1. the holy gospel, after it has come to light, punishes and shows all kinds of works of darkness, as St. Paul calls them, Rom. 13, 12; for it is a bright light that shines to all the world and teaches how evil the works of the world are, and shows the right works that one should practice against God and one's neighbor. Therefore, some of the merchants have awakened and become aware that some evil practices and harmful finances are in use among their trade, and it is to be feared that it is happening here, as the Ecclesiasticus (Jesus Sirach) says, "that merchants can hardly be without sin. Yes, I am afraid that the saying of St. Paul, 1 Tim. 6, 10, applies to them: "Avarice is a root of all evil." And again, v. 9: "Those who want to become rich fall into the snare of the devil and into many useless, harmful desires, which sink people into ruin and damnation.
2. Although I think that this letter of mine will be almost in vain, because the accident has broken out to such an extent and has become prevalent in all countries, and those who understand the gospel could well judge from their own consciences in such outwardly light matters what is just and what is unjust; I am exhorted and requested to stir up such finances and to bring some to light, if the people do not want that some, however few they may be, are delivered from the maw and jaws of avarice. For it must be that there are still some, among merchants as well as among other people, who belong to Christ and would rather be poor with God than rich with the devil, as the 37th Psalm, v. 16, says: "It is better for the righteous to have a little than for the wicked to have great goods.
3) But it cannot be denied that buying and selling is a necessary thing that cannot be dispensed with and can be used in a Christian way, especially in those things that are necessary to the
Serve need and honor. For the patriarchs also sold and bought cattle, wool, grain, butter, milk and other goods. These are God's gifts, which He gives from the earth and distributes among men. But the foreign trade, which brings goods from Kalikut and India and the like, as such delicious silk and gold work and spices, which serve only for splendor and no use and suck the money out of the country and the people, should not be allowed where we have a regiment and princes. But I do not want to write about this now, because I fear that in the end, when we have no money, we will have to let it go, as well as the jewelry and food; otherwise neither writing nor teaching will help until necessity and poverty force us.
God has hurled us Germans that we must push our gold and silver into foreign countries, make all the world rich and remain beggars ourselves. England would have less gold if Germany let her have her cloth. And the king of Portugal should also have less if we let him have his spice. Count how much money is brought out of Germany at a fair in Frankfurt without need or cause, and you will be surprised how it happens that there is still a heller in Germany. Frankfurt is the silver and gold hole, through which flows out of the German country whatever springs and grows, is minted or struck in our country. If the hole had been plugged, one would not hear the complaint now about how everywhere there are vain debts and no money, how all countries and cities are weighed down with interest and are overgrown. But let it go, it wants to go, we Germans must remain Germans, we will not let go, we must. We want to talk here about the abuse and sins of the mercantile trade, as far as our conscience is concerned. As it affects the bag's damage, we let princes and lords see to it that they do their duty.
5. first of all, the merchants have among themselves
A common rule, that is their main saying and the reason for all their finances, is that they say: "I may give my goods as cheaply as I can. They consider this a right. There is room made for avarice, and the doors and windows of hell are all opened. What else is this said but this: I ask nothing of my neighbor, if I had only my profit and avarice full; what is it to me that it would do ten damages to my neighbor at once? There you see how this saying so bluntly and impudently goes against not only Christian love, but also against natural law. What then should be good in commerce? What should be without sin, where such injustice is the main item and rule of the whole trade? Thus commerce can be nothing else than robbing and stealing other people's goods.
For where the mischievous eye and the miser become aware that one must have his goods, or the buyer is poor and in need of them, he makes it useful and expensive for him; there he does not look at the dignity of the goods or at the service of his toil and danger, but badly at the need and suffering of his neighbor: not to help it, but to use it for his profit, to increase his goods, which he would otherwise leave unincreased, where the neighbor's need would not be there. And so, through his avarice, the goods must be worth so much more, as much as the neighbor suffers greater need, that the neighbor's need must be equal to the goods' estimation and value. Tell me, is this not unchristian and inhuman? Is not the poor man's need sold to him? For because he must take the goods the more dear for his need, it is just as much as that he must buy his need; for the good is not sold to him as it is in itself, but with the addition and appendix that he needs it. Behold, this and such abominations must follow where this right goes: I may sell my goods as dear as I can.
(7) It should not be said, I may give my goods as dear as I can or will; but thus: I may give my goods as dear as I ought, or as is right and just. For thy selling shall not be a work,
which is freely in your power and will without all law and measure, as if you were a god bound to no one; but because such your selling is a work which you do against your neighbor, let it be written with such law and conscience that you do it without harm and detriment to your neighbor; and take much more care that you do him no harm than how you gain. Yes, where are such merchants? How could the merchants become so few, and the merchant trade decrease, if they would improve this evil right and bring it in a Christian, cheap way!
