This, which is now the lending of money upon inordinate interest, was once the lending it upon any. The man who did not lend his money for nothing was then a ‘usurer,’ not he, as now, who makes unworthy profit by the necessities of the needy or the extravagance of the foolish. It is true that the word was as dishonourable then as it is now; and it could not be otherwise, so long as all receiving of interest was regarded as a violation at once of divine and of natural law. When at length the common sense of men overcame this strange but deep-rooted prejudice, the word was too deeply stained with dishonour to be employed to express the lawful receiving of a measurable interest; but ‘usury,’ taking up a portion only of its former meaning, was now restricted to that which still remained under a moral ban, namely the exacting of an excessive interest for money lent.
On the other side, the commodities of usury are: first, that howsoever usury in some respects hindereth merchandising, 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 great stand of trade.—Bacon, Essay, 41.
Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury [σὺν τόκῳ]?—Luke xix. 23. (A.V.)
Brokers, takers of pawns, biting usurers I will not admit; yet because we converse here with men, not with gods, and for the hardness of men’s hearts, I will tolerate some kind of usury.—Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy; Democritus to the Reader.
Varlet. Littré, dealing with this very word, has truly said, ‘Les mots, soit en changeant de pays, soit en changeant de siècle, s’ennoblissent ou s’avilissent d’une façon singulière’ (Hist. de la Langue Française, vol. ii. p. 166). There could be no more signal proof of this than that which the word ‘varlet’ supplies. I continue to quote his words, ‘Vaslet, ou, par une substitution non rare de l’r à l’s, varlet, est un diminutif de vassal; vassal signifiait un vaillant guerrier, et varlet un jeune homme qui pouvait aspirer aux honneurs de la chevalerie.’ From this it fell to the use in which we find it in the passage quoted below from Shakespeare of squire or attendant, which is also the continually recurring use in the Old English translation of Froissart. In this sense it survives as ‘valet;’ but not pausing here, ‘varlet’ is now tinged with contempt, and implies moral worthlessness in him to whom it is applied.
Call here my varlet; I’ll unarm myself.
Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act i. sc. 1.
Right so there came in a varlet; and told Sir Tristram how there was come an errant knight into the town with such colours upon his shield.—Sir T. Malory, Morte d’Arthur, b. x. c. 56.
Vassalage. This, like the Old French ‘vasselage,’ had once the meaning of courage, prowess, superiority. See in explanation the quotation from Littré under ‘Varlet.’
And certeynly a man hath most honour