Usury Stated Overthrown, Treatise · Preliminaries – Part 1
PRELIMINARIES.
NUMBER I.
HAving received ſince the coming forth of my Uſurer Caſt, ſeveral Papers and Letters ſent to me by ſundry perſons, Miniſters and others: ſome being for me, to encourage me; and others againſt me, to daunt me:
I thought it neceſſary to vindicate the truth, and the (a)The honour of our Profeſſion muſt be defended; Phil. Caeſar. againſt Uſury.honour of my Profeſſion, and to reſolve tender Conſciences too, by anſwering what is asked of me, and alſo is objected againſt me; and eſpecially, a certain Pamphlet, wherein I am called, The Cenſurer examined. And that for theſe cauſes.
1. (b)Facile eſt aliquem videri reſpondiſſe ſr tacere noluerit. Auguſt.Becauſe it is carried upon the wings of fame, that thereby I am confuted, becauſe my Opponent would not be ſilent.
2. Becauſe it was given out that I could not anſwer it. But withal, I reſolved to name no man or Author of that or any other writing, for great and weighty cauſes; and alſo to omit what might put any of my adverſaries in any danger: contenting my ſelf with this, that it is granted me by my chief Antagoniſt, that the Biſhops alſo decry all Uſury. Which maketh mightily for me, that ſuch learned, renowned and great men, of whom ſome have been glorious Martyrs, which have given their bodies to be burned for Chriſt, have decried all Uſury, as well as my worthleſs ſelf, and are on my ſide, and therein agree with me, as I with them. But to the matter.
As for the Title given to my Book, Uſury's Champions ſhamefully diſarmed and beaten, I ſhall now give this account for it.
NUM. II.
1. I ſtile it ſo, and take my Examiner to be the chief, and The Champion▪ as he calls me The Cenſurer; becauſe he is, or at leaſt will be accounted ſo, as preſuming to encounter with the moſt famous, holy and learned men which have flouriſhed in old time, and of late; viz. thoſe of the Council of Nice, and that of Agatha, and Biſhop Hall: whom he goes to confute in his Pamphlet: and famous Bolton too, and learned Trap, and Drexelius and Bertoldus alſo; as if he were ſuch a man as could examine and confute any learned man, though never ſo much eſteemed and admired by others, which are his betters. So that the Uſurers of our time, I ſpeak Ironically, could not have ſuch another Champion if they had gon over all Devon, yea, all England: for none elſe doth appear ſo againſt ſuch Worthies as he doth: which compelleth me to ſtyle him The Champion. But I ſubjoyn withal,
Firſt, Shamefully (a)Arma autem ſunt exceptiones, replicationes, triplicationes. Doctor Freig. in ſuis Rudim.diſarmed; like bleſſed Bolton's Adverſary, M. S. of whom famous (b)Bagſhaw in Bolton's Life.Bagſhaw writeth thus. That being a man of no great Note, and of leſs Learning, he thruſt himſelf upon the greateſt infelicity of War: as firſt to be Diſarmed, and afterwards to be killed in the Field with his own Weapons. [And with their Auxiliary Forces lamentably beaten.] Whereby I underſtand Replies, Exceptions, Allegations and Abetters: which being compared with thoſe mighty and numerous Forces and ſtrength of Uſuries Adverſaries, are but as Pigmees and Graſs-hoppers to them, and therefore could not ſtand before them; but were forced to put themſelves to flight, (a)And ſome to recant.and ſo totally routed. For how can Error ſtand before Truth, and Stubble before the fire of God's Word? which utterly forbids and condemns Uſury to the pit of Hell?
Thus much concerning this Title.
NUM. III.
Now, before I enter that Controverſial Sea of Matter, I will do as I did firſt, when I prayed, ſaying, O my God, do thou ſtand by me, a poor weak feeble Creature, as thou ſtoodſt by David; for I mean to go againſt this Goliah in thy Name, &c. So I will pray again, becauſe the Lord did then hear me graciouſly; and this ſhall be my Petition: O thou Lord of Hoſts, forſake me not in this new and ſecond encounter, for I put my ſole and whole truſt in thee; and thou haſt formerly heard me graciouſly, when I cried unto thee, ſaying, Lord help me: anſwerably whereunto, I will cry unto thee again three times, Lord help me, Lord help me, Lord help me, againſt my Adverſaries, as the people of (b)As Fox reports it.Merindal once did cry againſt the Duke of Savoy's Armies; hoping to prevail, as that people did then.
Thus I frame my Supplication here.
