The charity of lending without vsury, and the true notion of vsury briefly stated in a sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, at St. Bridget's Church, on Tuesday in Easter-week, 1692 / by William Sherlock ... Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707. 1692 Approx. 34 KB of XML-encoded text transcribed from 17 1-bit group-IV TIFF page images. Text Creation Partnership, Ann Arbor, MI ; Oxford (UK) : 2004-11 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1). A59805 Wing S3278 ESTC R8222 11902935 ocm 11902935 50618 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. A59805) Transcribed from: (Early English Books Online ; image set 50618) Images scanned from microfilm: (Early English books, 1641-1700 ; 512:2) The charity of lending without vsury, and the true notion of vsury briefly stated in a sermon preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor, at St. Bridget's Church, on Tuesday in Easter-week, 1692 / by William Sherlock ... Sherlock, William, 1641?-1707. [4], 27 p. Printed for William Rogers ..., London : 1692. Reproduction of original in University of Pennsylvania 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 Bible. -- N.T. -- Luke VI, 35 -- Sermons. Usury -- Sermons. Sermons, English -- 17th century. 2003-11 TCP Assigned for keying and markup 2003-12 Apex CoVantage Keyed and coded from ProQuest page images 2004-08 Melanie Sanders Sampled and proofread 2004-08 Melanie Sanders Text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-10 pfs Batch review (QC) and XML conversion The Dean of St. PAUL's SERMON BEFORE The Lord MAYOR , AT St. BRIDGET's Church , on Tuesday in Easter-Week . 1692. Stamp , MAYOR . Jovis xiv . die April ' 1692. Annoque Regis & Regine Wiliel & Mariae , Angliae , &c. quarto . THIS Court doth desire the Reverend Doctor Sherlock , Dean of St. Paul's , to print his Sermon preached at St. Bridget's Church on Tuesday in Easter-Week last , before the Lord Mayor , Aldermen , and Governors of the several Hospitals of this City . GOODFELLOW . The Charity of Lending without Usury . AND The True Notion of Usury briefly stated . IN A SERMON Preach'd before the RIGHT HONOURABLE The Lord MAYOR , AT St. BRIDGET's Church , on Tuesday in Easter-Week . 1692. By WILLIAM SHERLOCK , D. D. Dean of St. Paul's , Master of the Temple , and Chaplain in Ordinary to Their MAJESTIES . IMPRIMATUR . April 23. 1692. GEO. ROYSE . LONDON : Printed for William Rogers at the Sun , over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet street . MDC XC II. VI. LUKE 35. But love ye your enemies , — ( and do good , and lend , hoping for nothing again , ) and your reward shall be great , and ye shall be the children of the Highest , for he is kind to the unthankful , and to the evil . OUR Conformity to the Death and Resurrection of our Saviour , consists in dying to sin , and walking in newness of life , which St. Paul tells us is represented by the External Ceremony of Baptism ; the baptized Person being buried with Christ in Baptism , and rising out of his watry grave a new born Creature , 6. Rom. 3 , 4. For in that he died , he died unto sin once ; but in that he liveth , he liveth unto God : Likewise reckon ye also your selves to be dead indeed unto sin , but alive unto God , through Jesus Christ our Lord , 9 , 10. And the principal Exercise of this Divine Life , which is our conformity to the Resurrection of Christ , is a Divine Conversation . If ye then be risen with Christ , seek those things which are above , where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God : Set your affections on things above , not on things on the earth , 3. Col. 1 , 2. And to set our affections on things above , does not only signify to think sometimes of Heaven , and to desire to go to Heaven when we dye , which very worldly-minded men may do ; but to lay up for our selves Treasures in Heaven , which are durable and eternal , in opposition to those perishing Treasures on Earth , which are subject to Thieves , to Moths and Rust. 6. Matth. 19. 20 , 21. To make to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness , that when we fail , they may receive us into everlasting habitations , 16. Luke 9. Now ye all know what this means : viz. To purge our minds from the love of Riches , and from all covetous Desires ; to improve our Estates in Acts of Piety and Charity , for the Service of God , and to supply the wants of the poor and miserable : to return our Money into the other World , where it will encrease into Eternal Life and Glory : for this is truly to have our Conversation in Heaven , to live above this World , to sit loose from all the Enjoyments of it ; to live to God , and another World , to improve every thing we enjoy here , to secure and advance our future Happiness : when men are Charitable upon these Principles