8 Then you ask: Yes, how much shall I give it then? Where do I find the right and the fairness, that I do not translate or take over my neighbor? Answer: This, of course, will never be done with any writing or speech; nor has anyone yet undertaken to set, increase or decrease any commodity. The reason is this: The goods are not all the same, so one takes one further than the other, goes to one more expense than another, so that here everything is uncertain and must remain so, and nothing certain can be set, just as little as one can set a single certain city, since one holet them all here, or determine certain expenses that go to it; It may happen that the same goods from the same city on the same road cost more than they did a year ago, or that the road and the weather are worse, or that some other accident occurs that leads to more expenses than at another time. But now it is fair and right that a merchant should gain so much from his goods that his costs are paid and his toil, work and danger rewarded. A farmhand must have fodder and wages from his work. Who can serve or work for nothing? Thus says the gospel, "A laborer is worth his wages."
(9) But, lest we be silent, the best and surest way would be for the secular authorities here to set and ordain reasonable, honest people who would overcharge all kinds of goods with their costs and then set the measure and goal of what they should be worth, so that the merchant could come and have his proper food from them; as in some places wine, fish, bread, and other things are sold.
918 E. 22.204-206. B. Of the ten commandments in particular. Seventh commandment. W. X, 1096-1099. 919
the same. But we Germans have more to do, to drink and to dance, that we cannot wait for such regiment and order. Since this order is not to be hoped for, the next and best advice is to let the goods count as the common market gives and takes them, or as the country's custom is to give and take; for in this one may let the saying go: "Do as other people do, and you will not be fooled. What is gained in such a way, I consider honest and well gained, although there is the danger that they sometimes have to lose the goods and costs and may not gain too much.
010 But where the goods are not set, nor common, nor given, and thou shalt and must set them first. Truly, there is no other way to teach here; it must be left to your conscience that you watch and do not take over your neighbor, and do not seek avarice but your proper food. Some here have sought to set a measure that one may gain half of all goods; some that one may gain the third part; some also otherwise. But none of these is certain or certain, unless the secular authorities and the common law have decreed that what they have decreed is certain. Therefore, you must presume to seek nothing but your proper nourishment in such trade, then calculate and estimate costs, toil, labor and danger, and then set, increase or decrease the goods themselves, so that you may have the reward of such labor and toil.
(11) But I do not want the conscience to be caught so dangerously here, nor to be so tightly stretched, as if you had to take the measure so evenly that you should not miss by a farthing. For it is not possible that you should measure so evenly how much you have earned with such toil and labor; it is enough that you strive with a good conscience that you gladly make the right measure, and yet it is the nature of commerce that it is not possible to do so; the saying of the wise man will also remain true in you, Ecclesiastes 27:28: "A merchant can hardly act without sin, and a merchant can hardly keep a righteous mouth. Whether you are a little too
If you take much unknowingly and unwillingly, let it go to the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our trespasses"; after all, no man's life is without sin. And it may happen again that you take too little for your trouble, so let it be beaten and set off against each other where you have taken too much.
(12) As if you had a trade that amounted to a hundred guilders a year, and you had all the expenses and proper wages that you earned for your toil, work and danger, and you made about a guilder, two or three too many profits, that is what I call the error in trade, which you cannot well avoid, especially to act like that for a year. Therefore, you should not burden your conscience with it, but bring it before God with the Lord's Prayer and command it as another insurmountable sin, which belongs to all of us; for necessity and the nature of the work force you to make such a mistake, not wantonness and avarice; for I am speaking here of good-hearted and God-fearing people, who do not like to do wrong. Just as marital duty is not without sin, and yet God sees through the fingers of such work for the sake of necessity, because it cannot be otherwise.
13. But how high your wages are to be estimated, which you are to gain from such trade and work, you cannot calculate and determine better than to calculate the time and size of the work and take a likeness of a common day laborer who works something else, and see what he earns in a day; then calculate how many days you have labored to get and acquire the goods, and how much work and danger you have endured in it: For great labor and much time shall have the greater and more reward. Closer and better and more certain one cannot speak nor teach in this matter; whoever does not like it, let him do better. My reason, as I have said, is in the Gospel, Matth. 10, 10, that a laborer is worth his wages. And Paul also says, 1 Cor. 9:7: "He who tends cattle shall enjoy milk. Who can travel at his own cost and pay?" If you have a better reason, I will grant you one.
[From the surety.]