And thou, Lord, knoweſt; how, as I went on from time to time with the writing of this Book; ſaying alluſively, like David, as he went; O my Son Abſalom, would God I had died for thee; O Abſalom, my Son, my Son, 2 Sam. 18.33. So, O Abſalom, Abſalom▪ poor Uſurer, who art a Rebel too, as Abſalom was, againſt thy Father by Creation; would God, I could perſwade thee to die to that great, that grievous, that loathſome, that damnable ſin of Uſury, that thou mayeſt not die for it everlaſtingly.
And ſometimes thus: Lord, let that good and mighty Wind, whoſe name is the Holy Ghoſt, now blow upon me, a poor weak Veſſel of thine; that being ſet upon by mine Enemies, in this controverſial Sea of Uſury-matter, I may prevail; and thereupon many a poor ſoul that fought under Uſuries Banner may be overcome, won, converted and ſaved: So that I cannot but expect a joyful iſſue; only be thou my Helper, O my God and Deliverer. Amen.
And one thing more I cannot conceal from the poor Uſurer caſt; That when I had ended this Treatiſe. I could not but, David-like, who faſted for his enemies, Pſal. 35.13. obſerve a day of Humiliation for him alſo, that he may be converted; which God grant.
NUM. IV.
In the next place, I ſhall, according to my uſual proceeding. premiſe a Preface, and place it next to my Prayer.
The Heavens, which are ſo clothed with ſhining light, ſo beautiful with a Canopy of gayeſt colours, ſo beſpangled with ſparkling Diamonds, [the Stars I mean] declare the glory of God, Pſal. 19.1. But ſo do not our Uſurers. For they do rather, as much as in them lieth, unglorifie God; in that,
1. They [I mean ſome of them] do lend their Mony wittingly upon Uſury to ſuch as will ſpend it upon their luſts, (ſome of them) and upon their drunkenneſs (others,) and in playing it away in Carding and Dicing (others,) as long as they can borrow any Mony after Six in the Hundred, which they call moderate Uſury, to the undoing of their Wives and Children.
2. They are ſo far from declaring the Glory of God, and honouring that great and glorious Majeſty, as that they give great occaſion to the enemies of the Lord to blaſpheme, as did David by his Adultery and Murther, Both which, grave and great (a)Ambroſe de Tob. c. 15. Cato in Cic. Calvin in Pſal. 15. Phil. Caeſar againſt Uſury, p. 3.Writers paralel with Uſury.
2. In that they make men to blaſpheme the God of Heaven, like thoſe, Rev. 16.11. becauſe of their Plagues, ver. 9. Becauſe men do look upon uſuries and Uſurers as the Plagues of the World, like theſe which God ſent againſt, and into the World, according to the aforeſaid place; which maketh men ſo to blaſpheme, and to (b)Obſervabis iſta Uſurariis potiſſimum objici. Guat. in Amos 8.charge theſe Uſurers, with their preſſures, to be the cauſe thereof.
2. They diſhonour God; cauſing men to (a)Unde Muſculus in Pſal. 109.11. vocat foeneratores, maledictionis Miniſtros. And Biſhop Jewel, in 1 Theſ. ſaith, Uſury is always the Curſe of God and the People.curſe, not only God, but themſelves alſo, for their curſed Trade of Uſury; whereby they ruin themſelves and their families, and many others beſides, according to Jer. 15.10. Every man does curſe me.
I know my chief Adverſary will be very much diſpleaſed with me for this, [though others alſo ſay and write the ſame] as his Papers ſent to me do prognoſticate it. Concerning which,
1. I will only ſay thus much in this Preface, that I do not regard his diſpleaſure at all manifeſted and diſcovered in it.
2. That when firſt I ſaw it, I wondred, that after ſo many mortal Wounds given by ſo many ſharp Pens of a number of holy and learned Writers, to that Abſalom, that Rebel, that damnable ſin, called Uſury, which ſo rebelleth againſt God; yet it ſhould perk up again, and lift up its head again, and be defended, even by ſome Miniſters of the Goſpel, againſt the Goſpel, for filthy lucres ſake, and contrary to ſo many ſacred Councils which have prohibited it.
And I wondred alſo, that when all other Miniſters were ſilent; yea, diverſe both Prelatical and Anti-prelatical Divines encouraged me by Letters and otherwiſe, by and in diſcourſes, he only ſhould riſe up in Arms againſt me, in deteſtable Uſuries Defence.
NUM. V.
But when I conſidered (b)Which, what an unbeſeeming thing it is for a Miniſter, that of Euſebius, out of Apollonius, about Montanus, Doth a Prophet exerciſe Uſury? does ſufficiently declare.how eaſie it was for a man which is enamoured with that profitable and ſoul-deſtroying Evil, and for this young man, my Adverſary, to collect together ſome Arguments out of thoſe new Writers, which defend a certain kind of Uſury, with Cautions, and then vent them, to get a Name, and to give out that he has confuted me. And I was told beſides, that this ſame young man himſelf alſo, putteth his Mony to Uſury. I left wondring, becauſe I ſaw then the cauſe of his writing againſt me, and entring into the Field of Mars with me, by his contending with me, even as M. S. bleſſed Bolton's Adverſary, did contend with him about Uſury, to defend it, by reaſon of a Sermon which that holy man preached againſt Uſury, whereof he was guilty; as that learned and noted Parliament-man, Mr. Bagſhaw, reports it. (a)Aug. in Pſal. 15.And ſo to go on with this my Preface, I reſolved upon three things.