and these designs , they must live a very heavenly Life ; For where our Treasure is , there our hearts will be also . This our Ancestors , who appointed this Annual Solemnity , seem to have been very sensible of , That there is no particular Grace or Vertue , the exercise of which is a more visible demonstration of a Divine and purified Mind , which is risen with Christ , and lives to God , as Christ doth , than the Grace of Charity ; and therefore that there was no time more proper to exercise Charity , and to exhort Christians to Charity , and to show Charity in all its Pomp , and humble Bravery , than the Feast of the Resurrection ; wherein we commemorate the Love of our Lord in dying for us , and his triumph over Death , and in full assurance of a blessed Immortality , of which the Resurrection of our Saviour was an ocular Demonstration , send our Hearts and our Eyes after him to Heaven , and contemplate that Glory to which he is advanced , and to which he has promised to advance us . This then is my proper work at this time , to exhort you to Charity ; proper both to the nature of this holy Feast , and to the original Institution of this Solemnity ; and it may reasonably be hoped , that the Annual Returns of it , wherein all the Arguments to Charity are so earnestly pressed on you , should keep this Divine Fire always burning and glowing in your Breasts . You have so often heard all the Arguments to Charity , that it is impossible you should forget them ; and there is one that is worth all the rest , which no Christian can forget , who remembers that there is a Heaven and a Hell , and which no Christian can resist , without despising his Soul , and Eternal Life and Death ; and that is , That Heaven is the Reward of Charity ; that Hell is the Punishment of Uncharitableness ; which is so plainly and expresly taught , and so frequently repeated by our Saviour , that it is as certain and unavoidable , as that there is a Heaven and a Hell ; and if Heaven be not a sufficient Encouragement to Charity , nor Hell sufficient to deter us from Uncharitableness , it is to no purpose to use any other Arguments , which can never persuade , if these can't ; or if they could , would neither carry us to Heaven , nor keep us out of Hell ; for to be charitable only for temporal reasons , is to give our goods to feed the poor , without a true Divine Charity ; which St. Paul tells us , will profit nothing , 1 Cor. 13. For such a Charity as does not raise us above this world , can neither carry us to Heaven , nor keep us out of Hell. And therefore instead of drawing together all the Arguments for Charity which you have so often heard , and shewing them in a new dress , my design at present is to recommend to you a very excellent , but a very neglected part of Charity , which our Saviour presses on us in my Text , viz. The Charity of Lending , Do good , and lend , hoping for nothing again . In speaking to which Words , I shall 1. Shew you what this Duty is ▪ 2. What an excellent Charity it is to lend . And how this may be improved to the most excellent purposes . 1. What this Duty is , or what our Saviour means by lending , hoping for nothing again . And it can signifie but two things ; and I see no reason to think , but that our Saviour might mean both . 1. To Lend , without hoping for any encrease ; or to lend freely , without Usury . 2. To lend , where the very Principal may be in danger , when we have little reason to hope that we shall ever see our own again . 1. To lend freely , without Usury ; for our Saviour commands this , as an Act of Charity , Do good , and lend : And tho to lend , even upon Usury , may in many cases prove a great kindness to the Borrower , yet Charity is not the motive of the Lender , it is not Charity , but Traffick and Merchandize of Money : And tho the Jews were expresly forbid to lend their Brethren upon Usury , yet our Saviour intimates there was something like this , and equivalent to it , which spoiled the Charity of lending , even without Usury ; that they would not lend to the poor ; who though they should repay them what they borrowed , yet were never likely to be in a condition to lend to them again ; but they would lend to the Rich , from whom they expected the like returns of kindness ; as you may see in the Verses before my Text ; 33 , 34. And if ye do good to them that do good to you , what thank have ye ? for sinners also do even the same . And if ye lend to them , of whom ye hope to receive , ( not only your own , but the like kindness of lending to you when your occasions require it ) , what thank have ye ? for sinners also lend to sinners , to receive as much again ; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , equal returns of kindness ; which if it be not Usury of Money , is Usury of Kindnesses , but is not Charity ; like