A12367:261
A preparative to marriage The sum whereof was spoken at a contract, and enlarged…A preparatiue to mariage The summe whereof was spoken at a contract, and inlarged…
A preparative to marriage The sum whereof was spoken at a contract, and enlarged after. Whereunto is annexed a treatise of the Lords Supper, and another of usury. By Henry Smith.A preparatiue to mariage The summe whereof was spoken at a contract, and inlarged after. Whereunto is annexed a treatise of the Lords Supper, and another of vsurie. By Henrie Smith.
London: printed by Thomas Orwin for Thomas Man, 1591
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Fourthly, it is against the law of God. First, it is forbidden in Exo. 22. 1where it is said, If thou lend money unto my people, that is, to the poor with thee, thou shalt not oppress them with Usury: here Usury is called oppression, therefore if oppression be a sin, Usury is a sin too. Secondly, it is forbidden in Leu. 25. 36. where it is said, Thou shalt not give thy money to Usury, nor lend thy victuals for increase. Here you ⟨image 140⟩may see, that men may be Usurers of victuals and other things, as well as of money. Thirdly, it is forbidden in Deut. 23. where it is said, Thou shalt not lend unto thy brother upon Usury. And least you should say, that he meaneth but one kind of Usury, he showeth, that he meaneth all kinds of Usury: for after he saith, as usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of corn, or usury of any thing which is given to Usury: because some are not Usurers of money, but some are Usurers of victuals, some are Usurers of Cloth, some are Usurers of Corn, some are Usurers of Wine, some are Usurers of Oil, and some of one thing, and some of an other, and none would be counted Usurers, but they which lend money upon Usury; therefore God forbiddeth so precisely ⟨image 141⟩Usury of any thing, showing, that all Usury is unlawful. It is a miserable occupation to live by sin, and a great comfort to a man when he looketh upon his Gold and Silver, and his heart telleth him, all this is well gotten, and when he lieth upon his death-bed, and must leave all to his children, he can say unto them, I leave you mine own; but the Usurer can not say, I leave you mine own, but I leave you other mens, therefore the Usurer can never dye in peace, because if he dye before he make restitution, he dyeth in his sin. When Christ raised Lazarus from death, after he had 2lain four days in the grave, he wept so over his Sepulchre, that the standers about said one to an other, See how he loved him, As it may be said of Christ, See how