to it for their maintenance in the Isâ—e then called A valon i although I rather approve of Nicephorus his testimony k Nicepsorum libr. secunâ—o cap. 4. who saith that Simon Zelotes did spread the Gospel of Christ to the West Ocean and brought the same to the Isle of Brittain Now God bearing witness to the testimony of his Gospel in this Land as elsewhere and confirming the word spoken both with signes and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will of which King Lucius Son of Coilus that builded Colchâ—ster in this Land hearing about the year 180 he sent to Elutherius the Bishop of Rome to receive of him the Christian Faith and to be Baptized who rejoycing to hear the request of thiâ— King and to see the godly forwardness of his well disposed mind presently sent him Faganus and Damianus Preachers to him who preaching to the King his Court and people converted many and Baptized them and so they subverted the Idol Temples and all other monuments of l Fox Acts and Monum 1 Part pag. 96 printed 1610. Gentility and embraced the Christian Faith And whereas before there were amongst the Gentiles eight and twenty head priests called Flamins three Arch-Priests cald Arch-Flamins these they turned into eight and twenty Bâ—shops and three Arch-Bishops taking away the meanes which formerly was given to Sathan and his Ministers for to maintain the worship of Devils and consâ—crating it unto Jesus Christ and his Ministers for to maintain the true worship of God of which its probable Tythes were a part for so the Gentiles paid Tyth to their Flamines as well as the Jews did to the Priests and Levites So Pisistratus Tyrant of Athens infoâ—ms Solon that all the Athenians did separaâ—e the Tythes of their Fruits not to spend them on private use but for the publick Sacrifices and common profits m Lâ—crtiue in vita solonis So amongst the Latines they used to pay Tythes to Hercules n Pâ—mpon Lat. de sacer Macrob. Saturn lib. 3. cap. 12. And Cyrus his Souldiers by the advice of Craesus were staid from spoiling the Lydians City that the Tythe might first be paid to Jupiter o Herod in Clio. However certain it is that this good King Lucius founded many Churches gave great riches and liberties to the same as Fox confesseth p Fox Acts and Mon. ut supra p. 97. so did many other christian Kings converted to the Faith as Ethelbert gave Lands and Revenues to Austin that converted him at Canterbury Sigibert gave to Melitus at London also Quicelinus gave the â—ity of Dorchester to Berinus and after to the Bishop of Winchester seven miles compass of Land to build there the Bishops Sea which was accomplished and finished by Kenwalkus his Son q Fox ut supra pagin 110. as our Fox relateth And that Tythes as now they are paâ—d were given by Lucius and his people is more than probable sith they were governed in Religion the discipline of the Church maintenance thereof was after the example of the Râ—mish Church which then was in its purity or very little swaâ—ving from the Apostolick Faith r Fox ut supra pagin 96. And at that time Tythes were paid at Rome for all Christians are bound both by the Law of nature and institution of the Church to pay Tythes s Aquinas 2da 2da q. 87. A. 1. and St. Augustine saith Tythes are required of due debt and the which will not give them invades another mans goods t Aug in Serm 1. Domin post T. in 12 in Ser. de tempore 219. Decimas de tructibus vestris redditae ille vero Christianus est qui decimus annis â—ngulis erogandas pauperibus reddit and again he which gave hee the whole requires again the Tenth of thee not certain to profit himself but us In the National Councel of Calehuth anno 785 as Spelman relates in the Reigns of King Oswald and Offa there on good grounds specified Tythes were commanded to be paid as a special gift and tribute we ow tâ— God u Spel. Concil pag. 292 for so indeed paying of Tythes was a sign of Homage and subjection we owe to God as also of thankfulness which therefore was given to Gods Mâ—nisters and Priests before the Law w Gâ—n 14. 29 and 28 21. and under the Law x Lev. 27. Numb 18. and Deut. 14. 22. and under the Gospel y Rom. 15. 27. and 1 Cor. 9. 