N01536:52
Fair dealing between debtor and creditor. A very brief essay upon the caution to…
Fair dealing between debtor and creditor. A very brief essay upon the caution to be used, about coming in to debt, and getting out of it. Offered at Boston-lecture; 5. d. XI. m. 1715/16. / By Cotton Mather, D.D. & F.R.S. ; [Two lines of quotation]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Samuel Gerrish, 1716
Title page typeset from the transcription.
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.
A Wholesome Antidote against the Mischiefs of Debt, it would be for a Man to Consider Seriously what he does, when he wrongs other Men by lying in Debt unto them.
CONSIDERATION: O thou Preservative of Mankind. A wake thou, Arise, Affect, and mightily go to Work, on the Occasion that is now before us.
First, A Debtor, (one that is, or would be so) will do well to Consider, how much he may be Condemned by that Royal Law; Let a Man do as be would be done unto. The Law that shines as a Star of the First Magnitude, in the Scriptures of our Saviour; Mat. VII. 12. All things whatsoever ye would, that men should do to you, do ⟨p. 22⟩ye even so to them. A Law, which God has Engraven as with a Pen of Iron, and the Point of a Diamond, on the Hearts of the Children of Men. A Law, than which none more Confessed, and yet none more Transgressed among the Children of Men. Debtor, Think with thy self, Were I the Creditor, should I like to be dealt withal as I now deal with my Creditor?