Mr. David Jones's vindication against the Athenian Mercury concerning usury Jones, D. (David), fl. 1676-1720. 1692 Approx. 20 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 5 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2007-01 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A47041 Wing J943C ESTC R217057 99828758 99828758 33189 This keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership. This Phase I text is available for reuse, according to the terms of Creative Commons 0 1.0 Universal . The text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Early English books online. (EEBO-TCP ; phase 1, no. A47041) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 33189) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 1968:09) Mr. David Jones's vindication against the Athenian Mercury concerning usury Jones, D. (David), fl. 1676-1720. 8 p. printed, and are to be sold by Richard Baldwin, near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick Lane, [London : 1692] Caption title. Imprint from colophon. Reproduction of the original in the British Library. Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford. Re-processed by University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. Gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. 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Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements). Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site . eng Jones, David, 1663-1724? -- Early works to 1800. Usury -- Early works to 1800. 2005-12 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2006-05 Jonathan Blaney Sampled and proofread 2006-05 Jonathan Blaney Text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion Mr. DAVID JONES's VINDICATION Against the Athenian Mercury CONCERNING USURY . Gentlemen , UPon March the 5th you took upon you to answer that part of Mr. David Jones's Farewel Sermon that related to Usury . But in reality you have done no such thing . For , if you had : Then in the First place , You must have answer'd His Challenge , Pag. 35. I do here openly make this Challenge to all the Patrons of Vsury ; if they will bring me any one approved Author among the Ancients that has defended Vsury , I will bring them Fifty , I will bring them Hundreds , yea , I will bring them whole Councils and Fathers that have unanimously condemned it . And certainly that must needs be a very great Sin that , among all the Ancients , has no Patron that dares appear in it's Defence , but has All against it with one consent . And likewise , What he there quoted out of Bishop Sanderson . And till you do so , all your Answers will be nothing at all to his Sermon . And I do verily believe , that neither You , nor all Men living , will ever be able to answer him as to that particular . Secondly , You must have answer'd The 17th Canon of the first Nicene Council ( which is referred to Pag. 35. ) whereby all Usurious Clergymen were degraded from Holy Orders . Which I am credibly informed , was never done but for a Mortal Sin. And therefore , Bishop Bedel ( that most excellent Reformer of Clerical Abuses in the Church of Ireland ) thought the degrading of a Bishop was too Sacred a thing to be done meerly upon Politick Considerations ; which I would have writ in Letters of Gold. Bp. Bedell's Life , Pag. 145. As likewise the 20th Canon of the Elibertin Council ( which is referred to in the same place ) whereby all Usurious Lay-men were Excommunicated in their Life-time . As likewise the Lateran Council under Alexander the Third , where it was Decreed that all manifest Usurers should be deprived of Communion and Fellowship of Christians in their Life , and of Christian Burial after Death , till their Heirs had restored their Usury . At which Council this Question was put by Panormitan an Archbishop , Whether Usury might not be dispensed with for the Redemption of poor Christians taken Captive by the Saracens ? And the Answer he had was to this effect . Since both Old and New Testament detest the Crime of Usury , no Dispensation was to be admitted for it , no , not for so charitable a Work , as the Redemption of Christian Captives . As likewise the 109th Canon of our Church , where Usury ( not only excessive Usury , any more than excessive Adultery , but all Usury in general , the least as well as the greatest ) is thought a sufficient Crime to keep any Man from the Sacrament . And there , you must have reconciled the Canon and the Statute-Law , the one of which seems to allow of Usury , and the other Excommunicates any Man that is guilty of it . And that you might easily have done thus . The Statute-Law does not Allow Usury , but only Stints and Limits it to Six in the Hundred , and so far gives way to it , for the preventing of greater Mischiefs . And this is not enough to