inviting our Rich Friends and Neighbours to a Feast , who can invite us again ; which tho it be no fault , is no Charity ; for that consists in entertaining the poor , who can make us no return , 14. Luke 12 , 13 , 14. And thus our Saviour exhorts us here , but do you do good , and lend , hoping for nothing again ; neither for Usury , nor for such returns and exchanges of kindness . It was for the sake of this Duty , that Usury was so strictly forbidden by the Jewish Law , that men might the more freely lend their Money to those who wanted , when they had no present use for it themselves ; and had no way to encrease it ; and as far as the Reason and Charity of this Law extends , so far it still obliges , and so far Usury is still forbid to Christians . This is not well considered by those who so universally condemn all Usury ; and because the right understanding of this will be of great use to settle some mens minds , and to explain and enforce this duty of lending , which I now recommend to you , it cannot be thought a digression from my present Design , to give you the true , but short state of this matter . It is confessed on all hands , That Usury is forbid by the Law of Moses ; but the great mistake is concerning the Nature of Usury , or what that is which the Law forbids and condemns by the name of Usury . Some think that all Increase of Money , when men lend a Sum of Money to receive the Principal again with Interest , is the Usury which the Law forbids ; and therefore that this is absolutely unlawful in all cases , and in all degrees ; though we all know , That Trade , to which we owe all the Riches and Greatness of our Nation , and so many excellent Charities too , cannot be maintained without it : That some men , who now live comforrably in the world , maintain their Families with Credit and Reputation , and do many acts of Charity themselves , could not Trade at all ; others could not drive such flourishing and spreading Trades without borrowed Money , nor borrow without Interest : That many Widows and Orphans are maintained by Interest , who must in a few years be Beggars , had they no other way to live , but to spend the Principal . This is so contrary to the sense and reason of mankind , and to all the rules of Justice and Charity , and so impracticable in the present state of the world , that while it is possible to put any other sense upon the Law , I would never think of this . And the comfort is , that the Law expounds it self otherwise , and gives no colour for such an Interpretation as this , That all Increase of Money is forbid by it . For 1. The Law it self allowed the Jews to take Usury of Strangers of other Countries , though not of their Brethren , or natural Jews , 23. Deut. 20. Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury , but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury . And therefore God did not absolutely forbid the Jews to encrease their Money , for they might lend to strangers upon Usury ; which proves , that this was not an universal Law to them , much less is it so to all mankind . And that proves that there is no moral and intrinsick evil in Usury ; for if all Usury had in its own nature been unlawful , God could not have allowed the Jews to take Usury of strangers ; for he cannot allow the least moral evil . The truth is , I never could yet see the least shadow of an Argument to prove , that Usury is evil in its nature , unless that Money can't beget Money , be thought an Argument ; but that is as good an Argument against buying Corn or Wine , or any thing else with Money ; for it is unnatural for Money to beget Corn or Wine : But if the barren nature of Money , that it cannot naturally propagate it self , be a reason against Usury of Money , this is no reason against Usury of Corn , which is equally forbid : for it is natural for Corn to propagate its kind , and multiply it self ; and yet the Usury of all Victuals is as much forbid , as the Usury of Money , 23. Deut. 19. Now if Usury be not morally evil , it can be unlawful to none , but those to whom God has forbid it ; and there being no prohibition of it in the New Testament , which is the Law of the Christian Church , it cannot be unlawful to Christians , whatever it was to the Jews . 