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…

Now you would understand the last question. If you have bin Usurers already, what you should ¹do with that money which you have gained by Usury, surely even as Zacheus did, restore it again. If you cannot say as Samuel ²said, whose goods have I taken? then you must say as Zacheus said, ³whose goods have I kept? The best thing is, to do no man wrong, but the next to that is, to make him amends. This God signifieth when he saith, put away the execrable ⁴thing from you, that is, let no unlawful thing stay in your hands, like the wedge of Achan which he had got by sin. The ⟨image 166⟩same law serveth for all which is got wrongfully, which was instituted against thieves, Restore it again: ⁵the reason of this law is, because the sin is not remitted, until the debt be restored, for as humility is the repentance of pride, and abstinence is the repentance of surfeit, and alms is the repentance of covetousness, and forgiveness is the repentance of malice, so restitution is the repentance of Usury; as he which is not humble doeth not repent his pride, he which doeth not abstain doth not repent his gluttony, he which doeth not forgive, doeth not repent his malice, so he which doeth not restore, doeth not repent his Usury. For how can he be said to repent for his Usury, which liveth by Usury still. Therefore Daniel saith to Nebuchadnezzar, ⟨image 166⟩⁶Break off thy sins by righteousness, showing, that nothing but righteousness can break unrighteousness. As diseases are healed by the contrary, so pride is healed by humility, gluttony by abstinence, malice by forgiveness, covetousness by alms, and Usury by restoring. This Paul calleth, The revenge of a Christian, ⁷