1. That I would not hearken to him, but God; as bleſſed Auſtin adviſeth me, ſaying, I have not written it; viz. what is written, Pſal. 15.5. He that putteth not his Money to Uſury. Hear God, and not a Minister; He may be an Uſurer himſelf.
2. I reſolved to value his ſayings and barkings againſt me the leſs, becauſe I remembred what a moſt able and learned Author (b)Mr. Moſs.writeth in his Dedicatory Epiſtle, prefixed before his Book againſt Uſury, to the Arch-biſhop of Canterbury, in theſe words: Your Grace is reported to be one who neither lendeth nor taketh upon Uſury; which is not in this Age every ſuch man's commendation: and therefore, being free from that ſin, you may the more freely give ſentence upon the ungodlineſs thereof. According to which ſaying, I thought this young writer to be very unfit to meddle with this controverſie, and to judge me, and to paſs ſentence upon me after examination: (to reflect upon his Title) and ſo reſolved to ſlight his appearing for Uſury againſt me; who, together with a Cloud of able, holy and learned Divines, old and new, appear againſt it, and all the Defendants of it.
3. I reſolved alſo, that, ſeeing Providence has ſo ordered it moſt remarkably, that this Champion ſhould riſe up againſt me in Arms, as it were, and to rowze me up by all manner of provocations, given me from the beginning, and firſt line of his Paraphraſe, to the very end thereof, wherein he would fain make a Uſurer of me alſo, by a falſe report: I ſay me, who never lent any Money upon Uſury in all my life time, that by God's mighty help, I will now go to the very bottom of that moſt deep dead and dangerous Sea of Uſury, which has overflown a great part of this and other Countries alſo, in our European Orb, to the ſpoil and ruin of many thouſands, thouſands, thouſands, who make a moſt ſad out-cry about it, like thoſe in Nehemiah. 5.1. ſo that their cry goeth up, even to Heaven.
The Lord my God ſtrengthen, aſſiſt and enable me to go thorow with this great, noble and mighty work (a)As Daneus calls it.with a proſperous ſucceſs; ſo as that many a poor Uſurer's ſoul may repent, and not continue any longer in that great and griev… ſin; be ſaved, and not damned; live, and not die to all Eternity, according to that moſt dreadful ſentence, H'as given forth upon Uſury, foreign, and h'as taken encreaſe, foreign, mark, any encreaſe, or overplus; not foreign, or vehement biting only: ſhall he then live? he ſhall not live, he ſhall ſurely die, his blood ſhall be upon him, Ezek. 18.13.
NUM. VI.
But to the main matter it ſelf, after this Preface; which I will methodize after this manner: dividing it into four Sections, and diſtinguiſh each Section into Numbers, as our new Caſuiſts do; becauſe my Adverſary will needs make me a new Caſuiſt too.
The Firſt Part will comprize his Examinations of the two firſt Chapters of my Uſurer Caſt.
The Second, My Anſwers given to the Examinations of my third, fourth and fifth Chapters; together with ſome certain Numbers joyned with the reſt, as concerning the ſame Subject.
The Third, My Defence made againſt his and other Oppoſites, Impugnations and Inſults made againſt my Sixth and Seventh Chapters.
The Fourth, my Reſiſtance made againſt his and other Adverſaries encountring with, and aſſaulting of my Eighth and Ninth Chapters.
And ſeveral Additions; viz. of a Narrative, and the Uſurer's laſt Will and Teſtament, mentioned in the Table of the chief Contents of this. Together with ſundry Exhortations, and ſome Tranſcripts; And a final Supplication.
THE FIRST PART.
NUMBER I.
HIS Title is, The Cenſurer examined: or, a Conſideration of Mr. Jelinger's Uſurer Caſt.
The later part whereof I have nothing to ſay to; but the former I cannot but diſcuſs and deal with according to its deſert.
And Firſt, Not to ſpeak much of the Name he beſtoweth upon me, calling me The Cenſurer; as if there were none like me: but only this more, beſides that which I have ſaid already upon my Title which I give him; that thoſe Judicious Readers, which have read my Book, and Biſhop Downam's, and Mr. Bolton's, have given this verdict upon the three; that both the one, and the other have dealt more roughly with the Uſurer than I.
