126 OfUfur)'· fupernaturally revealed Laws,of Mofor or of Chrifi, is nor unlawtUI. But there is fame U[ury which is againfi none of all thefc: Ergothere is fame Ufury which is not unlawful. 9. r4· I will fir{\ lay you down the intlanccs of fuch Ufury ; and then prove ir. There is a par– cel. ofLand to be fold for a thoufand pound, wh~ch is worth forty pound pu annum 1 and hath Wood on tt ~orth a thoufand pound_: ( Some fuch thmgs we have known ): ] oh1N. is willing to pur~ ch.o.fe 1t: ~ut h_e hat_h a poor nct~bour, 7:. S tha~ hat~ no money, but a great defi.re of the bargain. J. N. lovmg hts netgflbour as htmfelf, and definng hts wealth, lendeth him the thouf•nd pound up– on Ufury for one year. <[. s. buycth the Land, and {dleth the \Vood for the fame money and rc– pl)'t:th it in a year, and fo hath all the Land for almofl: nothing, as if J. N. had purchafed 'th~ Laud and fn.:dy given it him, after a year or two; The gift had been the fame. Objd:l. Hm you [uppo{e the feller wronged by felling biJ LJ11d alm•df f ,r nothing. · Anjn:-•. r. T~ats no[hing at all to the pref~nt ca[e, but a dilfcr~:nt caiCby it tC!t: 2· I can pu~ ma.. ny ca{:..s 111 whtch fuch a Iale may be made wuhout any wrong to the feller : As when it is done Uy iOme Prince, or St:ttc, or Noble a.nd libtral p~:rfon, purfofcly ddigning the innching 0f the t•.bJeds ; orafrtr a.\\'.u, asl.uelyin [rtl.md. So th.tt thequellion is, whether J. N . may notgiveT.S. a · thouldnd or eight hundred pmmds worth ot L·md, taking a years Rent firH our of the Land, or a years ufe for the monty. whtch corneth to the fame fumm. 9·15.· Anotht.r: A Rich Mtrchant trading into the Eaft Jndia,having five thoufand pound to by out upon lm ccmmoditics in Tnffick, when he harh laid out four thoufand five hundred pound, lenderh in charity the other tive hundred pound to one of his fcrvams to lay out upon a commodity, which w~c:n i~ comcth hom.e .will be worth two th~ufand pound, and olfercth him to fccurc the carri<1ge wtth Ins own; nqumng only the U[e of h1s ~oney at 6. p~rcmt. Hcre rhe taking of thirty . pound Ufe, is btu the tree giving him one thoubnd four hundred and [eventy pound, and is all Clne wi(h deduCting fo muchot the gifr. §. 16. Another Inflance: Ctrtain Orphans having nothing left them but (o much money as will by rhe allowtd llfc of ir, tind them bread and poor clothing: The guardian cannot lay it out in Land!i forrhcm: And it he maintain rhem upon the flock, ir will be quickly fpcnt, and he niufl anfwer for it: A rich m_an that is their ocighbour tradcth in Iron-works, ( Furnaces and Forges) or Lead-works or other fuch commodities, in which he co~U:antly getteth the double of the Hock which he rmployeth, or at leafi: twt my pound or forty pound ip the hundred : The Guardian dare not lend the money to any poor man, lefi he break and never be able to pay it : Therefore he kndtlh it this rich man. And if he have it without UtUry, the poor Orphans give the rich man freely twenty pound or forty pound a year fuppofing their flock to be an hundred : If he take Uii.lfy, the rich man doth but give t~e poor Orphans, fame part of his confiant gain. ~· 17· Anothu infiance: In a City or Corporation where there is a rich Trade of Clothing or making Silks, there is a llock of monty given by Legacy for the poor, and entrufted into the hands of the richdl of the City, to trade with and give the poor the Ufc of it : And there is::mothtr fiock left to fct up young beginners, who have not a flock to fee up themfclves : on conditiou thJc they gi,•e dte third part of their gain to the poor, and ~t feven yc~rs end retign the flock : The queltion is, Whether the poor 010uld be witho.ut thii U[e of their money, and lee the rich go away wnh it? or whtther they may take it ? 9· 18. Now I ptove that fuch Ufury is not forbidden by God. I . It is not forbidden"' by the Law of Mofe!: 1· Becaufe 'Aloje; L;w never did forbid it: 1-"or, J .It is cxprcfly forbidden as an act of unmercifulr.cfs ; and therefore forbidden only to the poor and to brethren, Exod. 22. 25· Levit. 2 5· 36, 37· Yea, when the poor are not named, it is the p1)0r that are meant: BLcau{c in that Coun:rey thty did not kcrp up Hocks for Merchandize or Trading, but ht u(ual\y to the needy only : Ac leait b(('cl, 22. 21. the circumftanccs of the {cvtral T<.xts 01cw,that it is only LMrN~o~g tothe needy 1 and not lending to drive ThiJH jl111/t nti· on any enriching T1Jdt:, which is meant whcte UtUry is forbidden. 2. And it is exptdly allowed th:r -vex a_ tO be ufed to fhangcrs 1 Deut. 23. 19, 20. to whom nothing unjuf\ or uncharitable might be done; ~:;~J;ri;~~,. only fuch a mvfilre of Cha1·ity was not required towards _rh~m, as unto bu:duen. And there were Ex:d 2 3. 9· more Merch.Jntf of Orangcts that traded with them in forrrign commodities, than ofJcws thar fctcht 1b!JII/b:zit _not them home: So thar the prohibition of Ufuq is in the L:l:\v it fdt. reHr<~.incd only to rhcir lending to o_)prr{s a/IJ~ll· 1 Ju poor : But in the Prophets who do but reprove the Iin, it is ex.pr.ffed withouc that limitation, , ~~~;t~;fm;~o p1rtly becaufe it fuppoferh the meaning of the Law to be known, which the Prophets did but ap· 2 firJn~cr was ply : and parrly bccaufc there was little or no lending u[cd among tht Jews, but to rhe netdy as an no opprefiilln. act of charity. 9· 19· 2· And if it had been forbidden in Mofe; Law only, it would not extend to Chriflians now: Bccault: the Law of Mr{tt ar [11ch, is not in force : The matter of it is much of the Law ofNa~ cure indeed; but as ,\olofaical, it was properto the Jews and Profdytes: or at leaf!. rxtend ...d not to the Chrif\ian Gentiks: as is plain in 2 Col'. 3· 7· Gal. 3· 19, 24· & 5· 3· Eph. 2· 15. 1 1im. 1· 7· He~. 7· 12, 16, 19· J.[,Jfu L~w as fuch never bound any other Nations, bur th:: profelyccs that jo~ncd tbcmfelvcs ro the }::ws (nor was all the world obliged fo to be profdyted as to cake up their Laws): Much Ids do they bind us thu are the fnvants of Chrifi, io long a(cer the diffolu– tion ot their Common-wealth. So much of them as arc pnt of tht Law ot N Jture, or of any poii– tive Law of Chtd\, or of the Civil Law of any State, arc binding as they are fl~eh Natural, Cbri– jli.1n or Civil Lawf, But not one of them as A1ofaical: Though the lvlof~ical Law is of grcn ufc to help us eo underHand the L1w of Natute in many particular inftances) in which it is fomew what difficult to us. ~· 20· r
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