The Anatomy of Abuses, Part 7
Great Vsurie in Ailgna.
Philo.
IT is as impossible for any to borrowe money there (for the most part) without vsurieVsury. & loane, or with out some good hostage, guage or pledge, as it is for a dead man to speak with audible voice.
Spud.
I hauehave heard say, that the positiue, and statute lawes there,The possitiue Lawes. doo permit them to take vsurye, limitting them how much to take for eueryevery pound.
Philo.
Although the ciuile lawes (for the auoiding of further inconueniences) doo permit certain sommes of money, to be giuen ouerplus beyond or abooue the principall, for the loane of mony lent, yet are y• vsurers no more discharged from the gilt of vsurie before God therby: then the adulterous Iewes were from whordome, because Moyses gaue them a permissiue law for eueryevery man to put away their wiues, that would, for eueryevery light trifle. And yet the lawes there giuegive no libertie to commit vsurie,The lawes of Ailgna permit no vsurie. but seeing how much it rageth, lest it should excéed, rage further and ouer flowe the banks of all reason and godlynes. As couetousnes is a raging sea and a bottō lesse pit, and neuer satified nor cōtented, they hauehave limited them within certain méeres, and banks (to bridle the insatiable desires of couetous men) beyond the which, it is not lawful for any to go: but this permissiō of ye lawes argueth not, that it is lawful to take vsury, no more (I say) then y• permission of Moyses argued that whordome & adulterie is lawfull & good, because Moyses permitted them to put a way their wiues, for ye auo…ding of greater euil: for as christ said to y• Iewes frō ye begīning it was not so, so sa… ▪ I to these vsurers frō the begīning it was not so, nor yet ought so to be.
Spud.
If no interest were permitted, then no man would lend, & then how should ye poor doo? wherfore the lawes y• permit some small ouer-plus therin doo very wel.
Philo.
Non faciendum est malum, vt inde veniat bonum, we must not doo euil, that good may come of it: yet the lawes in permitting certain reasonable gain to be receiued for the loane of money lent, lest otherwise the poore should quaile (for without some commoditie the rich would not lend) hauehave not doone much amisse,The lawes permit some ouerplus, but commaund it but if they had quite cut it of, and not yéelded at all to any such permission, they had doon better. But héerin the intent of the lawe is to be perpēded: which was to impale with in the Forrest, or park of reasonable and conscionable gain, men who cared not howmuch they could extorte out of poore-mens hands, for the loane of their money lent, and not to authorise any man to cōmit vsurie, as though it were lawful because it is permitted.
Therfore, those that say that the lawes there doo allow of vsury, & licence men to commit it fréely, doo slaunder y• lawes, & are woorthy of reprehension: for though the lawes say, thou shalt not take abooue ij.s. in y• pound, x.li. in a hundred, and so so foorth. Dooth this prooue y• it is lawful to take so much, or rather y• thou shalt not take more then y•? if I say to a man, thou shalt not giuegive him abooue one or two blowes, dooth this prooue y• I licence him to giuegive him one or two blowes,Forbidding to outrage in mircheef, is not permission to comit mischeef. or rather that he shal not giuegive any at al, or if he doo, he shal not excéed or passe ye bāds of resonable mesure: so this law dooth but mitigate ye penalty: for it saith y• the party y• taketh but x.li. for y• vse of an C.li. loseth but y• x.li. not his principal.
Spud.
Then I perceiue, if Usurie be not lawful by the lawes of the Realm, then is it not lawful by the lawes of God.
Philo.
You may be sure of that. For our Sauiour Christe willeth vsus to be so far from couetousnes and vsury, as he saith: giuegive to him that asketh thée,Math. 5. 6. and from him that would borrow,Luc. 6. turn not thy face away.