13 Gal. 6. â— Kâ—ng Ethelstane in his Land gave Tythe of his proper Goods as well in living Cattel as in Corn and Fruits of the gâ—ound and the same charge and command he gave to all his Officers throughout his Realm to pay the same which was about nâ—ne hundred years after Christ the ground of it was from the example of the godly who paid Tyths before the Law and by the words of our Sâ—viour and by the terrible threats denounced in other Books which told them that if they would not pay their Tenth their nine parts should be taken from them and they should enjoy only the Tenth also it appears in the Reign of Egbert almost two hundred years before z Fox ut supra pag. 135 136 and 149 150. for in the beginning of his Reign Cutheart Arch Bishop of Canterbury with his Synod of Bishops and Prelates concluded that the Congregation in every place should be constituted after the ability of their Goods which had been to no purpose had not Tythes been paid out of them Afterwards in the Reign of K. Edmond Câ— Anno 940. the King with the advice of his Lords and Bishops Enacted a Law that Tythes should be paid by every christian man a Fox ut supra pag. 136. And this was after confirmed by the Saxon Danish and Norman Kings that succeeded as appears in that Oath they usually took at their Coronations to preserve and defend the rights and priviledges of the Church as is manifest in the description of a King by King Edward the Confessor b Fox ut supra pag. 149 150. The King of right and by his office ought to conserve fully and wholly in all ampleness without diminution the Holy Church according to the constâ—tution of his Ancestors and Predecessors and to defend the same against all foes And these Tythes hath been ratified and confirmed on the Ministers of the Church by sundry Acts of Parliament since the Coâ—quest as by Magna Charta of King Henry the First and King John and Henry the Third 37. times since confirmed in Parliament c Vide Mr. Prin's Gospel Plea in his Preface to the Christian Reader and the last Parliament calld 1640. hath confirmed the same by their Ordinance 1644. d Vide the Ordinance of Parliament made November 1644. for the better payment of Tythes nor were ever any of those acts repealed but are
sinful men subject to the like passions and frailties with others yet they have heavenly treasure contained in them q 2 Cor. 4. 7 they being sent to turn men from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God that so they may receive remission of their sins and an inheritance among them that are sanctified by Faith in Christ Jesus r Acts 26. 18 they are called Angels for their power and honour Å¿ Rev. 1. and can do more with their Keyes than the greatest Kings of the earth with their Swords for they only can cut off men from the earth and destroy the body t Mar. 10. 28 but these can exclude men from heaven and deliver their Souls over to Satan u 1. Tim. 1. ult which even Theodosius the Emperour confest when he was Excommunicated by St. Ambrose w Theod. hist Eccles l. 5. c. 17 Mihi autem non modo ad Templum verum etiam ad Coetum ipsum accessus perclusus est c. And St. Paul exercis'd upon Hyminaeus and Alexander that they might learn not to blaspheme As the Priests pronouncing a person unclean the people were to put him out of the Congregation x Numb 5. 2 So the Ministers of Christ pronouncing a person unclean the Congregation is to put away from their Society such a person y 1 Cor. 5. 3 4 13. till the Minister doth Absolve him z 2 Cor. 2. 6 7 c. In a word Christ speaks with their tongues from Heaven a Heb. 12. 25 they are w 1 Tim. 1. 20 placed by Christ and the Holy Ghost to feed the flock Christ hath purchased with his bloud b Acts 20. 28 they are Rulers of the Churches c Heb. 13. 7 and the glory of Christ d 2 Cor. 8. 23 Now if their Calling be more laborious and perilous more profitable and honourable than all other Professions Offices and Callings there is no reason nor Conscience but that their Persons should be Reverenced then Wages and Maintenance should be proportionable in some sort thereunto that so their Doctrine may be esteemed and they themselves may have sufficiency both to keep Hospitality which they of all others are obliged to do e Tit. 1. 8 A Bishop or Elder ought to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for they are to belovers of Hospitality and of good men and to buy Books Food and Cloathing for themselves and their Families by which means they may be the better able to perform well their Callings and with the more joy and chearfulness endure their perils and hardship and may with the more gravity reverence and honour and success preach the Word and administer the Sacraments and Censures of the Church to the glory of God and honour of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath sent them and to the greater benefit and comfort of his Churrh to whom they are sent lastly to the etâ—â—nal salvation both of the preachers and of them that are taught by them who are free and bountiful in giving to them in the name of Prophets for they shall receive the Prophets reward f Mat 10. 