a thiefe And Danaeus If any man sayth he by craft or deceit procure losse and dammage to another certainely he is a thiefe Last of all it is against Christianity which requireth plaine and open dealing amongst men The heathen Orator could say a Inter bonos benÃ¨ agier oportet sine fraudatione Cic. Offic. lib. 3. Vse Ier. 5.27 Amongst good and honest men there should be good and honest dealing and without deceit Much more should they that professe themselues Christians be thus affected Here then are iustly reproued all kinds of fraudulent and deceitfull dealing A thing so common at this day as wee may say with the Prophet As a cage is full of birds so are mens houses full of deceit thereby they are becom great and waxen rich Now there are many kinds of this sin I will onely insist in that which is vsed in contracts in buying and selling Marchants and Tradesmen haue been of olde condemned generally for couetousnesse and bad dealing As a nayle in the wall sayth the Wise-man Eccl. 27 2. sticketh fast betweene the ioynts of the stones so doth sinne sticke betweene the selling and the buying whereupon among the Hebrues a Marchant is deriued of a verbe that signifieth to deceiue I do not deny but that negotiation and trading is good in it selfe and very necessary for men For God hath so ordered the matter that as no Country so no man is sufficient of himselfe but must supply his wants by buying of another Hence innumerable benefites doe redound to mankind yea the whole world almost by this meanes is brought into a communion fellowshippe But now the malice of men hath filled it so full of deceitfull trickes that many Chapmen are little better then theeues and robbers That which was spoken of the followers of Antichrist may bee fitly applyed vnto them that few doe buy and sell in these dayes that haue not the marke of the beast that is Apoc. 13.17 that vse not lying and dissembling They haue so many false shifts to deceiue those that deale with them that if a man had Argus his eyes he should hardly secure himselfe from being ouerreached It is not for nothing that their trades are called Mysteries for there is a mystery of iniquity in theÌ„ And Crafts for as they vse the matter there is little but craft and deceit in their dealing (a) Qui cauet ne decipiatur vix cauet etiam cum cauet etiaÌ„ cum cauisse ratus saepe is cautor captus est Plaut in Captiu Let a man be neuer so circumspect and looke neuer so well to himselfe yet it will goe hard but hee shall bee fetched ouer by one tricke or other (b) Stobaeus ex Theopompo It was a custome in Athens that when men bought or solde any thing they came before the Magistrate appointed for that purpose and there tooke a solemne oath that they had not dealt fraudulently nor vsed any cunning or deceit But it is farre otherwise with vs for both in buying selling euery man almost Mic. 7.2 as the Prophet sayth hunteth his brother with a net As it is reported of the fish Polypus that when shee lyeth in waite for other fishes Aelian var hist lib. 1. cap. 1. shee changeth her colour into the colour of the rocke and so the fishes are caught before they be aware in a net which by nature she hath behind her head and can spread it at her pleasure So doe the Trades men of these dayes when a man commeth to them they insinuate themselues into him with the fayrest and smoothest words that can be deuised but if he take not the better heede there is a net spred to ensnare him and it will bee hard if he be not caught But it will be obiected I compell no man to buy my commodities I onely shew them and make the price let the buyer looke to it Caueat emptor But the Heathen man will tell thee (b) In sidiae sunt tendere plagas etsi excitaturus non sis nec agitaturus c. Cic. lib. 3. Leu 25.14 that it is bad dealing in thee to spread a net for thy brother though thou doest not hunt him and driue him into it for the wilde beasts many times fall into the net that is laid for them though no man pursue them The Lord gaue a strait commandement vnto the Iewes that when they solde ought to their neighbor or bought any thing of their neighbors hand they should not oppresse one another But now there is nothing more common both in buying selling First for buying It is an ordinary practise especially with great persons that if any of their neighbours haue any commodity that lyeth fit for their vse as Naboths

Vineyard did for Ahab they must haue it from him by one meanes or other If he be vnwilling to part with it they will so weary him with continuall vexations that hee shall bee constrained to sell it whether hee will or no. (a) Ereptio est non emptio cum venditori suo arbitratu vendere non licet lib. 4. in Ver. But as Tullie said well It is rather a taking by violence then a buying when the seller may not sell at his owne choyce Againe let a poore man come and offer any commodity to sell the buyer will presently take aduantage of his pouerty and necessity and make him sell it far vnder the worth To this purpose Saint Augustine maketh mention of a certaine iester who vndertook to tel the people what they all most desired And when a great multitude were come together at the time appointed he stood vp said with a loud voice (b) Vili vultis emere charÃ¨ vendere de Trinit lib. 13. cap 3. Prou. 20.14 You desire to buy cheape and sell deare wherunto agreeth that saying of Solomon It is naught it is naught sayth the buyer but