excuse the Usurer in the Court of Conscience . And thus the Jews deceived themselves in the matter of Polygamy and Divorce : They thought Moses's Law had allowed them in those Sins : But our Saviour shew'd them plainly , that Moses gave them only a Toleration in them for the hardness of their Hearts . The very Toleration or Permission of a thing , shews its Badness . For if it were Good , it might be done without any Toleration or Permission at all . And therefore we find in the 21 of King James the First , That no Words contained in the Law about Usury , should be Construed or Expounded to allow the practice of Vsury in point of Religion or Conscience . And therefore , notwithstanding the Statute-Law does stint and limit Usury for the avoiding of greater Evils ; yet it does not , it cannot , exempt the Usurers from Ecclesiastical Censures , but leaves them to be Excommunicated by the 109 Canon . And therefore , Dominicas à Soto de Just . & Jur. l. 1. qu. 6. Art. 2. is in the right on 't , when he says , Stews are permitted to prevent Adulteries , and Vsury to avoid Theft . As likewise , Ezek. 18. 8 , 13. Where All Vsury , and All Increase that way , though never so little , is said to be so great a Sin , that whoever is guilty of it , shall surely dye for it , and his Blood shall be upon his own Head. As likewise , Jer. 15. 10. Where it is plain , that if the Prophet had either taken or given upon Usury , every one in the whole Earth might lawfully have Cursed him . Thirdly , You must have shew'n , whether , if Usury be at all lawful ; it be so lawful as to make a Trade of it ; as Mr. Jones's former Hearers in Lombard-Street do . And there you must have answered what Bishop Sanderson says , Pag. 37. If any thing can make a Calling Vnlawful , certainly the Vsurer's Calling cannot be Lawful . And therefore , have a great care lest you by countenancing Usury after your Ability , do harden any Man in his Sin , and thereby do become guilty of his Sin , and smart for it at the Day of Judgment . He that approves or defends what Wicked Men do , is worse than those Wicked Men that do those wicked things , Rom. 1. 32. And this , ( if you will give me leave to speak freely , without thinking me Proud for presuming to direct your Society , ) is what you must have done , if you had answered Mr. Jones's Sermon . But instead of this , let us now see what it is that you have done . First of all , You have pick'd Two or Three Lines out of Pag. 34 , 38 , which you represent as His. Whereas , if you had that Charity , and Sincerity , and Respect to Truth you profess , you would have represented them as they really are in effect , the Words of God , by his Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel , whose joynt Authority he there quotes for them . Secondly , You have premised Two things , namely , That you do not intend to justifie the Rich , who exact from the Poor ; nor those who immoderately desire Gain or Increase , who are Idolaters . And yet , those very things some of Mr. Jones's former Hearers in Lombard-Street are notorious for : As you may gather from His Sermon upon Family-Duties , Pag. 19. Where he seems to tax some of them with Robbing of Orphans , Oppressing Widows , Grinding the Face of the Poor , Griping Vsury , and Suing out Pardons from the State for Extortion . And if you had loved their Souls as well as he does , notwithstanding all their Injustice against him , you would have told them so as well as he did . Namely , you would have told them in plain terms , that whatever you writ in your Mercury , was not at all designed to Justifie their making Vsury their Calling . Which , even those few Modern Writers that are falsly esteemed Patrons of Usury , have always Condemned . And if a Man does not deal thus plainly with them , he does nothing at all . Their Jewels and their Precious Stones do so dazle and glister , and dart such a lustre upon their Eyes , that they are perfectly Blinded ; insomuch that they can scarce see and know themselves , when they are told to their Faces , Thou art the Man. And God grant that Mr. Jones's Successor may deal with them as impartially as he has done : To which purpose I would desire him to read the excellent Bishop Jewel , upon 1 Thes . p. 121. But what speak I of the ancient Fathers of the Church ? There was never any Religion , nor Sect , nor State , nor Degree , nor Profession of Men , but they have disliked Usury . Philosophers , Greeks , Latins , Lawyers , Divines , Catholicks , Hereticks , all Tongues and Nations , have ever thought an Vsurer as dangerous as a Thief . The very Sense of Nature proves it to be so . If the Stones could speak they would say as much . And if we had as Zealous Clergy now-a-days , Usury would be thought as Detestable a Sin now , as it was in the 13 of Eliz. and in the Reign of King