41 Qâ—i Prophetam sua largiâ—ate sustentat quam vis ipse Prophetiâ—m non habet apud Deum tamen prophetis praemium habebit August Ex. loc Maâ—th 10. For hereby they shall be fellow-helpers to the truth of God g 2 John 8 and by sowing these temporal things to the Spirit they shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting h Gal 6. 8 Arguit eos qui falso paupe tatem pretendebant ne doctores suos alerent nolite inquite eâ—rarare novit Deus vestras facultates neque irrâ—detur tanquam ludibrio dcceptus haberi potest hic enim Grâ—ci irridâ—ri profalli sumunt Gagnes in loc Now then sith the Lands Houses Gleabs and Tythes are the Ministers of the Gospel in this Land by Donation and Gift God having given them to them by our Ancestors Wills who devoted them as they were moved by his Spirit and they being confirmed to them and their successours for so many hundreds of years for ever and Ratified by many Parliaments both in the Saxon Danish and Norman Kings Reigns and some of them in the Brittains dayes when they were Lords of the Land And sith they have as good shewings Evidences Charters Deeds and Conveyances for the quiet and peaceable enjoyment of them as any other Persons have for the enjoyment of their Manors Lordships Honours or Free-holds Lastly Sith they are theirs by the Law of Nature and Nations and by the Command and Ordinance of Christ under the Gospel whose Law is irrepealable by man he being Lord paramount sith they are theirs by the Common and Civil Law which confirms the Wills and Testaments of dead men deccased sith they are the Hire for their Labour their Wages for their Work the honour due to them from the people they teach I cannot see how any person or persons on earth without destroying Property and committing injustice and Sacriledge can sell these away from them or alienate them to any other prophane or common use or prohibit the people to pay them to those that teâ—ch them Hearken what the Apostle saith Be not deceived neither by thine own heart which is naturally full of self love and adictâ—d to covetousness yea deceitful above all things and desperately wicked i Jer. 17. 9 Tam varium est cor versipelle insidiosum quod aestus suos multis iâ—â—olueris convolvat ac tegat ut ne homo quidem ipse fibi abunde notus esse vix unquam queat Ecol in loc nor by others who for self interests or by-ends perswades thee this is no sin out of Pride prejudice malâ—ce hypocrâ—sie or love of the world for God is not mocked nor will he be by carnal reasons and pretences But look in thâ—s particular what a man soweth that shall he reap If men will impiously make void the Wills and Laws not only of men but of God they cannot free themselves from the guilt of prophanness and Sacriledge and of more than Paganâ—sh injustice as the Apostle intimates k Heb. 9. 17. Gal. 3. 11 for the Heathen abhor'd to do it to their Priests though they were imploy'd in a false Worship And therefore Joseph in Egypt durst not buy the Priests Lands lest he should have been accused of Sacriledge by the Nobility or Comminalty l Gen. 47. 22 And they had a portion assigned them of Pharaoh and so had no need to sell them as others had I have heard it reported of certainty That when a Turkish Embassadour came into Spain and was by some Agents from the Pope sollicited to embrace the Christian Faith He beholding the gallantry of the Spanish Court and the rich garments and Robes they wore but withal espying the mean Habit of the Priests and how contemptible they were whom they stiled Christs Embassadours that he cryed out
in the Land of Canaan which the Eleven Tribes had given o Josh 21. by Gods appointment p Numb 33 2 unto the Levites for so the Levites and Priests houses are called The houses of God which they resolved to take into their possession there being no houses of God built till Solomons time which proved both a snare and ruine to them all q Judg. 7. 22 8. 11 21 and the like success the Prophet by the Spirit imprecateth on such sacrilegious persons for the future whom he calls Gods enemies for they had and did herein consult against God r Psal 83. 2 5 10 because 't was against his hidden ones viz. The Saints that are hidden by God in his Tabernacle in the day of Evil from the strife of tongues Å¿ Psal 27 4. 31. 20 and who are hidden in the world for that knows them not And lastly because their life is hid with Christ in God t Colos 3. 