14 Secondly, there is another common mistake, which is not only among merchants, but also in the whole world, that one becomes guarantor for the other. And although this work seems to be without sin and a virtue of love, it commonly corrupts many people and brings them to insurmountable harm. King Solomon has forbidden and condemned such things in his Proverbs and says, Cap. 6, v. 1 ff: "My child, if you have become a guarantor for your neighbor, you have arrested your hand; you are bound with the speech of your mouth and imprisoned with the words of your mouth. So do, my child, and save thyself, for thou hast come into thy neighbor's hands; run, hasten, and drive thy neighbor, let not thine eyes sleep, nor thy eyelids slumber; save thyself as a deer from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the vogler"; item Cap. 20, v. 16: "Take the garment of him that is a surety for another, and seize him for the stranger's sake"; item Cap. 22, v. 26: "Do not be with those who arrest their hand and become guarantors for debt"; and again Cap. 27, v. 13: "Take the garment of him that is a surety for another, and seize him for the stranger's sake."
(15) Behold, how the wise king in the holy scripture so severely and vehemently forbids becoming a guarantor for others. He also agrees with the German saying: Guarantors should be strangled. As if to say: it serves the guarantor right that he is strangled and has to pay, because he does recklessly and foolishly by becoming a guarantor. Thus it is decreed in Scripture that no one should become a guarantor for others unless he is able and fully willing to be indebted himself and to pay. Now it seems strange that such a work is evil and rejected. For that it is a foolish work, many have experienced themselves, who got the main scratch from it. What then is the cause that it is rejected? Let us see.
16. to become a guarantor is a work that is too high for a man and is not due to him; and
Reaches into God's work with presumption. First of all, the Scripture says, one should not trust or rely on any man, but only on God. For human nature is false, vain, deceitful and uncertain, as Scripture says and experience teaches daily. But he who becomes a guarantor trusts in a man and puts himself, body and soul, into danger on a false and uncertain ground; therefore it serves him right that he should fall and fail and perish in danger.
(17) Secondly, he also trusts in himself and makes himself God, for what a man trusts in and relies on is his God. But since he is not for a moment sure and certain of his body and good, as little as of that for which he becomes guarantor, but everything is in God's hands alone, who does not want us to have a hair's breadth of power or right in the future and not to be sure and certain of it for a moment, he does unchristianly, and it serves him right, because he puts and promises that which is not his, nor in his power, but in God's hands alone.
18 Thus we read, Gen. 43, 9. and Cap. 44, v. 32, how the archfather Judah was guarantor for his brother Benjamin against his father Jacob, that he wanted to bring him back or wanted to be eternally guilty himself. But God punished his presumption and made him fall and fail, so that he could not bring Benjamin back until he gave himself for him, and yet was hardly released by grace. And it served him right, for such guarantors act as if they should not even greet God or think whether they will be sure of their life and property tomorrow, and act without any fear of God, as if they had the life and property from themselves and were powerful as long as they wanted; which is nothing other than the fruit of unbelief. As also St. Jacob in his epistle such, Cap. 4:13-16, reproaches this for arrogance, saying, "Now therefore, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into this or that city, and therein we will fight and win, knowing not what to morrow shall be. For what is your life? It is a vapor that lasts for a little while, and
922 E. 22. 208-2IV. B. Of the ten commandments in particular. Seventh commandment. W. L, UV1-1104. 923
after that passeth away; for that ye should say, If we live, and God will, we will do this, or that; but now ye boast in your pride."
19 Also, God has condemned such presumption of the future and God's disregard in more places than Luc. 12:16. 21. when the rich man had much grain of the year, that he would break down his barns and build greater ones, and put his goods there, and said to his soul, "Dear soul, you have much good for many years; eat and drink and be of good cheer. But God said to him, "You fool, this night your soul will be claimed from you, and what will it be that you have gathered? So it is with all who are not rich in God." So he also answers Apost. 1, 7. to the disciples: "It is not for you to know the time and hour which the Father has in his power." And Proverbs 27:1: "Boast not thyself of the morrow, for thou knowest not what may come to pass this day." Therefore, in the Lord's Prayer, he has no more to ask than to give us our daily bread "today," so that we may live and act with fear, knowing that we are not sure of an hour, neither of life nor of good, but that we await and take everything from his hands, as a true faith does. We also see it daily in many of God's works that it must happen this way, whether we like it or not.
Solomon focused almost his entire book on this teaching, which is called Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes), and shows how the presumption and presumptuousness of people everywhere is so vain and nothing but trouble and misfortune, unless God is involved, so that he is feared, and let him be satisfied with what is present and rejoice in it. For God is hostile to the secure, unbelieving presumption that forgets Him, therefore He acts contrary to it with all His works, causes us to lack and fall, snatches away body and goods when we think least of it, and comes at the hour of which we have no provision at all, so that the wicked, as the 55th Psalm, v. 24, says, never bring their lives to the halfway point, but always, unawares, and when they are just about to begin, they go and there
of must, as Job also says many times, Job 15, 32. 18, 14.
Twenty-one Then you say: How then shall men deal with one another, if it be not fit to be guarantors? Some of those who might otherwise come forward would have to stay behind. Answer: There are four ways to act outwardly well Christian with others; as I have said more.
