n to these feasts, the blind, the lame, and other
needy men, who lie at the cross-roads and have not the power to make a
like return. Christ wished to restrain men's abuse of lending,
commands them to lend to those from whom there is no hope of receiving
or regaining anything; and his words ought to be interpreted, that
while he would command loans to the poor without expectation of
repayment or the receipt of interest, he did not mean at the same
time to forbid loans to the rich with interest, any more than the
injunction to invite the poor to our feasts did not imply that the
mutual invitation of friends to feasts is in consequence prohibited.
Again the law of Moses was political and should not influence us
beyond what justice and philanthropy will bear.

"It could be wished that all usury and the name itself were first
banished from the earth. But as this cannot be accomplished it should
be seen what can be done for the public good. Certain passages of
Scripture remain in the Prophets and Psalms in which the Holy Spirit
inveighs against usury. Thus a city is described as wicked because
usury is practiced in the forum and streets, but as the Hebrew word
means frauds in general, this cannot be interpreted so strictly. But
if we concede that the prophet there mentions usury by name, it is not
a matter of wonder that among the great evils which existed, he should
attack usury. For wherever gains are farmed out, there are generally
added, as inseparable, cruelty, and numberless other frauds and
deceits.

"On the other hand it is said in praise of a pious and holy man 'that
he putteth not out his money to usury.' Indeed it is very rare for a
man to be honest and yet a usurer.

"Ezekiel goes even further (Ezek. 22:12). Enumerating the crimes which
inflamed the wrath of the Lord against the Jews, he uses two words,
one of which means usury, and is derived from a root meaning to
consume; the other word means increase or addition, doubtless because
one devoted to his private gain takes or rather extorts it from the
loss of his neighbor. It is clear that the prophets spake even more
harshly of usury because it was forbidden by name among the Jews, and
when therefore it was practiced against the express command of God, it
merited even heavier censure.

"But when it is said, that as the cause of our state is the same, the
same prohibition of usury should be retained, I answer that there is
some difference in what pertains to