3 nay he desires more fearful Curses on these oppressours of the Church than hapned unto them u Psal 83. 13 14 to the last The very Turks and Papists abhor this sin And yet notwithstanding 't is to be feared these Three Nations are greatly guilty of it in devouring things devoted What our Pious and Devout Predecessors gave to the Ministers and maintenance of Gods service and poor out of a zeal to Gods house devoting it to Gods service these have out of a fiery zeal laid waste and consumed yet we their Children after their vows do make enquiry which God abhors w Prov. â—0 25. yet some in authority out of a blind zeal have sold most of the Gleabs of the Land so devoured devoted things notwithstanding the will of the Donors forbidding it the Oaths of our Princes heretofore made to the givers of them as Saul endeavoured to destroy the Gibeonites notwithstanding the Oath of the Princes made of old to them on the contrary which caused a Famine in King Davids dayes 2 Sam. 21. 1 2. And I pray God there follows not a Famine in England as it did on Israel for this sin x Ut supra And if the Gleâ—bs given to maintain Gods service in this Isle may not be alienated from God nor withheld from his Ministers â—hom he hath appointed to receive them then much less may the Tythes of Grounds Trees Cattel be snatch'd from them without injustice if not sacriledge y Matâ—h 10. 10 Gal. 6 6 they being theirs who are true and lawful Ministers of Christ and accordingly execute their Office by as good Law of the Land as any man holds his Free-hold or Inheritance in this Land which were confirmed to them by Magna Charta of Henry the First King John and Henry the Third and 37 times since by Acts of Parliaments and Ordinances z See Mr. Pryns Gospel-Plea for Tyâ—hes and many times long before as hath been shewed they being most of them the Gifts and Legacies of devout Saints deceased and given with direfâ—l imprecations on such who should alter their Wills whose Testament cannot be revoked without injustice a Gal. 3. 15 If it be but a mans Testament yet if it be confirmed by the Seal and Death of the Testator no man disannulleth or addeth thereunto Nihil addi velademi mipossit secundum omnia jura Lutheri Comment in loc Vltima voluntas est vice legis sic juri consulti no reasonable men will do it either despise it reject it or make it void or adde to it as Theophilact renders it b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vide Gagneus in loc Gal. 3. 15 therefore whosoever doth attempt or effect it shews himself unreasonable And if it be oppression injustice and theft for any persons under heaven to make a Law to take away the Free-hold and Inheritance of an innocent man or to disanul and alter the Testament of a Pious man deceased who before he died bequeath'd his Lands and Goods to whom he pleased then certainly the sin is aggravated in any persons that shall establish iniquity by a Law to take away the Tythes Gleabs and Lands given to God which were the Gifts and Legacies of holy men devoted to God for the maintenance of his service and Ministers out of a zeal to Gods glory being moved thereunto by the Spirit of God c Ainsw Annot. on Levit. 27. 1. The Lord concludes this law touching Vows and voluntary Services which his people should honour him with of their own â—ccord through the working of his Spirit in them or to deprive the Ministers of their Free-hold and Inheritances which not only by Gods Law but by so many Laws and Acts of Parliament by our Ancestors through many ages is confirmed unto them And though it be objected That many of these Lands were given for Superstitious Uses as to say Masse Pray for the Deâ—d c. To this I Answer That 't is not lawful to employ these to those Supâ—rstitious ends which perhaps the Testators in those blind times of Popery seduced by Antichrists Ministers allotted them foâ— Yet the main Intention of these Zealous persons is to be respected which was Gods glory and the maintenance of Gods service and Ministers For the Abuse of any thing takeâ— not away the right Use of it nor the aberration â—n some circumstance make the Design frâ—strate The censors â—f Chorah Dathan and Abiram and tâ—eir company were to â—e taken up out of the burning because they were hallowed d Numb 16. 37 38 39. Unlawful for common uses because they had made them for vessels to minister unto God withal Ainsw in loc though now ill employed and turned afterward to an holy Use even for broad Plates to cover the Alter Many Gifts and Ornaments of the Temple which had been confer'd on it though by disobedient and superstitious Persons as Christ intimates e Mat. 15. 