(22) The first is to let our goods be taken and robbed, as Christ teaches, Matt. 5:40: "He that taketh away thy coat, let him have thy skirt also, and demand it not of him again. Now this way is not valid among merchants, nor was it considered a common Christian doctrine, nor was it preached, but it was considered a counsel and good opinion for the clergy and the perfect, who hold it less than any merchant. But true Christians keep it, because they know that their Father in heaven has certainly promised them, Matth. 6, 11, "to give them their daily bread today. And if one did this, not only would so many abuses in all dealings be avoided, but many would not become merchants, because reason and human nature would avoid and shun such danger and harm in the highest possible way.
The other is to give freely to everyone who needs it, as Christ also teaches there. This is also a highly Christian work, for which reason it is not much esteemed among men, and both merchants and traders would be less so, if it were to be done in pregnancy. For he who is to do this must truly hold on to heaven and always look to God's hands, and not to his stock or goods, so that he knows that God wants to and will feed him, even if all corners were already empty. For he knows that it is true, as he says to Joshua, Cap. 1, v. 5: "I will not leave thee, nor cut off thy hand"; and as it is said: God has more than he ever forgave. But a true Christian is also one of them, the rarest animal on earth; the world and nature do not respect him.
24 The third is to lend or borrow, that I may give my goods and take them back if they are returned to me, and must spare them if they are not returned. For Christ, Luc. 6, 34, himself wrote such borrowing thus
And saith, Ye shall lend so that ye hope nothing of it." That is, ye shall freely lend, and venture whether it be restored unto you or not; if it be restored, that it be taken; if it be not restored, that it be given. That therefore giving and borrowing have no difference according to the gospel, but this, that giving taketh nothing again, but borrowing taketh it again where it cometh, and yet dareth that it be a giving. For he that lendeth so as to take it back better or more is a public and damnable usury; for they also that lend so as to demand or hope the same thing again, and not freely venture whether it will come back or not, do not yet act Christianly.
This is also, as I think, a high, Christian and rare work, where one looks at the course of the world, and would, where it should come into use, reduce and put down all kinds of trade. For these three pieces keep this very masterly, that they do not presume on the future, nor trust in men or themselves, but cling to God alone, and here everything is paid for in cash, and includes the word: "If God wills it, let it be done," as Jacob teaches, Cap. 4, 15. 4, 15. For here one deals with people, as with those who may be lacking and uncertain, and gives in cash for nothing or dares that what one brings is lost.
26 Here it will be said, Who then may be blessed? And where will we find Christians? Yes, with that way no trade would remain on earth, would be taken or borrowed from each his own, and the door opened to the wicked, slothful, to take everything, to deceive and to lie, of which the world is full? Answer: I told you that Christians are rare people on earth. Therefore there is need in the world for a strict, harsh, worldly rule, which compels and urges the wicked not to take, nor to steal, nor to give back what they borrow, though a Christian should not reclaim it, nor hope for it; lest the world become desolate, and peace perish, and men's commerce and fellowship come to nothing altogether, which would happen if the world were to be ruled according to the gospel, and the wicked were not to be punished with the law.
laws and force and compel to do and suffer what is right.
Therefore, the streets must be kept clean, peace must be established in the cities and justice must be administered in the countries, and the sword must be struck freshly and confidently on the transgressors, as St. Paul teaches in Romans 13:4. For this is what God wants, that the unbelievers may be controlled, so that they do not do wrong, or do wrong without punishment. No one should think that the world is ruled without blood; the worldly sword should and must be red and bloodthirsty; for the world wants and must be evil, so God's sword is vengeance and vengeance upon it. But of it I have sawed enough in the booklet of the worldly authority.
28 Therefore borrowing would be a good thing if it were done among Christians; each one would gladly give back what he had borrowed, and he who had borrowed would gladly spare it if he could not give it back. For Christians are brothers, and one does not leave another; so no one is so lazy and insolent as to rely on another's goods and labor without work, and to live idly on another's possessions. But where there are no Christians, the secular authorities should make him pay what he has borrowed; if they do not make him pay, and if he is in default, the Christian should suffer such robbery, as Paul, 1 Cor. 6:7, says: "Why do you not rather suffer injustice?" But let the unbeliever be admonished, demanded and done as he pleases; there is nothing in him, because he is an unbeliever and does not respect Christ's teaching.
29. thou hast also a consolation, that thou owest not to lend, but only that which is left thee, which thou canst spare for thy necessities: as Christ saith of alms, Luc. 11:41: "That which is left thee for alms, and all is clean unto thee. Now if so much should be borrowed from you that, if it were not given again, you would perish and not be able to spare your necessities, you are not obliged to lend; for you are most and first obliged to provide for the necessities of your wife and child and servants, and must not deprive them of what is due them from you. Therefore this is the best rule: If borrowing is too much for you, you must do the same.
