too much of the honest. Therefore extreme lovers of their country or masters were never fortunate, neither can they be. For when a man placeth his thoughts without himself, he goeth not his own way. An hasty fortune maketh an enterpriser1 and remover; 2 (the French hath it better, entreprenant, or remuant;) but the exercised fortune maketh the able man. Fortune is to be honoured and respected, and it be but for her daughters, Confidence and Reputation. For those two felicity breedeth; the first within a man's self, the latter in others towards him. All wise men, to decline3 the envy of their own virtues, use to ascribe them to Providence and Fortune; for so they may the better assume them : and, besides, it is greatness in a man to be the care of the higher powers. So Cæsar said to the pilot in the tempest, Cæsarem portas, et fortunam ejus. So Sylla chose the name of Felix, and not of Magnus.5 And it hath been noted, that those who ascribe openly too much to their own wisdom and policy, end infortunate. It is written that Timotheus the Athenian, after he had, in the account he gave to the state of his government, often interlaced this speech, and in this Fortune had no part, never prospered in any thing he undertook afterwards. Certainly there be, whose fortunes are like Homer's verses, that have a slide and easiness more than 1 Enterpriser. One who attempts an undertaking; an adventurer. 2 Remover. An agitator. 3 Decline. To avoid; to turn aside. 4 You carry Caesar and his fortune. Plutarch. Life of Caesar. 5 'Fortunate' and not of 'Great.' Plutarch. Life of Sulla. 6 Timotheus, died 354 B.C., Athenian naval commander. Slide. Fluency. the verses of other poets; as Plutarch saith of Timoleon's1 fortune, in respect of that of Agesilaus or Epaminondas.2 And that this should be, no doubt it is much in a man's self. XLI. OF USURY. MANY have made witty invectives against Usury.3 They say that it is a pity the devil should have God's part, which is the tithe. That the usurer is the greatest sabbath-breaker, because his plough goeth every Sunday. That the usurer is the drone that Virgil speaketh of: Ignavum fucos pecus a præsepibus arcent.4 That the usurer breaketh the first law that was made for mankind after the fall, which was, in sudore vultus tui comedes panem tuum; not, in sudore vultús alieni.5 That usurers should have orangetawny bonnets, because they do judaize. That it 1 Timoleon, died 337 or 336 B.C., a celebrated Corinthian general and statesman. 2 Epaminondas, 418 (?)-362 B.C., Theban general and statesman, victorious but mortally wounded in the battle of Mantinea, 362 B.C. 3 Usury formerly meant interest on money only, as in the parable, Luke xix. 23: "Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?" Usury now means an illegal or exorbitant rate of interest for lent money. 4 They drive from the hives the drones in lazy swarm. P. Vergili Maronis Georgicon Liber IV. 168. 5 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread; not in the sweat of the face of another. Bacon has in mind the curse of Adam after the fall, Genesis iii. 19: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return." 6 Coryats Crudities, Vol. I. Observations of Venice, pp. 370372, ed. 1905, records the "orange-tawny bonnets" of the Jews, which is against nature for money to beget money; and the like. I say this only, that usury is a concessum propter duritiem cordis :1 for since there must be borrowing and lending, and men are so hard of heart as they will not lend freely, usury must be permitted. Some others have made suspicious and cunning propositions of banks, discovery of men's estates, and other inventions. But few have spoken of usury usefully. It is good to set before us the incommodities2 and commodities3 of usury, that the good may be either weighed out or culled out; and warily to provide, that while we make forth to that which is better, we meet not with that which is worse. The discommodities of usury are, First, that it makes fewer merchants. For were it not for this lazy trade of usury, money would not lie still, but would in great part be employed upon merchandizing; which is the vena porta5 of wealth in a state. 