1from the
owners than necessity demands.
Nay, I will admit that a for
man may plaster over, or hide with a structure, a vein where it is rich i
metals. Is the wickedness of one or two to brand the many honest wit
fraud and trickery? What body is supposed to be more pious and virtuou
in the Republic than the Senate? Yet some Senators have been detecte
in peculations, and have been punished. Is this any reason that so honour
able a house should lose its good name and fame? The superintenden
cannot exact contributions from the owners without the knowledge an
permission of the Bergmeister or the deputies; for this reason decep
tion of this kind is impossible. Should the foremen be convicted o
fraud, they are beaten with rods; or of theft, they are hanged. I
is complained that some sellers and buyers of the shares in mines ar
fraudulent. I concede it. But can they deceive anyone except a stupid
careless man, unskilled in mining matters? Indeed, a wise and pruden
man, skilled in this art, if he doubts the trustworthiness of a seller o
buyer, goes at once to the mine that he may for himself examine the vei
which has been so greatly praised or disparaged, and may consider whethe
he will buy or sell the shares or not. But people say, though such an on
can be on his guard against fraud, yet a simple man and one who is easil
credulous, is deceived. But we frequently see a man who is trying to mislea
another in this way deceive himself, and deservedly become a laughing
stock for everyone; or very often the defrauder as well as the dupe i
entirely ignorant of mining. If, for instance, a vein has been found to b
abundant in ore, contrary to the idea of the would-be deceiver, then he wh
was to have been cheated gets a profit, and he who has been the deceive
loses. Nevertheless, the miners themselves rarely buy or sell shares, bu
generally they have jurati venditores28 who buy and sell at such prices as the
have been instructed to give or accept. Seeing therefore, that magistrate
decide disputes on fair and just principles, that honest men deceive nobody
while a dishonest one cannot deceive easily, or if he does he cannot do s
with impunity, the criticism of those who wish to disparage the honesty
miners has therefore no force or weight.
man may plaster over, or hide with a structure, a vein where it is rich i
metals. Is the wickedness of one or two to brand the many honest wit
fraud and trickery? What body is supposed to be more pious and virtuou
in the Republic than the Senate? Yet some Senators have been detecte
in peculations, and have been punished. Is this any reason that so honour
able a house should lose its good name and fame? The superintenden
cannot exact contributions from the owners without the knowledge an
permission of the Bergmeister or the deputies; for this reason decep
tion of this kind is impossible. Should the foremen be convicted o
fraud, they are beaten with rods; or of theft, they are hanged. I
is complained that some sellers and buyers of the shares in mines ar
fraudulent. I concede it. But can they deceive anyone except a stupid
careless man, unskilled in mining matters? Indeed, a wise and pruden
man, skilled in this art, if he doubts the trustworthiness of a seller o
buyer, goes at once to the mine that he may for himself examine the vei
which has been so greatly praised or disparaged, and may consider whethe
he will buy or sell the shares or not. But people say, though such an on
can be on his guard against fraud, yet a simple man and one who is easil
credulous, is deceived. But we frequently see a man who is trying to mislea
another in this way deceive himself, and deservedly become a laughing
stock for everyone; or very often the defrauder as well as the dupe i
entirely ignorant of mining. If, for instance, a vein has been found to b
abundant in ore, contrary to the idea of the would-be deceiver, then he wh
was to have been cheated gets a profit, and he who has been the deceive
loses. Nevertheless, the miners themselves rarely buy or sell shares, bu
generally they have jurati venditores28 who buy and sell at such prices as the
have been instructed to give or accept. Seeing therefore, that magistrate
decide disputes on fair and just principles, that honest men deceive nobody
while a dishonest one cannot deceive easily, or if he does he cannot do s
with impunity, the criticism of those who wish to disparage the honesty
miners has therefore no force or weight.
In the next place, the occupation of the miner is objectionable
t
nobody. For who, unless he be naturally malevolent and envious, wi
hate the man who gains wealth as it were from heaven? Or who will hat
a man who to amplify his fortune, adopts a method which is free fro
reproach? A moneylender, if he demands an excessive interest, incurs th
hatred of men. If he demands a moderate and lawful rate, so that he is n
injurious to the public generally and does not impoverish them, he fails t
become very rich from his business. Further, the gain derived from minin
is not sordid, for how can it be such, seeing that it is so great, so plentifu
and of so innocent a nature. A merchant's profits are mean and base whe
he sells counterfeit and spurious merchandise, or puts far too high a pri
on goods that he has purchased for little; for this reason the mercha
nobody. For who, unless he be naturally malevolent and envious, wi
hate the man who gains wealth as it were from heaven? Or who will hat
a man who to amplify his fortune, adopts a method which is free fro
reproach? A moneylender, if he demands an excessive interest, incurs th
hatred of men. If he demands a moderate and lawful rate, so that he is n
injurious to the public generally and does not impoverish them, he fails t
become very rich from his business. Further, the gain derived from minin
is not sordid, for how can it be such, seeing that it is so great, so plentifu
and of so innocent a nature. A merchant's profits are mean and base whe
he sells counterfeit and spurious merchandise, or puts far too high a pri
on goods that he has purchased for little; for this reason the mercha
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