Edw. VI. Where all Vsury or Increase , &c. was punished not only with the Forfeiture of Principal and All , but with Imprisonment and Ranson at the Kings Will and Pleasure . Again Bishop Jewel , Pag. 144. After a long Discourse against Usury , he has these Words ; Thus much I thought expedient to speak of the loathsom and Foul Trade of Vsury . I know not what Fruit will grow thereby , and what it will work in your Hearts . If it please God , it may do that good I wish : I have done my Duty , I call God for a Record unto my Soul , I have not deceived you . I have spoken unto you the truth : If I be deceived in this matter , O God thou hast deceived me . Thou sayst , Thou shalt take no Usury : Thou sayst , He that taketh Increase shall not live . What am I , that I should hide the Words of my God , or keep them back from the Hearing of his People ? The Learned Old Fathers have taught us , It is no more Lawful to take Usury of our Brother , than it is to Kill our Brother , &c. And again , Pag. 145. I hear there are certain in this City , which wallow wretchedly in this Filthiness , ( to wit Usury , ) without Repentance ; I give them warning in the Hearing of you all , and in the Presence of God , that they forsake this cruel , and detestable Sin. If otherwise they continue therein , I will open their shame , and DENOVNCE EXCOMMVNICATION against them , and publish their NAMES in this place before you all ; that you may know them , and abhor them as the PLAGVES and MONSTERS of the World : That if they be past all Fear of God , they may yet repent and amend for Worldly Shame . And this I humbly offer to Mr. Jones's Successors Consideration . If he does not Preach against this Sin in Lombard-Street , he will be guilty of their Blood , and their Blood will be required at his Hands . Thirdly , You state the Question thus , Whether it be absolutely unlawful to Receive , ( I suppose you mean by Contract , not by way of Gratitude , ) Any increase of Any for the use of their Monies ? To which you give this Answer , In the true signification of the Word , 't is certainly Damnable ; but in the Sense you now use it , 't is very lawful and necessary . That is , Usury in its true signification according to God's Word , is certainly Damnable ; but in its false signification according to Man's Invention , it is very lawful and necessary . And here I would fain know of any Man , First of all , Which is to take place , its true or its false signification ? God's Word , or Man's Invention ? Truth or a Lye ? Christ or Belial ? Secondly , I would fain know , whether if Usury be not absolutely Unlawful : Yet , its being of Bad Report , and its having the Appearance of Evil , is not enough to hinder it from being made a Calling ? Certainly , no Man can deny , but there are a great many things , which though they be not absolutely unlawful , are yet absolutely unlawful to be made a Calling . No Man can deny , but that Usury is of Bad Report ; for all Ages have decry'd it : And all the Earth may lawfully Curse an Usurer , Jer. 15. 10. And no Man can deny , but that Usury has the Appearance of Evil , if it be not Evil indeed ; for it always appears in Bad Company : It appears with Lying , Backbiting , Deceit , Wrong and Bribery , Psal . 15. It appears with Idolatry , Oppression , Adultery , Cruelty , Vnmercifulness to the Poor , Blood-shed and Murther , Ezek. 18. And it appears with the Profanation of Holy things , the abomination of Vncleanness , and the unnatural Sins of Incest , Ezek. 22. And 't is St. Basil's Observation upon it , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 : It always appears in the midst of the greatest Evils . And therefore certainly , though it should not be absolutely unlawful , yet it is so unlawful , it is of such Bad Report , and it has such Appearance of Evil , that no Honest Man who avoids both upon pain of Damnation , will ever adventure to make it a Calling . Fourthly , You affirm that the true Signification of Vsury in the Scripture , is Extortion or grinding the Face of the Poor . And you affirm also , That it being allowed the Jews to take Vsury of Strangers ; Therefore it is not Morally Evil. From whence I make this Observation . All Men allow that Extortion and grinding the Face of the poor are Morally Evil and Simply unlawful . And consequently , Scripture-Usury being Extortion according to you ; and Extortion or grinding the Face of the Poor being Morally Evil according to all : It necessarily follows according to you , that God never so much as allow'd the Jews ▪ to take Usury even from Strangers , ( which has more truth in it , as I shall shew hereafter , than both your Propositions . ) For say you , He never allows that which is Morally Evil. And consequently , either your First , or Second , or both your Propositions are all false . And indeed so they are . For the Proof of which I only premise thus much . Extortion in our Land with relation to Usury , ( in the Sense you say you now use it ) is the Exacting of more Usury than the Law allows . That is , It is the Exacting of more than Six in the Hundred . And therefore your First Proposition , ( which holds that Extortion or Grinding the Face of the Poor , is only meant by Scripture-Usury ) is all false . For Usury in the Scripture Language is not the exacting of more than Six in the Hundred . But First of all , The Exacting of One in the Hundred in Scripture-Usury , Nehem. 