2. And yet the Jews themselves were not expresly forbid , however they might understand it , to lend their Money upon Usury , to All their own Brethren , but only to the Poor : So that had any Rich Jew come to borrow Money of them , for any thing that appears by the Law , they might have lent Money to him upon Usury . This Observation will clear this whole matter ; and therefore I shall turn you to all the Texts of the Law , which forbid Usury , and the reading of them will convince you , That Usury was forbid only in favour of the Poor . The first Text is , 22. Exod. 25. If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee , thou shalt not be to him as an Usurer , neither shalt thou lay upon him Usury : Where no Usury is forbid , but only lending to the poor upon Usury : Thus 25. Lev. 35 , 36 , 37. And if thy brother be waxen poor , and fallen to decay with thee , then thou shalt relieve him . — Take thou no usury of him , nor increase , but fear God , that thy brother may live well with thee : Thou shalt not give him thy money upon Usury , nor lend him thy victuals for increase . It is true , in the Repetition of this Law , 23. Deut. 19 , 20. it is only said , Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother , usury of money , usury of victuals , usury of any thing that is lent upon usury . Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury , but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury , that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all that thou settest thine hand unto , in the land whither thou goest to possess . This seems to forbid lending upon Usury to any Jew , whether Rich or Poor ; but this being only a repetition of those Laws in Exodus and Leviticus , in all reason must be expounded by them ; and though the poor are not expressed , the Circumstances of the place prove , that they only are meant ; for though Rich men may sometimes have occasion to borrow Money , yet none but the Poor , who have no Money to buy can ever have occasion to borrow Victuals upon Usury ; and the difference the Law makes between a Brother and a Stranger shews , that it is intended as an Act of Charity , which they owe to their Brethren , though not to Strangers . For which Reason also they were forbid to make any of their Brethren Bondmen , though they might buy the Children of the Heathen and Strangers for Bond-men and Bond-maids , 25 Levit. 39. &c. and the Blessing God promises shews , that it is the Reward of Charity . In other places , where Usury is mentioned , some Circumstance or other determines it to the Poor . This was the case , when Nehemiah reproved the Nobles and the Rulers for exacting Usury , 5 Nehem. When the Prophet Isaiah threatens great Desolations against the Land , he thus describes it , And it shall be as with the People , so with the Priest — as with the Lender , so with the Borrower , as with the taker of Usury , so with the giver of Usury to him , 24 Isai. 2. That is , the Lender and the Usurer shall be reduced to the same Distress and Poverty , as those suffer , who borrow upon Usury ; which shews , that none but poor men used to borrow upon Usury in those days . Thus when the Prophet Jeremiah complains , Woe is me my Mother , that thou hast born me a man of strife , and a man of contention to the whole earth , I have neither lent on Usury , nor men have lent to me on Usury , yet every one of them doth curse me , 15 Jer. 10. it plainly intimates , that Usury is such an Oppression of the Poor , as both deserves and very often procures Curses . And therefore the Prophet Ezekiel joyns Usury with the Oppression of the Poor , and other acts of Violence , 18 Ezek. 7 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 16 , 17. He who hath oppressed the poor and needy , hath spoiled by violence , hath not restored the pledge , hath given forth upon Usury , and hath taken Increase , he shall die . But he that hath neither oppressed the poor , nor hath with-holden the pledge , neither hath spoiled by violence , but hath given his bread to the hungry , and cloathed the naked with a garment , that hath taken off his hand from the poor , that hath not received Usury nor Increase , he shall live . Which makes it very plain , what is meant by Usury , when to take Usury is joyned with Violence and Oppression of the Poor ; and to lend without Usury is rekoned among Acts of great Charity and Goodness . There is but one place more , as I remember , that mentions Usury , 15 Psalm 5. and there putting forth Money to Usury is joyned with taking a Reward against the Innocent , which shews , that it was an Act of Violence and Oppression . For indeed among the Jews , who were no Merchants , nor maintained any Foreign Trade with other Nations , no men had occasion to borrow Money , much less Victuals , but to supply their present wants , and to take advantage of the Necessities of the Poor , to increase their own Fortunes by increasing their Poverty , was against all the Laws of Goodness and Charity ; and therefore this Usury , which was the only Usury known in those days , is strictly forbid , as all other acts of Oppression are . All other kinds of Usury are introduced by Trade and Commerce , and though it is against Charity to lend upon Usury to men , who borrow to supply their wants , yet if men borrow to increase their Trade and Fortunes , there is Justice and Equity in it , that the Lender shall make some Increase of his Money , as well as the Borrower . This is not properly Usury , but Traffick and Commerce , and I know no reason , why men may not Trade with Money , as well as with other Commodities . And this I take to be the true reason , why the Jews were permitted to take Usury of Strangers , but not of their Brethren , because their Heathen Neighbours were Merchants , as is plain of Tyre and Zidon , 23 Isai. They improved their Money by Trade , and therefore it was fit they should pay Interest for it ; especially if they were to lend upon Usury only to such Strangers as came among them for Trade , but did not dwell and sojourn with them ; which seems probable from 25 Levit. 