Secondly, In the ſecond place, I ſhall obſerve in the word Examined, this Man's
1. Arrogancy.
2. Boldneſs and Impudence.
1. Arrogancy: That, being but one of the lower Form of Scholars, he will take it upon him to (a)I ſay, examine others, when he ſhould have put an Anſwer firſt to Mr. Smith's Examination of Uſury in his Second Sermon againſt Uſury.examine ſuch as are paſſed and gone from Form to Form, and from Univerſity to Univerſity; yea, (which I muſt needs add) will examine the Theſes in the Univerſity of Wittemberg diſputed againſt Uſury, ſo as to condemn them for bringing Uſury by their reaſonings (as if his reaſoning were better) into greater credit and requeſt than ſome are aware of, in his 97th Page. Which, whether it be not height of Arrogancy, let the Reader judge.
NUM. II.
2. Of his Boldneſs. That, being but a young Man, he would preſume to examine ſuch a deep Subject; and to be Defender, yea, Judge of ſuch a Controverſie, when all his other elder Brethren in this Country, and elſewhere are ſilent. But I do, upon this Obſervation, remember, 1. What my old deceaſed friend, Mr. Hughes did write of ſuch another young Man, who would needs diſpute with him, and challenged him for it; that he was Omnium Juvenum audaciſſimus, Of all young Men the moſt audacious. (a)A Defender of that moſt odious ſin of Uſury, properly ſo called, and now practiſed by our Uſurers. Where I deſire to cite, for the Impudency of this Defence, that Illuſtrious ſaying of Lavater, (Cemment on Ezek. 2. Homil.) Our Age wants not Men of whom Uſuries, and other Crimes, (Mark, he calls Uſury a Crime) are moſt impudently defended.Which may well and moſt fitly be applyed to this alſo. 2. I remember alſo, what I have read in a certain Author; who writing againſt Uſury, as I do, dedicated his Book to an old great Lord; ſaying, The Queſtion of Uſury being controverted in theſe days among many Divines, requireth an Arbiter of much reading and experience. And if no Man chuſeth a young Man for a Judge, or a Guide, becauſe there is no ſufficient evidence of their Wiſdom; then ſhould I have ſhewn my ſelf a very young Man, if I had choſen any that is young to be a determiner of this Controverſie.
Let the Reader apply now this old grave Author's Saying to the preſent caſe. I, for my part, will cloſe up this Obſervation with that noted ſaying of Occolampadius: (b)Oecolampadius, Epiſt. 16. l. 1.De Uſuris judicare non eſt omnium: Every Man is not a fit Judge in this caſe of Uſury. And Ariſtotles Verdict concerning young Men; Quod non conſtat …os eſſe prudentes: That it is not evident that they are ſo prudent. That is, prudent ſufficiently.
NUM. III.
Having done with this Man's Title, I proceed to his Premiſes, And,
Firſt, I have this to ſay therein of this young Philoſopher; who ſo begins with his Philoſophy, when he ſhould inchoate foreign, with God, and with his holy Word, to make his matter good; that his wrong which he doth me, charging me with Confuſion and height of uncharitableneſs, is ſo great, as that I muſt needs vindicate my ſelf in a more than ordinary manner, becauſe he aſſaults me ſo hotly in ſuch an unuſual manner, beyond the bounds of all Civility, and the example of all others that have written of, for, or againſt that dreadful ſin of Uſury. So that he muſt expect to have the like meaſure meaſured out unto him, with which he meaſures unto me, in this my Defence. And,
1. Whereas he chargeth me with a Chaos, becauſe I couple, as he ſaith, the groſſeſt Oppreſſion and moſt griping Exaction with the leaſt Expectation; be it a Mite, or Cup of cold Water, upon the account of Mony lent: and becauſe I do not diſtinguiſh as he would have me, viz. between griping Uſury and moderate. I muſt thereupon needs retort, and tell him, that his Pamphlet is a Confuſion and a Chaos indeed. For, 1. Where are his Parts, his Sections, his Diviſions, throughout his whole Pamphlet? Is not the whole Body of it out of Joynt? Which cauſed one who read it to ſay, that it had neither Head nor Tail.
2. Doth he diſtinguiſh between the ſeveral kinds of Uſury as he ought (ſave only between the moſt griping Uſury and his moderate, which is for his tooth?) No, no.
3. As for me: Becauſe he finds ſuch fault in me for not diſtinguiſhing, I will therefore now diſtinguiſh more than yet I did, though I know he will not like it.
And Firſt, between that which is (a)Qu… aperta facie eſt quod dicitur. Eraſmus, in Pſal. 15.manifeſt, and the cloaked, which, in all likelihood, is omitted by him, becauſe palliated Uſury comes too cloſe home to his Lending. For Divines tell us that it is committed thus.