5. for they are called Anathemata Luke 21 5 for â—l ends yet Christ though he condemnes the sin and reprehends â—he persons offending never gave any oâ—der for the selling of â—hose Gifts or converting them to another Use for they were holy as were the Gifts given by Artaxerxes and his Counâ—ellors f Ezra 8 28 So were al gifts given to God and his Ministers Lev. 27. 9 long before The vessels of the Temple which Nebuchad â—ezzar brought forth out of Jerusalem and put them in the house of his God which Belshazzar also abused to Idolatry and Excess g Dan. 5. 2. 3 are by Cyrus restâ—red h Ezra 1. 7 8. 11. and carried up to Jerusalem by Shezbazzer and were brought into the Temple and put every one of them in his place i Ezra 6. 5 Darius also gave great Gifts â—nd Maintenance for the Service of God and his Ministers although he were a Heathen Prince and fail'd in the circumstance giving the same not for Gods glory and in Faith of Christ typified in
Hebrew Rabbins write A beast is to eat all the while that he worketh and he is not to be musled by string or voice thereby staying him from eating for whoso doth so is to be beaten or if he put a gag in his mouth or keep him from water or use any other means to hinder him from eating Maimon tom 4. cap. 13 sect 1 2 3. of hired things twice to confirm Ministers maintenance c 1 Cor. 9 9 And therefore by word or deed or any other way to hinder them from receiving of these is a transgression of Gods Law St. Paul himself being Expositor of it To keep back the Hire of the Labourers is a crying sin in the ears of the Lord of Hosts saith another Apostle It sounds high and enters soon d James 5. 4 And will not the keeping back and detaining of the spiritual labourers hire cry as loud and as soon pierce Gods ears as that of the temporal â—abourers when they are his Embassadours and stars in his right hand and the glory of Christ and he hath in a special manner â—eproved Kings for their sakes and commanded all men not to touch his Annointed nor do his Prophets no harm Psal 105. 15. Nor is their hire to be small but honourable and therefore stiled by the name of Honour e 1 Tim. 5. 17 because Christians honour both God and them in giving and paying the same f Prov. 3. 9 10 Divitiis non naturalibus ut aurum argentum ejusmodi Et fecundo naturalibus quus terra perfert vide Mercerus in locum Honour the Lord with thy Riches and with the first Fruits of all thy encrease To which Duty is annexed a large Promise of temporal and spiritual good things g Mat. 21. 34. For as Tenants honor their Lords and Stewards they send in paying their Rents and Tributes due so do these honour God and his Stewards in paying that which he requires of them and is due to him and to be paid to them for their meat should be so largly provided for them that they should not have only sufficient to provide for themselves and Families as had the Priests of old neglecting which they should be worse than Infidels h 1 Tim. 5. 8 but they should also have to entertain strangers and to be Hospitable to those that visit them and therefore it s a Gospel-Precept given to them which I find was not given to the Priests under the Law That they be lovers of hospitality i Titus 1. 8 Although the Priests were so rich and honorable that they were chief of their princes To conclude if Souldiers are worthy of their pay which God forbid any should deny to such as are faithful and good if Tradesmen that truck or merchandize are to have money or an equal value of other Commodities from those they trade withal if Shepherds are to be paid for keeping their Sheep then also ought the Ministers of the Gospel to be paid who are Christs Souldiers and commanded to endure hardness k 1 Tim. 5. 8. attending only and wholly on this Warfare 'T is fit these spiritual Merchants that communicate to men the heavenly treasure of the Gospel should receive at least earthly things for it for if their Auditors have been made partakers of their spiritual things the Apostle saith 't is their Auditors duty to minister to them in carnal things l Rom. 15. 27 't is fit these spiritual Shepherds should be liberally fed and clothed by the Flocks they feed as the same Apostle proves m 1 Cor. 9 7 Ne videretur Apostolus gravare ae quum esse quod facerâ—nt ostendit à comparatis quum milites stipendiis acceptis Agricolae suorum fructibus laborum Pastores sui gregis proventu vivâ—nt Beza in loc from equity And indeed without this the Ministers cannot in humane judgment so well rebuke with all Authority as they ought n Tit. 2. 