35. where the Stranger that sojourns with them seems to be entituled to the like Charity as a Brother . If thy Brother be waxen poor , and fallen to decay , thou shalt relieve him , yea , though he be a stranger , or a sojourner , that he may live with thee , take thou no Usury of him , nor Increase . For a Stranger never signifies a Proselyte of Justice , who by Circumcision was incorparated into the Body of Israel , made a Brother , and entituled to the Priviledges of a Natural Jew , but only a Proselyte of the Gate , who renounced Idolatry , but did not undertake the Observation of the Law of Moses ; and yet they were not to take Usury of these Strangers if they were poor , no more than of their Brother , according to that Law , 22 Exod. 21. Thou shalt not vex a stranger , nor oppress him , for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt . The Answer our Saviour gives to the Servant who hid his Talent in the Napkin , seems to justifie this Account , unless we can suppose , that his Lord would have been pleased with unjust and wicked Gain . 25. Matth. 27. Thou oughtest to have put my money to the Exchangers , and then at my coming , I should have received mine own with Usury . So that though it was unlawful to lend Money upon Usury to the Poor , it was not so to the Exchangers , who traded in Money . And our Saviour's driving the Money-Changers out of the Temple , no more proves that he disallowed that Profession , than that he disallowed selling Oxen , and Sheep , and Doves for Sacrifice , for he drove them out also ; the Fault was not in the Merchandise no more of Money , than of Sheep , or Oxen , or Doves , but they made his Father's house , a house of merchandise . 2 John 14 , 15. &c. It is certain the ancient Fathers , who were professed Enemies to Usury , opposed it under this Notion ; for their great Arguments against Usury , are levelled against Uncharitableness and Oppression of the Poor , as appears from Gregor . Nyssen , St. Ambrose , St. Basil , and others ; and yet it is no wonder , should we meet with some Passages in them against Usury considered , as Trading and Merchandise of Money : For it is well known , that they were not much greater Friends , to Trade and Merchandise , than they were to Usury , which they thought unbecoming a Christian , as ministring only to Covetousness and Luxury . And yet I suppose , the greatest Enemies at this day to Usury , will not carry the Quarrel so far , as to condemn Merchandise . And yet under this Notion of Covetousness and sordid Gain ( which is equally applicable to all Trade . ) Usury is forbid the Clergy by the Seventeenth Cannon of the First Council of Nice ; but no Council ever forbad it to the Layety , or threatned Church Censures against them for it , which they would certainly have done , had they thought it evil in its self . This may satisfie us in what Sence Usury is forbid , both by the Law of Moses and the ancient Writers of the Christian Church , viz. as contrary to Charity ; when we lend upon Usury , where Charity requires us to lend freely : When we take Increase of the Poor , who borrow to supply their Wants , and sink them still more irrecoverably into Poverty by such Exactions : This always was , and always will be hateful to God , and to all Good Men , and yet such detestable Usurers there are among us , who grow rich upon the Ruins and Spoils of the Poor , and drink the Tears of Widows and Orphans ; but when to lend without Usury is no Charity , and to take Usury is no Oppression , there Usury it self is no Crime . And hence we learn ( which is the great thing I aimed at ) that Usury was forbid only for the sake of lending , which proves , that to lend freely to the Poor , is a great and necessary Act of Charity : Though a Man never took a Penny for Usury in his Life , yet if he neither gives , nor lends to the Poor , he is guilty of all that Uncharitableness , for which Usury is condemned ; nay in most Cases , even these worst sort of Usurers are the more charitable Men : For excepting some very hard Cases , it is greater Charity to lend even to the Poor for Usury , than not to lend at all . For this Reason the Emperour Leo was forced by a new Constitution to permit Usury , which his Father out of a pious Zeal , had wholly forbid , because he found , that when Men were forbid to take any Usury , they would not lend at all , which was a greater Hardship to the Poor , than Usury it self . Meerly not to take Usury is no Vertue , but to lend to the Poor without Usury is . To lock up our Money in our Chests to rust and canker , and to do no good with it , is what St. James so severely threatens rich Men for , Go now ye richl men , weep and howl for your miseries , which shal come upon you ; your riches are corrupted , and your garments are moth eaten ; your gold and your silver is cankered , and the rust of them shall be a Witness against you , a Witness of your Covetousness and Uncharitableness , that you have done no good with it , but hoarded it up to rust and canker for want of use . 5 James 1 , 2 , 3. This Controversie then may be stated and decided in a few words . Usury is a very great Sin , that is , to lend our Money upon Usury to those who borrow for Necessity and Want , and to exact such Payments with Rigour and Severity , to strip such miserable People of that little that remains , to imprison their Persons , and make them end their Lives in a Goal . To lock up our Money , and do no good with it , is to hide our Talent in a Napkin ; for Money is improveable , and must be improved , either for Charity or Increase , to be a new and perpetual Spring of Charity . To declaim against Usury , and not to exhort men to lend to the Poor , without Usury is to mistake or overlook the true End and Design of the Law , and to betray uncharitable Men to a greater Evil than Usury it self ; but if men lend freely to the Poor in such Proportions , as Charity requires , they may very innocently and virtuously , without transgressing this Law against Usury , lend their Money for Encrease to the Rich. 2. But our Saviour seems to mean something more by lending , hoping for nothing again , not only to lend freely without Usury , but to lend , where the Principal may be in Danger , when we cannot reasonably promise our selves to receive our own again : no man can deny , but this is great Charity ; but then this must be conducted by the measures and proportions of giving : what Charity will oblige us to give , it will as reasonably oblige us to lend , but where the Return is very hazardous , it can oblige us to lend , no more than what it would become us to give , and yet in such Cases , lending may be a greater Charity than giving , which is the Second thing proposed , which I can speak but briefly to . 2. The Excellency and Advantages of this Charity of Lending , and how it may be improved to the best Purpose . Now if we compare Giving and Lending together , Lending has much the Advantage of Giving , as to the true End and Purposes of Charity . To Lend is a greater Obligation , to Industry than to give , and there cannot be a greater Kindness done to the Poor , next to keeping them from starving , than to teach them Industry . I need not tell you that there are many Poor , who will never work , while they can meet with charitable People to give ; nay , who chuse to be sick , to be lame , to be blind , to move Charity , rather than work to supply their Wants ; but when Men have nothing to live on , but the Improvement of lent Money , which they know , they must repay , when it is called for , this must make them industrious ; for it both encourages their Industry , and keeps the Rod over them ; especially were this made a standing Rule to give nothing to those who are able , but will not work , who have a Stock lent them to trade with , and neglect to improve it . Thus what we give does but one single Act of Charity , for we can give it but once , but what we lend may circulate , as the Blood does in our Veins , and communicate Warmth and Spirits to more Parts of the Body than one : that is , what we lend , may be lent again , and do a great many successive Charities , as great , or greater than that one single Charity had been , if we had given it : And that certainly is one of the greatest and noblest Charity , which is most diffusive . But yet to make this Charity of Lending the more effectual , it must be confessed , that a Publick Bank of Charity raised out of such free Loans , will have many Advantages above any Private Acts of this Nature ; and I can by no means think this either impracticable or difficult . I doubt not but most of this Honourable Assembly could contrive very Advantageous ways of doing this , were men but Charitably disposed . For suppose , you should make your Hospitals , or your Companies , such Publick Banks , or if it could be more Publick , still the more Useful , and the more secure , where charitable People , may safely deposite their