Againe, Lend of thy goods to them who are not able to pay thée again, and thy reward shalbe great in heauen. If wée must lend our goods then to them,The word of God against vsurie. who are not able to pay vsus again, no not so much as the bare thing lent, where is the interest, the vsurie, the gaine and ouer-plus, which we fish for so much? Therfore our Sauiour Christe saith, beatius est dare, potius quam accipere. It is more blessed to giuegive, then to receiue. In y• 22. of Exodus, Exodus. 20.Deut. 24. 23.Deut. 24. 23. Leuit. 25.Leuit. 25. Nehe. 5.Nehe. 5. Eze. 22. 18.Ezech. 22. 18. & many other places, we are forbidden to vse any kinde of vsury or interest, or to receiue again any ouer-pluss, besides the principall, either in money, corne, wine, oyle beasts, cattel, meat, drink, cloth, or any thing els what soeuer. Dauid asketh a question of the Lord saying,Psalm. 15. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle, and who shall rest in thy holy hil? wherto he giueth the solution him self saying: euen he that leadeth an incorrupt life, & hath not giuen his mony vntounto vsurie, nor taken reward against the innocent, who so dooth these things shall neuer fall. In the …5. of Deut. the Lord willeth vsus not to craue again the thing we hauehave lent to our neighbor, for it is the Lords frée yéer.When it is not lawfull to… aske again our goods lent. If it be no lawful (then) to aske again y• which is lent, (for it is not the law of good conscience for thée to exact it, if thou be abler to beare it, then the other to pay it) much lesse is it lawful to demaund any vsury or ouer-plus. And for this cause the Lord saith, let there be no begger amōgst you, nor poore person amongst the Tribes of Israel. Thus you sée the woord of God abandō neth vsurie euen to hel, and all writers bothe diuine and prophane, yea the very heathen people, moued onelyonly by the instinct of nature and rules of reason, hauehave alwaies abhord it.
Therfore Cato, Hethen men against vsury and inte…est.béeing demaunded what vsurie was, asked againe, what it was to kill a man? making vsurie equiualent with murther: And good reason, for he that killeth a a man, riddeth him out of his paines at once, but he that taketh vsury is long in butchering his pacient▪ suffering him by little & little to languish, and sucking out his hart blood, neuer leaueth him so long as he féeleth any vitall blood, (that is lu…re and gaine) comming foorth of him.vsury equall with murther. The Usurer killeth not one, but many, bothe Husband, Wife, Children, seruants, famelie and all, not sparing any.
And if the poore man hauehave not wherewith to pay▪ aswel the interest, as the principall, when soeuer this gréedy cormorant dooth demaund it, then sute shalbe cōmenced against him, out go butter-flies and writs, as thick as haile, so the poore man is apprehended, and brought coram nobis, Sute cōmenced against him that is not able to pay aswel the Vsury as the Principall.and béeing once conuented, iudgement condemnatorie and diffinitiue sentence procéedeth against him, compelling him to pay, aswel the vsury and ye loane of the money▪ as the money lent. But if he hauehave not to satisfie aswel the one as th'other, then to Bocardo goeth he as round as a ball, where he shalbe sure to lye vntil he rotte one péece from an other, without satisfaction bée made.To prison with him that cannot pay the vsury. Oh cursed Caitiue, no man but a deuil, no Christian but a cruel Tartarian, and mercilesse Turck: darest thou look vp toward heauen, or canst thou hope to be saued by the death of Christe, that sufferest thine owne flesh and blood, thine owne bretheren & sisters in the Lord, and which is more, the flesh and blood of Christ Iesus, vessels of saluation, coheirs with him of his superiall kingdom, adoptiue sonnes of his grace, & finally, saints in heauen,No mercy in imprisoning o… poor-men for vsury. to lye and …ot in prison for want of paym…nt of a little drosse, which at the day of dome, shall beare witnesse against thée, g…aw thy flesh like a canker, and condemn thée for euer: The very s…ones of the prison walles shall rise vp against thée, and condemne thée for thy crueltie, Is this looue? Is this charitie? is this to doo to others as thou wouldest wish others to doe to thée? or rather as thou wo…ldest wish the Lord to doe vntounto thée? Art thou a good member of the bodie, which not onelyonly cuttest of thy selfe from the vine,No crueltie to be shewed, but mercy and compasion ought to be extended. as a rotten brau…ch and void lop, but also he west off other members f…om the same true vine, Christe Iesus? No, no, thou art a member of the Deuil, a limme of Sathan, and a Childe of perdition.
W…e ought not to handle our bretheren in such sorte, for any worldly matter whatsoeuer. Wée ought to shew merciemercy and not crueltie to our bretheren, to remit trespasses and offences, rather then to exact punishment, re…erring all reuenge to him, who saith:
Mihi vindictam, et ego retribuam. Uengeance is mine, and I wil rewarde (saith the LORD.)