15. 1 Tim. 4 11 nor perform their Office of giving themselves alwayes to Prayer and Preaching as the Apostles did o Acts 6. 4 'T is too well known by experience That the poorer sort of the Ministâ—y are despised even by those that profess Godliness how much more will prophane men contemne them poor men and their counsel are alwayes lightly esteemed p 1 Sam. 18. 23 Prov. 18. 23. Eccles 9. 15. James 2. 2 3 But a liberal maintenance as it will cause their persons to be reverenced so also will their Doctrine by the world be sooner hearkned unto and they themselves be freed from those temptations which usually accompany poverty as of flattery time-serving men-pleasing yea and wrenching the Scriptures for their own profit as most of the poor Vicars and Curats in the late Bishops times did and at this day most of your poor Friars and Monks do And this generally did the inferior Clergy of old as when the Arian Heresie prevailed they turn'd Arian and so did they who lived in Queen Maries dayes as did Balaam of old and those St. Jude speaks of that run greedily after his Errour q Jude 11. 16 2 Pet. 2. 14 Sicut lucri causa maladicturus Israelitis venerat Balaam ita lucri quaestus gratia perversa annuncâ—ant dogmata Gagneuâ— Scolia in Epist Judae for reward having mens persons in admiration because of advantage for they changed themselves and their peoples opinions according to those that were in power and so maintained them as too many lately have done from an Argument drawn from their Wives-bellies and Childrens-backs just as Jeroboams Priests who were of the lowest of the people who for maintenance upheld his Calvish-worship r 1 King 13. 13 And as the Priests of Baal served at that Idol-service to be fed at Jezabels Table Å¿ 1 King 18. 19 to prevent which let them quietly enjoy what is already by Gods and mans Lawes settled on them and if that be not sufficient let more be added to make it an honorable and blessed Maintenance that so they may not as those of old sophisticate as hucksters the Word of God but may preach it as of sincerity as of God in the sight of God the Gospel of Christ t 2 Cor. 2. 17. Aaron and his Sons when they were call'd to the Office of Priesthood had Garments put on them of Honor and Glory before the whole Congregation that so they might be the more reverenced and obeyed u Ex. 18. 2â— 2 For these two viz. honor and glory signifie the highest degree of dignity Honor inwardly in the heart and affections Glory outwardly in the appearance and carriage Their garments were to be new and fair like the garments of great men every polluted old or dirty garment were for threads and weak for the Candlesticks Ainsw in loc And God to honour Elisha the Prophet who had been but servant to Elias when he was to succeed
in his room had not only the internal Gifts of the Spirit conferred on him the Spirit of Eliah being redoubled on him but had even a Miracle wrought for him to procure honour and obedience to him from the rest both of the Prophets and People w 2 King 2. 14 15 c. And if this were necessary for the Priests and Prophets under the Law to procure obedience to their word how much more should it be under the Gospel to the Ministers thereof whose ministration is far more glorious than that under the Law x 2 Cor. 3. 11 That the Ministers and Prophets should have honour and glory put on them which can never be so long as they be poor mean and contemptible as before hath been said Therefore that the people may obey and submit unto them that are over them in the Lord and that the Ministers may wait for their souls and so be able to give an account of them with joy and not with grief which wiâ—l be unprofitable for the people either in their Prayers when they give account of them to God or at their Hour of Death or day of Judgment when they are to give an account of their Steward-ship if they have not been honoured both with Reverence and Maintenance or not obeyed and submitted to as his Stewards y Heb 13 7 All the Apostles though Christ freely gave them power and ability immediately from Heaven to Preach the Gospel and work Miracles z Acts 2. yet had they Hire for their labour sufficient to cloath and feed them and to provide all things needful for them so that they lâ—cked nothing by their own confessions a Luke 22 35 nor were they only to be provided for but also their Wives were to be provided for and maintained at the charge of those they taught this power God gave them And St. Paul challengeth it as belonging to other Ministers of the Gospel as well as to Peter and the rest of the Apostles b 1 Cor. 9. 