5. 11. where Exacting the Hundredth part of the Mony lent is called Usury . And v. 12. Requiring Nothing is opposed to it . And consequently , He that requires any thing , tho never so little , for the Use of Mony , is a Scripture-Usurer . Secondly , The Law says , Levit. 25. 36. Take thou No Vsury or Increase from thy poor Brother . And the Prophet says , Ezek. 18. 8. He that hath not given forth upon Vsury , neither hath taken Any Increase . From whence it is plain , that whoever taketh any Increase , tho never so little , and not only he that taketh above Six in the Hundred , is a Scripture-Usurer . Thirdly , If Extortion , that is , If taking above Six in the Hundred , be only meant by Scripture-Usury : Then , it was lawful for the Jews to take Six in the Hundred even of their poor Brother . Which I believe , no Man of common Sense can with any Modesty affirm . From whence I conclude , That your first Proposition is all false . And your Second Proposition ( which holds , that God never allowed the Jews any thing that is Morally Evil ) is all false too . For , God has allowed the Jews some things which are Morally Evil , for the Hardness of their Hearts , as in the Cases of Polygamy and Divorce , which were not so from the beginning , Matth. 19. 8. Not to mention the allowance they had to spoil the Egyptians , which has several sort of Answers given it by Learned Men , Exod. 12. 36. The Sum of which is this , If both your Propositions are true ( as they are really false ) then , they do utterly overthrow each other . And consequently , for all that you have hitherto said , Mr. Jones ' s Sermon is Vnanswerable . Gentlemen , I confess there are a great many things more to be answer'd in your Mercury . Of which , God willing , you shall have an account in another Sheet sometime next Week . My Ordinary business is so great that I cannot well prepare above a Sheet a Week for the Press . And therefore , I hope , you 'l excuse me for not giving you a full Answer at present . ADVERTISEMENT . I Have oftentimes been forced to vindicate Mr. Jones in several Companies upon the account of Usury . And I have found that this Captious Objection has been frequently made against him . Obj. If we may not Lend , what will the King do , who is forced to take Mony upon Vsury ? To which I humbly crave leave to give you Mr. Jones's own Answer to it . For , it is that which he sent to the Press as a Postscript to his Farewel Sermon , and had been then Printed , had not all the Copies been wrought off before it came , and that he was desired to put it off to some other Opportunity . And if it give any just Offence to the present Government , he does now retract it , and heartily beg Pardon . Answ . Don't Lend the King upon Vsury , but Lend him Freely . Let it be your Free-will Offering . Let it be your Voluntary Oblation . You can never Lend it better . You lend it to fight the Lord's Battles against the Mighty . What is now become of all those Your Lives and Fortunes that you lately so prodigally proffer'd for the Support of Popish Tyranny and Arbitrary Government ? Would you have Given All to Betray your Liberty , your Property , and your Religion ? And will you Lend Nothing to secure them all ? Is it not enough for the King to Hazard his Life , who , as David's Men said of him , is worth Ten Thousand of us , 2 Sam. 18. 3. Is it not enough for him to Hazard his Life , but must he also Pay Vsury for your Deliverance ? To whom is Tribute due ? To him or to you ? For what do Men pay Usury ? For their own Mony , or that which is lent them ? And can you then offer to make the King pay Usury for his own Mony ? Yea , and make Him pay Usury to you for it ? Who ( if it were in any case Lawful ) ought rather to do so to him ; because you do not bring him in Mony soon enough for your own Preservation . What if He were as backward to help you , as you are to be helped by Him ? What if this should be the last ill Consequence ? Which God forbid for Christ his sake ! VNGRATEFVL MEN ! Kind to none but your Foes ! Kind to none but France and its accursed Interest ! God Save K. William and Q. Mary . FINIS . LONDON ; Printed , and are to be Sold by Richard Baldwin , near the Oxford-Arms in Warwick Lane , 1692.