Beléeue mée, it gréeueth mée to heare (walking in the streats) the pitiful cryes, and miserable complaints of poore prisoners in durāce for debt,The petiefull crying of Prisoners in prison for dept. and like so to continue all their life, destitute of libertie, meat, drink, (though of the meanest sorte) and clothing to their backs, lying in filthie strawe, and lothsome …ng, wursse then anie Dogge, voide of all charitable consolation, and brotherly comfort in this World, wishing and thyrsting after death, to set them …ibertie, and loose them from their shackles, giues and yron bands:
Notwithstanding, some mercilesse tygers are growe… to such barbarous crueltie, that they blush not to say,A tygerlicke …yrannicall saying. tush, …e shall either paye mée the whole, or els lye the… till his héels …ot frō his butt…s, and before I will release him, I will make d…ce of his bones. But take héed thou Deuill (for I dare not call thée a Man) le…t the Lord say to thée, as he said to that wicked Seruant (who hauing great sommes forgiuen him,Math xviii. Marc. xi. wold not forgiue his Brother his small debte, but catching him by the throte, said: pay that thou owest) …ind him hands and feet, and …ast him into vtter Darknes, wher shall be weeping, and gnashing of téeth.
An Usurer is worse thā a Thief, for the one stealeth,An Vsurer worse than a Thief. but for need, the other for coueitousnes and excesse: the one stealeth, but in the night commonly, the other daylie and hourely, night and daye at all times indifferently.
An Usurer is worse than a Iew,An Vsurer worser than a Iew. for they …o this daye, will not take anye vsurie of their Brethren, according to the lawe of GOD.
They are worse than Iudas, for he betraied Christ,An Vsurer worser than Iudas. but once, made restitution, and repented for it (though his repentance sprang not of faith, but of despaire) but these Usurers betray Christ in his mēbers daylie and hourly without any remorse or restitution at all.
They are wursse then hel it self,vsurers wurss… then …el. for it punisheth but only the wicked and reprobate, but the Usurer maketh no difference of any, but punisheth all alike. They are crueller then death,An Vsurer wursse then Death. for it destroyeth but the body, and goeth no further, but the vsurer destroyeth both body and soule for euer. And to be bréef, the Usurer is wursse then the Deuil himself,An vsurer wurse then the Deuil. for the Deuill plagueth but onelyonly those that are in his hands, or els those whome God permitteth him, the Usurer plagueth not onelyonly those that are within his iurisdiction alredy, but euen all other without permission of any. Therfore saith Ambrose, if any man commit vsurie,The sayings of Godly Fathers and Writers against vsury. it is extortion, rauin & pillage, and he ought to dye. Alphonsus called vsury nothing els then a life of death. Lycurgus banished all kind of vsury out of his lands. Cato did the same. Agessilaus, Generall of the Lacedemonians, burned the Usurers bookes in the open market places. Claudius Vaspatiannus, and after him Alexander Seuerus, made sharpe lawes against vsury,Vsurers punished with sundry tortures. and vtterly extirped the same. Aristotle, Plato, Pythagoras, and generally, all writers bothe holy and prophane, hauehave sharply inueighed against this deuouring canker of vsury, & yet cannot we, that fain would be called christians auoid it. And if it be true, that I heare say, the…e be no men so great doers in this noble facultie and famous science,Scriuiners the Diuels agents to set forward Vserie. as the Scriueners be: For it is sayd (and I feare mee too true) that there are some, to whome is committed a hundred or two of poundes, of some more, of some lesse, they puttinge in good sureties to the owners for the repayment of the same againe, with certaine allowance for the loane thereof, then come there poore men to them, desiring them to lende them suche a som of money, and they wil recompence them at their owne desires, who making refusall at the firste, as though they had it not (to acuat… the minds of the poore petitioners withall) at last they lend them how much they desire, receiuing of the poore men what interest & assurāce they lust themselues, and binding them, their lands, Goodes, and all, with forfaiture thereof, if they fayle of paym…nt: where note by the way, the Scriuener is the Instrument wherby the Diue…l worketh the frame of this wicked woorke of Usurie, hee beeing rewarded with a good fleece for his labour:The Scriuiners fleece, or pittaunce for his paynes. F…r, firste he hath a certaine allowance of the Archdiuel who owes the money, for helping him to such vent for his coyne: Secondly, he hath a greate deale more vsurie to himselfe, of him who boroweth the money, than he alloweth y• owner of the mony: And thirdly, …e hath not the least part for making the writings betwene them. And thus the poore man is so implicate and wrapped in on euerie side, as it is impossible for him euer to get out of the briers, without losse of all that euer hee hath to the very skin. Thus the riche are inriched, the poore beggered, and Christ Iesus dishonored euerie way, God be mercifull vntounto vsus. De his hactenus.
Spud.
Hauing (by the grace of Christe) hytherto spoken of sundrie Abuses of that countrie, let vsus procéed a little further, howe doe they sancti…ie and kéepe the Sabbaoth day? In godly Christian exercises, or els in prophan… pastimes and pleasures?