4 Thomas Coryate saw in 1611. In the Ghetto, he says, "the Levantine Jewes, which are borne in Hierusalem, Alexandria, Constantinople, &c., weare Turbents upon their heads as the Turkes do; but the difference is this: the Turkes weare white, the Jewes yellow." In the synagogue of Venice, he goes on, "every one of them whatsoever he be, man or childe, weareth a kinde of light yellowish vaile, made of Linsie Woolsie (as I take it) over his shoulders, something worse than our courser Holland, which reacheth a little beneath the middle of their backes." Sir Walter Scott, describing the dress of the Jew, Isaac of York, says: "He wore a high, square yellow cap of a peculiar fashion, assigned to his nation to distinguish them from Christians, and which he doffed with great humility at the door of the hall." Ivanhoe. V. 1 A concession on account of the hardness of heart [of men]. 2 Incommodities. Disadvantages. 4 Merchandizing. Buying and selling, trading. 5 Vena porta, or portae, or portarum, that is, the 'vein of the gate,' the gateway (of the liver). The portal vein is a short trunk which receives the blood from the viscera and carries it to the liver. The metaphor illustrates its importance to the physical economy. The second, that it makes poor merchants. For as a farmer cannot husband his ground so well if he sit1 at a great rent; so the merchant cannot drive his trade so well, if he sit at great usury. The third is incident to the other two; and that is the decay of customs of kings or states, which ebb or flow with merchandizing. The fourth, that it bringeth the treasure of a realm or state into a few hands. For the usurer being at certainties, and others at uncertainties at the end of the game most of the money will be in the box; and ever a state flourisheth when wealth is more equally spread. The fifth, that it beats down the price of land; for the employment of money is chiefly either merchandizing or purchasing; and usury waylays both. The sixth, that it doth dull and damp all industries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein money would be stirring, if it were not for this slug.2 The last, that it is the canker and ruin of many men's estates; which in process of time breeds a public poverty. On the other side, the commodities of usury are, first, that howsoever3 usury in some respect hindereth merchandizing, yet in some other it advanceth it; for it is certain that the greatest part of trade is driven by young merchants, upon borrowing at interest; so as if the usurer either call in or keep back his money, there will ensue presently a 1 Sit. To be located or placed; to abide. "And, Steenie, if you can hold your tongue about this matter, you shall sit, from this term downward, at an easier rent." Scott. Redgauntlet. Letter XI. Wandering Willie's Tale. 2 Slug. Hindrance, obstruction. 3 Howsoever. Notwithstanding that, albeit. 3 great stand of trade. The second is, that were it not for this easy borrowing upon interest, men's necessities would draw upon them a most sudden undoing; in that they would be forced to sell their means (be it lands or goods) far under foot;1 and so, whereas usury doth but gnaw upon them, bad markets would swallow them quite up. As for mortgaging or pawning, it will little mend the matter: for either men will not take pawns without use; or if they do, they will look precisely for the forfeiture. I remember a cruel monied man in the country, that would say, The devil take this usury, it keep us from forfeitures of mortgages and bonds. The third and last is, that it is a vanity to conceive that there would be ordinary borrowing without profit; and it is impossible to conceive the number of inconveniences that will ensue, if borrowing be cramped. Therefore to speak of the abolishing of usury is idle. All states have ever had it, in one kind or rate, or other. So as that opinion must be sent to Utopia.1 1 Under foot. Below standard value. 2 Pawn. Surety, pledge. "Do you hear, sir? we have no store of money at this time, but you shall have good pawns; look you, sir, this jewel, and that gentleman's silk stockings." Ben Jonson. Every Man in his Humour. iv. 7. 3 Use. Interest. "Me, therefore, studious of laborious ease, Not waste it, and aware that human life Is but a loan to be repaid with use, When He shall call his debtors to account, Cowper. The Task. Book III. The Garden. Utopia. 'Nowhere,' in Greek; an imaginary island which is the seat of an ideal commonwealth in Sir Thomas More's political romance of the same name. It was published in Latin, in 1516, and entitled, De Optimo Reipublicae Statu, deque Nova Insula Utopia. |