5 and though he and Barnabas had not made use of that power yet he pleads it belonged to him and that he took wages of other Churches to do service to the Church of Corinth c 2 Cor. 11. 7 9 for he was supplied by the Brethren that came from Macedonia which made that Church of Philippi which thus liberally contributed to the Apostles to be more honorable than that of Corinth d Phil. 4. 14 Rationem accepti fecerunt quia spiritualia ex me receperunt rationem dati non fecerunt quia nihil contra mihi pro illis sunt clargit Gagn. in locum scol and this of Corinth to be inferior to other Churches for neglecting this Duty of providing for them e 2 Cor. 12. 13 for they wanted Fruit to abound to their account and did not offer that Incense which gave an odour of sweet smell that Sacrifice which was acceptable and well pleasing to God as the Church of Phillippi had done f Phil. 4. 18 which made the Apostle St. Paul to rejoyce and to be encouraged in his Ministry they being his dearly beloved and long'd for his joy and crown g Phil. 4. 1 and to encourage other Christians to imitate them he praised God for this work of his Spirit in them for it would redound not only ro their spiritual account and to their eternal happiness but also God seeing them faithfully distributing his talents he would encrease these temporal blessings also supplying all their wants according to his Promises h verse 19 Prov. 3. 9. 10 2 Kings 4. 8 Haggai 2. 19 Mal. 3. 10 1â— Mat. 10. 41 42 Mark 9. 41 2 Cor. 9. 6 Gal. 6. 6 7 8 both in the Old and New Testament On the other side If any person or persons though never so great or many shall detain or with-draw or fraudulently keep back any thing Devoted or Consecrated to his Ministers maintenance they will bring a Curse on themselves and all others that partake with them in this sin as its plain in Achans case i Josh 7. 25 it brought a consuming fire on him his Sons and Daughters his Oxen and Asses his Sheâ—p and Tent and all that he had which were burned with fire after they had been stoned This with other sins annezed to it brought sudden death on Ananias and Sapphira k Acts 5. 5 10 it brought severe judgments on the whole Nation of Israel in the Prophet Malachy's dayes l Mal. 3. 19 10 especially on the sacrilegious persons m Hag. 1. 9. 10 compared with Nehem. 13. 10. Sir Henry Spilman sheweth at large how God hath wonderfully plagued this sin in our fore fathers dayes n vide Spilman and of late in the last Three Princes Reigns God who is just and holy in his wayes who is the Fear cutting off the Spriiâ—s of Princes and being terrible to the Kings of the earth o on Psa 76. 12 destroying utterly the Family of Henry the 8th that great Tyrant and Church-robber in the Death of Queen Elizabeth who was the first that sold away openly the Revenues of the Church devoted to Gods service changing the Consecrated Lands for others with divers honourable and generous Families in this Nation only in this Fact degenerating from true Pâ—ety and Charity whose Posterity have felt the smart of Gods justice and they inheriting their Fathers sins with those devoted Lands and not restoring them they have also inherited their plagues Queen Elizabeth her self though I hope a Saint with God yet one of the last and worst works she did by the flattery and perswasion of her Favourites was the passing over the Mannor of Sherbourne belonging to the Cathedral of Sarum of which Revenue Bishop Jewel that great Champion of our Religion had made good use unto Sir Walter Rawleigh who was as I am informed by a Reverend D. of that Church warn'd to desist from that enterprize foretelling him of the sad sequel would follow thereon but his ambitious and Covetous Wife over-swayed the wise man as Solomons Wives did him p 1 Kings 11 4 He was by Dr. Hide Cannon of the Church of Sarum disswaded from desiring the Dean Chapter to ratifie the Gift of the Queens and though that Sir Walter was by the old mans Arguments overcome and contented to surcease the enterprize yet his Wife would not suffer him to be quiet until the business was ended as one of the Walters related to me But the Donor lived not long after but lost her life and Crown together leaving it to a Forraign Prince and though the Gift was sweet to those who for a while enjoyed it yet it fill'd the belly with gravel and raised him such foes that burthen'd him so heavy till they brought him to the block and truly divine Vengeance attended all the owners of it ever since q As the Earle of Sommerset Prince Henry the Earls of Bristol c.