926 D. 22:213-215. B. Of the ten commandments in particular. Seventhcommandment. W. L, 1106-1109 927
give more for nothing, or lend as much as you think you would give, and venture if it were lost. For John the Baptist said not, He that hath one coat, let him give it away; but, He that hath two coats, let him give one to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." Luc. 3, 11.
The fourth way is buying and selling, and that with cash money, or paying for goods with goods. Now whoever wants to use this way, let him make sure that he does not rely on anything that is to come, but on God alone, and that he has to deal with people who will certainly fail or lie. Therefore, this is the next advice, that whoever runs out, neither borrow nor accept guarantors, but let him pay cash over. But if he wants to lend, he should do it with the Christians; if not, he should dare to be lost, and not lend further than he would otherwise give and may suffer his need; or if worldly rule and order do not help him again, he should let it be lost, and be careful that he does not become a guarantor for anyone, but rather give what he is able. This would be a true Christian merchant, whom God would not abandon, because he trusts him so well and dares and acts cheerfully with his dangerous neighbor.
(31) Now, if there were no such thing as being a guarantor in the world, and if there were no such thing as free evangelical lending, and if there were no such thing as cash or ready-made goods in mercantile transactions, then the greatest and most harmful dangers and defects and infirmities in mercantile transactions would already be gone, and it would be easy to deal with all kinds of merchants, and the other sinful infirmities would also be all the better averted. For if it were not for such surety and sure lending, many a man would have to remain in this world and be content with moderate food, who otherwise relies on borrowing and surety and strives day and night to become rich; hence everyone wants to become a merchant and rich. From this must follow such innumerable, swift evil tricks and treachery, which now go to rack among merchants, that I have already despaired that it should be completely improved, but it has thus overloaded itself with all malice and
Deception that cannot carry itself in the length and must fall by itself in itself.
(32) Hereby I have recently rebuked and instructed everyone in this great, desolate, extensive trade of merchants. For if one were to let everyone sell his goods as cheaply as he would like, and borrowing and lending freely and becoming a guarantor were right, and yet give advice and teaching on how one should act Christianly in this and keep a good, safe conscience, that would be just as much as if one were to advise and teach how wrong should be right, how evil should be good, and how at the same time one should live and act according to divine Scripture and against divine Scripture. For these three faults, that each one gives his own as much as he wants; item, borrowing and becoming a guarantor, are the three well springs, from which all abominations, injustice, cunning and deceit flow so far and wide; that one now wants to strive to prevent the flow and does not want to block the well spring, then effort and work is lost.
For this reason, I will recount here some of the evil deeds and acts that I myself have noted and that have been pointed out to me by pious, good hearts, so that one may feel and notice how these reasons and sayings of mine, which I have written above, must be set up and must work, if the consciences are to be helped and advised in their dealings. Also that one may recognize and measure all other evil pieces from these, which are not narrated here; for how should it be possible that one narrates them all? Because through the aforementioned three fountains, avarice and the evil, treacherous, selfish nature have had their doors and windows opened, air and space have been made, permission and power have been given to practice all kinds of cunning and trickery freely and to devise more and more every day, so that everything stinks of avarice, indeed is drowned in avarice and drowned as with a great deluge.
(34) In the first place, some have no conscience of selling their merchandise for time and more cheaply than for cash. Yea, some will sell no merchandise for cash, but all for a time, and all because they have made much money of it.
win. Here you see that this man sins grossly against God's word, against reason and all fairness, out of pure free will of avarice, against his neighbor, whose harm he does not respect, and robs and steals from him what is his, and does not seek his proper food, but his avarice and gain alone in it. For according to divine right he should not lend or give it for time more than for cash.
35 Some sell their goods more cheaply than they are sold on the market and are commonplace, and thus increase the value of the goods for no reason other than that they know that there is no more of the same good in the country or that there will be none in a short time, and that it must be had. This is a mischievous eye of avarice, which looks only at the neighbor's need, not to help it, but to improve it and to become rich at his neighbor's expense. They are all public thieves, robbers and usurers.
Item 36: Some people buy out an estate or goods in a country or in a city completely, so that they alone have such an estate completely under their control, and then they can set, increase and give it as much as they want or can. Now it has been said above that the rule is wrong and unchristian for someone to give his property as cheaply as he wants and can; it is much more atrocious for someone to buy out a property on his own; this is also forbidden by imperial and secular laws and is called monopolies, which are selfish purchases that are not to be suffered at all in countries and cities, and princes and lords should forbid and punish such if they wanted to carry out their office. For such merchants act as if the creatures and goods of God were created and given for them alone, and as if they wanted to take them from others and set them according to their will.