when hee is gone hee boasteth of his penny-worth Againe in selling they haue innumerable deceitfull trickes and crafty deuises whereby they set their owne soules to sale and that with such subtilty as a simple man shall neuer discerne them as though they had Gyges his ring to make them goe inuisible So that as the King of Babel sacrificed to his net Heb. 1.16 so may these sacrifice to their craft But to touch some particulars of their bad dealing First of all they offend by lying (c) Plenius aequo laudat vaenales qui vult extrudere merces Horat. lib. 2. Ep. whiles they set a far greater commendation on their wares then they deserue for so they may gaine though it bee by lying they care not They sing that song of Curio (d) Vincat vtilitas Cic. Offic. lib. 3. Let profite preuaile And yet the heathen man that neuer knew God hath taught to the shame of vs Christians that all lying must bee taken from contracts Secondly if lying will not serue the turne they adde swearing and forswearing and so as much as in them lyeth they make God a false witnesse (a) Quis metus aut pudor est vnquam properantis auari Iuuen. Sat. 14. For what sinne so haynous which a couetous wretch that maketh haste to be rich will be eyther afrayd or ashamed to commit They will sweare it cost them so much and yet rather then all fayle they will sell it better cheape they will sweare they giue you the buying and they would not sell it so good cheape to another though they neuer saw you before Thirdly they sinne in inhaunsing and raysing the price of their commodities aboue measure As the Prophet saith Amos 8.5.6 They make the shekell great that they may buy the poore for siluer and the needy for shooes This is the practise of them that ingrosse a commoditie into their hands when it is cheape and keepe it vp till it be deare that so they may sell it at their owne price The very light of nature hath condemned this sinne as the Heathen Orator putteth this case to such persons Offic. lib. 3. namely If a man in the time of a great dearth bring a Ship from beyond Sea laden with corne and know that there are a great many more Ships comming within a few dayes if he dissemble this and take aduantage of the present want and sell his corne at too high a rate hee is condemned for hard and vniust dealing This poynt is very well determined by Thomas Aquinas 2. 2 ae q. 77. art 1. Buying and Selling saith hee was deuised for the common good of both parties and in that respect it ought not to bee a greater grieuance to one then to another and therfore a contract ought to be made according to the equality of the thing and that must bee measured according to the price that is giuen And therefore if eyther the price exceede the worth of the thing or the thing exceede the price the equalitie of iustice is taken away And therefore to sell dearer or to buy cheaper then the thing is worth is in it selfe vniust and vnlawfull Fourthly they offend in shewing one thing and selling another And herein they are their Crafts-masters for they haue such cunning conueyance and sleight of hand as a simple man cannot suspect much lesse discerne them Fifthly they sinne in vsing false waights and vniust measures making as the Prophet sayth Amos. 8.5 the Ephah as small as they make the shekel great This is most abominable in the sight of God as Solomon sayth Prou. 11.1 False ballances are an abomination vnto the Lord. To this purpose there was a very straite charge in the Law Deut. 25 13.14 Thou shalt not haue in thy bagge two manner of waights a great and a small neyther shalt thou haue in thy house diuers measures a great and a small but thou shalt haue a right and iust waight 15. a perfite and a iust measure shalt thou haue that thy dayes may bee lengthned in the land which the Lord thy God giueth thee 16. for all that do such things and all that doe vnrighteously are abomination vnto the Lord thy God And the Lord speaketh with indignation to the people of Israel Mic. 6.10.11 Are yet the treasures of wickednesse in the house of the wicked the scant measure that is abominable Shall I iustifie the wicked ballances and the bagge of deceitfull waights As if he should say I will not iustifie but condemne them Besides waights and measures are instruments as it were of iustice and equity for thereby things that are vniust should bee reduced vnto equity And therefore if there bee any iniquity in them it is so much the more displeasing vnto God And looke how much men take from the iust measure so much of the wrath and displeasure of God doe they purchase to theÌ„selues In a word therfore let all men remember what the Lord requireth in this case Yee shall not do vniustly Leu. 19.25.36 saith he in iudgement in metyard in waight or in measure yee shall haue iust balances true waights a true Ephah and a true Hin I am the Lord c. But if the waights measures be in themselues neuer so right and iust yet if they haue cunning trickes to falsifie them by deceit Amos. 8.5 that a man cannot haue that hee payeth for it is all alike odious in the sight of God Sixthly they sinne in selling bad and vnprofitable wares in stead of good As the Prophet complaineth of the Iewes Amos. 8.6 that they would sell the refuse of the wheate It is a lamentable thing to see what baggage stuffe Apothecaries and Chandlers sell to poore people and make them pay as deare as if it

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