118 When Ujt~ry u jinful. Cafes about Lending. 9· 2 5• 11. That there is a fcrt of Vfury which is tvil I know of no man that doubteth , and therefore need not fiand to prove. Q;!ei\. When i1 Vfury frnful l An[w. As is before faid, When its again!\ either Juftice or Charity; 1. When its like cheating bargaining, which un~cr pretence of confent and a form of ]ufiice doth deceive, or opprefs, and get from another that which is not truly ours but bH. 2· When you lend for incrc:afe where charity ob– l~geth you to le~d f~eely: Even as it is a fin. to lend expecting ~our own again, ':"hen Charity ob– hgeth you to gtvc It. 3· When you unchantably exact th't whiCh your brother IS difabled utterly to pay, and ulc cruelty to procure it, (be it the Vfe or the principal). 4· when you allow him not fuch a proportion of the gain as his l.tbour, hazud or poverty doth require ; but bc:caufe the money is yours, will live at eafe upon his labours. 5· When in cafe of his loffcs you rigoroufly ex· act your due, without that abatement, or forgiving debts (whether Vfe or principal, ) which hu– manity and charity require. In a word, when you are{tlfijh and do not as, according to true judge~ ment, you may defire to be done by, if you were in his cafe. · ~- 26. ~d\. But when am I bound to txercife thiJ charity, in Hot-takJng u[e l A1'.{w. As I laid before', 1.JYhen ever you have no more urgent, and ncl:etfary,and excellent work to lay out that mm1ey on, which you are fo to receive. 2· Yea, though another work may be in i: felfbetter, (as to relieve many poorer better men with that rnoney)yet when you cannot take it,without the utter undoing of the debtor, and bringing him into as bad a cafe, as any fingle perfon whom you would relieve, it is the fafer fide to leave the other unrelieved, ( unlefs it be aperfon on whom the publick good much dependeth ) rather than to extort your own from fuch a one to giv< another. Becau{e that which you cannot get, without a fcandalous appearance of 'ruelty, is quead jus iJJ re not yours to give, till you can better get potreffion ofit: And therefore God will not expect that you fl1ould give ic to another. ~· 27· •In all this I imply that as yo ufi prefer the livts of others in giving Alms, before your own convenicncieJ and cornfortJ, and muft not fay, I cannot [pare it, when your nectffity may fpak·e it, though not your ple.jure: So alfo in taking Ufe, of thofe that you are bound to £hew charity to, the fame rule and proportions mufi be obferved in your charity. 9. 28. Note alfo, that in all this it appmeth, that the cafe is but gradually different, between taking theVfe and taking the pri<cipal. For when the reafon for remitting is the fame , you are as well bound to remit the principal as the Ufe-. 9· 29. But this difference there is, that many a man of low efiatc may afford to lend freely to a poorer man for a'little cime 1 who cannot afford to give it. And pruden'e may direCt us to choofe one man to lend freely to (a, a time, becaufe of his fudden nmffity, when yet another is fitrer to give it to. 9· 30. Que!\. 13. 11 lmding aduty l If fo, muftI lend to aU ·that ask me l or to whom 1 An[w. Ltnding is a duty, when we have it, and our brothers neceffity rcquircth it, and true pru.. dcnce tellcth us, that we haven\) better way to lay it out, which is in,onfillent with that. And there– fore rich men ordinarily ihould both lend and give as prudence {hall direct. Bur there is an imprudent and fa a finful ltnding: As, 1. When you will lend that which is anothers, and you have no power to lend. 2. When you lend that which you mufi needs require again, while you might eafily forefee that the borrower is not like eo pay. Lend nothing but what you have either great. probability will be repayed, or elfe which you are willing to give in cafe the debtor cannot or will not pay; or at leafi when fuing for ir, 'will not have fcandalous and worfe effeCl:s than not lending. For it is very ordinary when you come to demand it and fue for it, to flir up the hatred of the debtor againft: you, and to make him your enemy, and to break his charity by your imprudent charity : In fuch acafe, if you are obliged to relieve him, give him fo much as you can fpare, rather than lend him that which you cannct fpare, but mull fue for. In fuch cafes, if Charity go not without Prudmce, nor pmdmce without charity, you may well enough fee when to lend, and how much. 9· 3•·· Qlef\. '4· Is it lawful to ta/;! upon Vfury in neceffity, when the Creditor Joth unjuftly o" un– mercifuUy rtqHire it l Anfw. Not, in cafe that the confcquents ( by encouraging fin or otherwife ) be like to do more hutt, than the money will do you good. Elfe, it is lawful, when it is for your bendit: As it is lawful to take part of your wages for your work, or part of the worth of your commodity, when you cannot have the whole : And as it is lawful to purchafe your tights of an enemy, or your life of a Thief as is aforefaid. A man may buy his own benefit of an unrighteous man. ~· 3 2. Q!efi. '5· Doth not conJralling for a certain [umm ofg•iN, mab,.e V fury to bt in that cafe un– lawful, which might ,lawfuUy be ta/;!n of one thats free. An[w. Yes, in cafe that contral1ing dtttrmine an uncertai11 ctJ[e without fojficitnl cau{e As if you agree, that whether the bonower gain or lofe, and be poor or rich, I will have fo much gain : that is, whether it prove mercifu! or unmerciful, I will have it. But then in that cafe, if it fo prove un~ merciful, it may not be taken without contraCting, if freely offered. No contract may tye rhe debtor to that which is againfi Jufiice or Charity: And no contract may abfolmely require that which may prove uncharitable ; unlefs there be a tacite condition, or exception of fuch a cafe implyed. Other– wife l fee no Scripture or reafon, why a contract altereth the cafe, and may not be ufed to fecure that incrcafe which is neither unrightcous nor unmerciful: It may be the bond of equity, but not of iniquity. As in cafe of a 'crtain gain by the borrower, a ctrllin u[e may be contratted tor: A~d m
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