37 And if anyone would refer to Joseph's example, Gen. 41, 48, 49, how the holy man gathered all the grain in the land and then bought all the money, livestock, land and people for the king in Egypt, which seems to have been a monopoly or self-interest. The answer to this is: that this purchase and trade
Joseph's was not a monopoly, but an honest common purchase, as it was common in the country, for he did not prevent anyone from buying in good time. But it was his wisdom, given by God, that he gathered the king's grain when it had prospered seven years, when the others gathered nothing or little. For the text does not say that he alone bought the grain, but that he gathered it in the king's cities. If the others have not done so, the damage is theirs; as the common man is wont to glean without care, or even sometimes not to glean.
38 We also see that where princes or cities do not provide themselves with provisions for the common land, there remains no provision or even little for the common man, who feeds himself from one year to the next with his annual income. And yet such collection is not self-interest or monopoly, but a good Christian precaution for the community and for the good of others. For it does not happen that they take everything for themselves alone, as these merchants do; but from the common market or annual income, common to everyone, they collect the treasure, of which others do not want or like to collect, but only take their daily abstinence from it. The scripture also does not report that Joseph collected the grain for this reason, that he gave it as much as he wanted. For the text clearly says that he did it, not for the sake of avarice, but so that the land and the people would not be spoiled. But the greed of the buyer gives it as much as he wants, and seeks his benefit alone, regardless of whether the land and the people are spoiled by it.
39 But that Joseph brought all the money and cattle, and all the land and people, under the king, seems not to have been a Christian thing to do, since he was to give to the poor for nothing, as the gospel and Christian love teach. But he did right and well, for Joseph led the secular government in the king's stead. So I have often taught that the world should not be ruled by the gospel and Christian love, but by strict laws, by sword and by force, because the world is evil and accepts neither the gospel nor love, but does and lives according to its own will, where the gospel and Christian love are not accepted.
930 L- 22,2I7-2IS. B. Of the ten commandments in particular. Seventh commandment. W. X, 1112-1114. 931
it is not forced by force. Otherwise, where one should practice vain love, everyone would want to eat, drink, live well from the other's goods, and no one would work, yes, everyone would take from the other his own, and would become a being that no one could live before the other.
(40) Therefore Joseph did right, because it was God's will that he should bring all things to himself for the same proper purchase that time gave, and by the law of the world let the people remain in bondage, and sell themselves and all that they had. For in the same countries there has always been a strict regiment and the custom that people are sold like other property. Besides, as a Christian, pious man, he undoubtedly did not let any poor die of hunger; but, as the text says, after he had received the king's secular right and rule, he collected, sold and delivered such grain for the good and benefit of the country and the people. Therefore, the example of Joseph's faithfulness is as far from the deed of the unfaithful, selfish merchants as heaven and earth are from each other. That is about the end of the story. Now we come back to the plays.
Item 41: If some are otherwise unable to establish their monopolies and selfish purchases because there are others who also have such goods and chattels, they go to them and give their goods so cheaply that the others may not come to them, and thus force them either not to have to sell or to give with their ruin as cheaply as those. Thus they come to the monopoly after all. These people are not worthy to be called people or to dwell among people; indeed, they are not worthy to be instructed or admonished, for envy and avarice are so coarse and impudent here that they bring harm to others even with their harm, so that they may be the only ones in the place. The secular authorities would do right here to take everything they have and drive them out of the country. Such things would not be necessary to tell; but I want to have them included so that one can see what a great deal of fraud there is in mercantile dealings, and so that it comes to light before everyone how things are in the world, to beware of such a dangerous state of affairs.
(42) It is also a fine thing when one sells to another in sackcloth the goods which he does not have himself. Namely, a foreign merchant comes to me and asks whether I have such or such goods for sale. I say, "Yes," and yet I have none, and yet I sell him the same for ten or eleven guilders that one usually buys for nine or less, and I promise him to hand it over for two or three days. However, I go and buy such goods, since I knew beforehand that I would buy them closer than I give them to him, and I hand them over to him, and he pays me for them, and so I trade with his, the other's, own money and goods without all danger, effort and work, and I become rich. That means to live finely on the street with other people's money and goods, so that one is not allowed to move over land or sea.
43. Item, that also means to feed on the guest: If a merchant has a purse full of money and no longer wants to adventure with his goods over land or sea, but has certain trade, he always stays in a large merchant city, and where he knows a merchant who is pressed by his lenders that he must have money to pay and yet does not have it, but still has good goods; If he knows a merchant who is pressed by his lenders to pay money and yet has no money, but still has good merchandise, he makes one for his own sake who is to buy the merchandise from him, and offers him eight guilders, since otherwise it would gladly be ten guilders; if he does not want it, he makes another who offers him six or seven, so that the poor man must worry that he will knock off the merchandise, and is glad that he takes the eight, so that he gets cash money and does not have to bear too great a loss and shame. It also happens that such needed merchants themselves request such tyrants and offer the goods for cash, so that they may pay; so they hold firm until they get the goods cheap enough and then give as they wish. Such financiers are called "gorge cutters" or "throat cutters," but they are considered to be very skillful people.
