Usury, the Meteor Gleam of Superstition

London: Printed for Sherwood, Neely and Jones 1818. Disbound; [4], 58 pp. Edward Cooke (1755–1820), English politician and pamphleteer wrote this flowery text recommending the abolition of usury laws. To give you a flavor of his writing style: “[T]he churchmen, misled by the meteor gleam of superstition, or actuated by the delusive witchery of a self-denying spirit, propounded certain scruples of conscience concerning the moral rectitude of looking after the means of worldly prosperity, or converting present wealth to purposes of future gain; and assisted by an erroneous interpretation of that passage of the Mosaic law… and a quaint, unmeaning apophthegm of Aristotle, respecting the barrenness of money, they especially denounced the taking of any interest whatever.” (pg. 13).