Money without Use , or those who cannot spare the whole Interest , may abate some part of it , and where the running Cash may be lodged , which Men expect no Interest for , this might easily rise to a very vast Sum , which with wise Improvement would make a sure and lasting Fund of Charity . And could any thing in the World be more easie than this , which no man could feel ? What would it be to a Rich Man , who has many thousands employed in Trade , or secured at Interest ; or if he knows when he has enough , has no need to increase it , to drop some thousands into such a free Bank , to sanctifie and prosper his Trade , and other ways of Gain , and to secure a Blessing to his Posterity ? How many others are there , who could spare a hundred , or it may be some hundred pounds out of their Stock , and not feel the want of Interest , or at least , if they could not spare the whole Interest , might spare the half , or third part of it ? How many are there , who have some hundreds by them useless , which they would not , and could not with any reason grudge to lay up in a safe Bank ? How many are there , who would easily be perswaded to lend , were there such a safe Bank to receive it , who are very unwilling to give ? And were there such a Bank of Charity once setled , there would be very little need of giving . For I know not any kind of Charity , but might be provided for in this way , were men but free and liberal in lending . It would enlarge your Hospitals , clear your Streets of Beggars , the great Reproach of this City ; maintain those who can't work , and employ those who can ; put poor Children to Apprentice , provide Stocks for Ingenious and Industrious Young Men , who want them , redeem Prisoners , and , which Justice and Honour requires of you , as far as possibly you can , may in some measure provide a Fund for your Orphans . This would advance the Glory of this great City , it would perpetuate and consecrate the Memory of such worthy Persons , as would begin and promote such a lasting and extensive Charity ; the Children which are unborn , would rise up and call them blessed ; it would draw a great share of the Charitable Money of the Nation into your hands , which would quicken Trade , and increase your Riches , and above all , it would procure all the great Rewards which are promised to Charity , both in this World , and in the next . But whatever becomes of this Proposal , you must always remember , that it is great Charity to lend as well as to give : This is what our Saviour expects from us , this is what he Commands , To do good , and lend , hoping for nothing again ; and if out of a greedy desire of gain , we will lend nothing freely to the Relief and Encouragement of the Industrious Poor , this will make all our other Usury and Increase , which is Lawful and Innocent in it self , when it neither Oppresses the Poor , nor stops our Charity , to become sin . FINIS . Books Published by the Reverend Dr. Sherlock , Dean of St. Pauls , Master of the Temple , and Chaplain in Ordinary to their Majesties . AN Answer to a Discourse , Entituled , Papists Protesting against Protestant Popery . Second Edition . 4to . An Answer to the Amicable Accomodation of the Differences between the Representer and the Answerer . 4to . A Sermon at the Funeral of the Reverend Benjamin Calamy , D. D. 4to . A Vindication of some Protestant Principles of Church-Unity and Catholick-Communion from the Charge of Agreement with the Church of Rome . 4to . A Preservative against Popery , being some plain Directions to Unlearned Protestants how to dispute with Romish Priests . In Two Parts with the Vindication , in Answer to the Cavils of Lewis Sabran Jesuit . 4to . A Discourse concerning the Nature , Unity , and Communion of the Catholick Church , First Part. 4to . A Sermon Preach'd before the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor , and Aldermen of the City of London , on Sunday November 4th . 1688. 4to . A Vindication of the Doctrine of the Holy and Ever Blessed Trinity , and the Incarnation of the Son of God , &c. The Second Edition . Quarto . The Case of the Allegiance due to Soveraign Powers stated and resolved according to Scripture , Reason , and the Principles of the Church of England . Sixth Edition . Quarto . A Vindication of the Case of Allegiance due to Soveraign Powers , &c. Quarto . A Sermon Preached at Whitehall before the Queen on the 17th . of June . 1691. being the Fast-Day . Quarto . A Practical Discourse concerning Death . The Fifth Edition . Octavo . A Practical Discourse concerning a Future Judgment . Second Edition . Octavo . A Sermon Preached before the Honourable House of Commons at St. Margarets Westminster January 30th . 1691 / 2. Quarto . A Sermon Preached before the Queen at Whitehall Febr. 12. 1691 / 2. Quarto . Printed for William Rogers .