44 Item, this is also a handle of self-interest, that three or four merchants have one or two kinds of goods under their hands, which other people do not have or do not have for sale. If they now notice that such
If money is wanted and becomes more expensive every day because of war or accidents, they gather together and show the others how such goods are almost sought after, and there are not many who have such goods for sale. But if there are some who have such goods, they take advantage of a stranger and let him buy all such goods. When they have all these goods in their hands, they make a covenant with each other in this way: We will hold these goods, because there are none left, at such and such a price, and whoever gives them closer shall forfeit so much or so much.
(45) This is what I hear the English merchants do most rudely and most often when they sell English or Lundian (London) cloth. For it is said that they hold a special council for this trade, like a council in a city; and all Englishmen who sell English or Lundian cloth must obey the council, under the penalty mentioned. And by such council shall be determined how much they shall give their cloths, and what day or hour they shall or shall not have feil. The chief of this council is called the courtmaster and is not much less held than a prince; see what avarice can and may do.
46 Item, I must also report this little piece: I sell pepper or the like to someone for half a year, and I know that he must sell it again from this time on for cash. So I go myself, or arrange it through others, and have the pepper bought back from him for cash; but what he has bought from me for half a year for twelve guilders, I buy from him for eight. And the common purchase is ten guilders. So I buy from him two guilders closer than the common market gives, and he has bought from me two guilders more than the common market gives. So I win behind and ahead, only so that he gets money and keeps faith (credit), otherwise he would exist with shame that no one would lend him more.
(47) Who then drives or must drive such finances as happen to those who buy more on borrowed money than they can pay; as when one can hardly manage two hundred florins.
and conducts a trade for five or six hundred guilders; if my debtors do not pay, then I cannot pay either, so the evil continues to eat away and one loss follows another, the more I drive the finance, until I realize that it wants to go to the gallows, I must run away or sit in the tower. So I keep quiet and give my borrowers good words that I will pay them honestly. Meanwhile, I go and take as many goods on loan as I can, and turn them into money, or otherwise take money on a bill of exchange, or borrow as much as I can get.
(48) Then, when it is most convenient for me, or when my citizens will not let me rest, I lock up my house, get up and run away, hide myself in a monastery somewhere, where I am free, like a thief and murderer in a churchyard. Then my burghers are glad that I don't run away from the country, and they scold me for the second or third penny of all my debts, and that I should pay the back pay in two or three years; then they give me a letter and seal, and I come back to my house, and I am a merchant who has won two or three thousand guilders by standing up and running, which I otherwise would not have gained in three or four years, neither by running nor trotting.
Or, if this does not help, if I see that I must escape, then I go to the emperor's court or to his governors; there I can get a quinquennial for one or two hundred florins, that is, an imperial letter and seal that I may be free for two or three years, and go and stand before all my tormentors that I have suffered great harm according to my pretence that the quinquennial also has a nose, as if it were divine and right. But these are called knaves.
50 Another little thing that goes on in the companies. For six years, a citizen deposits one or two thousand guilders with a merchant, with which the merchant is to trade, win or lose, and give the citizen two hundred guilders annually, certain interest on it; but what he wins over it is his. But if he gains nothing, he must still give the interest. And the citizen does the merchant a great service. For
934 E. 22. 221-224. B. Of the Ten Commandments in particular. Seventh commandment. W. X, 1117-1119. 935
The merchant thinks he can win three hundred with two thousand. Again, the merchant does the citizen a great service by this; otherwise his money would have to lie idle and bring no profit. I have told you enough in the sermon on usury how this common piece is unjust and a real usury.
(51) One more thing I must tell as an example of how false borrowing and lending lead to misfortune. There are some who, when they realize that the buyer is uncertain and does not keep his time, can pay themselves well in this way: I will arrange for a strange merchant to go and buy his goods from him, be it a hundred guilders or the like, and say, If you have bought all his goods, give him money in cash, or refer him to a certain debtor; and if you have the goods, bring him to me as to your debtor, and act as if you did not know that he owes me; so I will be paid and give him nothing. That is to say, finance and ruin the poor man in the ground with all those to whom he may also be indebted. But this is how it should go, where one borrows and lends unchristianly.
Item 52: One has also learned to place or lay a commodity or good, as it increases, such as pepper, ginger, saffron, in damp vaults or cellars, so that it becomes heavier by weight; thus also to have woollen garments, silks, marten, sables on sale in dark vaults or caves, and to block the air, as is the custom everywhere, that one knows how to make a special air for every commodity. Nor are any goods known to have a special advantage, whether by measuring, counting, by cubit, measure or weight, or to be given a color that they do not have themselves. Or one puts the prettiest below and above, and the ugliest in the middle; so that such deceit has no end, and no merchant may trust the other further than he sees and grasps.
Now there is a great complaint among the merchants about the noblemen or robbers, how they have to act with great danger and are caught, beaten, burned and robbed etc. But if they suffered such things for the sake of justice, then of course the
Merchants are holy people who suffered such things; although it may be that one is wronged in the sight of God, that he must repay the other in which company he is found, and pay what another has sinned. But because such great injustice and unchristian thievery and robbery happens over the whole world by the merchants, even among themselves; what wonder is it if God creates that such great goods, wrongfully gained, are again lost or robbed, and they themselves are beaten over the heads or captured? God must ever administer justice; as he boasts of a right judge, Ps. 10, 16.
54 Not that I want to excuse the highwaymen or shrub thieves or give them permission to carry out their robbery. It is the fault of the sovereigns, who should keep their streets clean, as well for the wicked as for the pious. And it behooves the princes to punish such unlawful dealings with proper force and to prevent their subjects from being so shamefully maltreated by the merchants. Because they do not do this, God needs knights and robbers and punishes the injustice of the merchants through them, and they must be his devils; just as he plagues Egypt and all the world with devils or destroys them with enemies. Thus he stabs one knave with another, but does not imply that the knights are lesser robbers than the merchants, since the merchants rob the whole world daily, whereas a knight robs one or two once a year.
From companies.
(55) Of the societies I should say much, but it is all groundless and bottomless with vain avarice and injustice, that there is nothing to be found in it that can be acted upon with a good conscience. For who is so rude who does not see how the societies are nothing but vain right monopolies? which also forbid the worldly pagan rights as a publicly harmful thing to all the world; I will be silent of divine right and Christian law. For they have all goods under their hands and make it so that they want them, and drive
without all shyness the obbertthrten pieces, that they increase or lower after their pleasure, and press and spoil all small merchants, like the pike the small fish in the water; just as if they were masters over God's creatures, and free from all laws of faith and love.
Hence it comes that one must buy the spices all over the world as expensive as they want, and drive the change. They increase the ginger this year, and the saffron for a year, or again, so that the bend is always in the bend, and they may not suffer any loss, damage or danger: but if the ginger spoils or is missing, they recover it with the saffron, and again, so that they remain sure of their profit. Which is contrary to the nature and kind not only of merchandise, but of all temporal goods, which God wants to have under danger and uncertainty. But they have found and found it, that they secure, certain and eternal profit through dangerous, uncertain, temporal goods. But at the same time all the world must be sucked dry and all the money must sink and flow into their hose.
(57) How could it always be divine and right for a man to become so rich in such a short time that he would buy out kings and emperors? But because they have brought it about that all the world must act in danger and loss, win wages, lose over a year, but they can always and forever win and atone for their loss with auctioned profit, it is no wonder that they soon snatch all the world's goods to themselves. For an eternal certain penny is better than a temporal uncertain guilder. Now such companies never buy with eternal certain florins for our temporal uncertain pennies. How can it be a miracle that they become kings and we become beggars?
(58) Kings and princes should look into this and, according to the strict law, should prevent it; but I hear that they have a head and a part in it; and go by the saying of Isaiah, Cap. 1, v. 23: "Your princes are thieves.
You can also read about it in:
II. part, 1. B. Mos., 30. cap., § 140-147 and § 166-169, of avarice and unjust good.
Journeymen become." Meanwhile they let thieves hang who have stolen a florin or half a florin, and deal with those who rob the whole world and steal more than all others; so that the saying remains true: Great thieves hang little thieves; and as the Roman councilor Cato said: Bad thieves lie in towers and sticks, but public thieves walk in gold and silk. But what will God say to this in the end? He will do as He says through Ezekiel, princes and merchants, melting one thief into another like lead and ore, as when a city burns out, so that neither princes nor merchants will be any more than I fear is already at the door. We do not think to amend ourselves, however great the sin and injustice. So he cannot let injustice go unpunished.
Therefore, no one may ask how he may be in good conscience in the societies. There is no other advice than: leave it; nothing else will come of it. If the societies are to remain, then right and honesty must perish. If right and honesty are to remain, the societies must perish. The bed is too narrow, says Isaiah, one must fall out, and the cover is too narrow, cannot cover both.--Now I know well that my writing will displease them, and perhaps they will throw everything to the winds and remain as they are. But I am excused and have done what is mine, so that when God comes with the rod, it will be seen how honestly we have earned it. If I had taught one soul with it and delivered it from the maw, I would not have worked in vain.
60 Although I hope it has become so high and heavy by itself, as I also said above, that it will no longer bear itself and one must finally let it go. Summa, each one look at himself. No one may leave such things for my love or service: so no one may accept or keep them for my defiance or suffering. It is for you, not for me. God enlighten us and strengthen us to do his good will, amen.
II. part, 1. B. Mos., 31. cap., v. Avarice of Laban.
III Th., 5th B. Mos., 15th Cap., § 6-9, v. usury.