them He causeth his Wind to Blow and the Waters flow These are kept out of the ordinary Course of Natural Causes in God's more Immediate Government They are therefor call'd His Treasures and Reserv'd against the Day of Trouble against the Day of Battel and War Job xxxviij 22 23. Then shall the Right-aiming Thunder-bolts go abroad and from the Clouds as from a well-drawn Bow shall fly to the Mark. And Hail-stones full of Wrath shall be cast as out of a Stone-bow Yea a mighty Wind shall stand up against them and like a Storm shall drive them away Wisd v. 21. c. These are GOD's Armory and kept in His own hand And come not by Certain Rules as the Rising and Setting of the Sun the Solstices Eclipses c. And therefor are look'd upon as the More Immediate Acts of God and Instances of His Power Therefor David says His Strength is in the Clouds Psal lxviij 34. The Thunder is call'd His Voice The Storms at Sea and Commotions of the Waters are said to be His Act in His Immediate Governance As it is said Prov. xxj i. The King's Heart is in the Hand of the Lord as the Rivers of Water He turneth it Whithersoever He will It is the Lord that Commandeth the Waters Psal xxix 3 4. It is the glorious God that maketh the Thunder It is the Lord that Ruleth the Sea The Voice of the Lord is Mighty in Operation They that go down to the Sea in Ships These Men see the works of the Lord Psal cvij. 23 c. and his Wonders in the Deep for at his word the stormy wind ariseth and lifteth up the waves thereof for he maketh the storm to cease so that the waves thereof are still Nothing that is Fix'd and Certain in the Constant course of Natural Causes is Call'd a Wonder of the Lord. Else every thing would be equally a Wonder Nay it wou'd be a Wonder if it were otherwise as if the Sun should Stop or Go back if the Returns of Day and Night Summer and Winter should fail These wou'd be great Miracles which therefor God very seldom shews Else nothing wou'd be left Constant or Certain in Nature But all return to their old Chaos And then they wou'd cease to be Miracles if they were done as oft as Every body would Call for them But God hath Reserv'd some things out of the ordinary course of Nature And in these He shews daily Wonders of his Providence He calls this His Witness among the Gentiles Act. xiv 17. That as by his Works of Creation He had Demonstrated His Eternal Power and Godhead Rom. i. 20. So he had given them an equal Proof of His Providence and of their Continual Dependence upon Him in his sending them Rain and Fruitful Seasons for which they cou'd Assign no Natural Causes Thou art the God that do'st Wonders The Waters saw thee Psal lxxvij 14 c. O God the Waters saw thee they were afraid the Depths also were troubled The Clouds poured out Water the Skies sent out a Sound thine Arrows also went abroad the voice of thy Thunder was in the Heavens the Lightnings lighted the world the Earth trembled and shook Thy way is in the Sea and thy Path in the Great Waters and thy foot-steps are not known We cannot Trace God not know His foot-steps in His Dispensing of these things as of others which are Dispos'd in the Common Course of Natural Causes Therefor in these things God's Power is Chiefly shewn And in these things we are Commanded to Wait and Depend upon Him Lev. xxvi 4. Deut. x. 14. And He tells Us that He will Dispence them to one and not to Another Am. iv 7. But things that Depend on Natural Causes are Equal to All. We are Commanded to pray for Rain Zech. x. i. But it is not Permitted to Us it wou'd be Presumption and Tempting of God to Ask for Altering the Course of Nature of Sun Moon or Stars or to Break the Covenant of Day and Night And the Weather which God thus keeps in His own Hand is no less Necessary to our Life in Giving us the Fruits of the Earth than the Fixt Course of Nature the influence of the Sun c. To teach us that we must Depend as Much upon the Immediate Blessing of God as upon all Second Causes The Heathen were sensible of this And therefor They had as their Pra-Messum Prayers before Harvest so their Flori-festum after Harvest to express their Thankfulness to the Gods for the Fruits of the Earth But this People saith the Prophet hath a Revolting and a Rebellious heart Jer. v. 23 24. they are Revolted and Gone Neither say they in their heart Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Rain both the Former and the Latter in his Season He reserveth unto us the appointed Weeks of the Harvest Thus we see that this Acknowledgment and Devotion to God was Commanded to the Jews and observ'd by the Heathen from the Dictates even of Natural Religion And what is it that can exempt Christians from Paying this From Rendring unto God the Honour and Tribute Due unto his Name sure they ought rather to Exceed than come short of Jews and Heathens in this It were much to be Desir'd that a Publick Office were Appointed for this And this made Part of our Solemn Devotion But till that be done I hope it will not be taken amiss by our Superiors to Exhort both our Priests to Receive and the Laity to Pay this their Bounden Duty to God and at His Altar to Offer up His Tythes IV. The Rest which are not there Offer'd at the Altar shou'd by the Owners be brought into Store-houses Appointed The Priest's Drawing of them is Scandalous and more his Farming of them They are All as well as the First-fruits which were offered Holy unto the Lord All are Offered in the First-fruits They are not to be Commuted or Redeem'd for Money where they can be brought in Kind They are a Sacrifice unto God and must not be Changed And they who Subtract or Refuse to Pay them have Denied The Lord to be their God by Denying Him His Tribute they ought to be cast out of the Congregation and not Reputed as Christians So it was Decreed in a General Parliament of Clergy and Laity at London A. D. 940. in the Reign of King Edmund before mentioned And this has been Confirmed by Repeated Vows and Acts of Parliament We are to Bring our Tythes and Offerings unto The Lord and not leave Him or His Priests to Draw them or Choose And besides the Affront to God it Engages the Priest and his Flock in many Disputes and Heart-burnings and often into Strifes and Law-suits which Lessens his Authority and Renders his Labours ineffectual by Personal Prejudices conceiv'd against him All this God foresaw and by His Law He prevented it But we are grown Wiser than He Cou'd the Priests under the Law
Increase I have not Transgressed His Commandments Deut. xvi 16. To Appear Empty before the Lord Neither will I offer unto the Lord my God of that which doth Cost me nothing 2 Sam. xxiv 24. And O Lord that it may please thee Graciously to accept this Offering at my hands and to make it well-pleasing in thy sight O Lord Jesus Christ Heb. vij 8. the Priest who ever Liveth to Receive Tythe and to make Intercession for us Receive this our Tribute our Bounden Duty and Service 1 Pet. ij 25. O thou Bishop of our Souls in Thy Goodness and make it acceptable to Thy Father and our Father Joh. xx 17. to thy God and our God O Thou who art able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Thee Heb. vij 25. And to succour them that are Tempted Ch. ij 18. in that thou thy self wast Tempted O Thou Merciful and Faithful High-Priest 17. in things pertaining to God O do Thou make Powerful Intercession for the Sins of the People Mal. iij. 8. who have Robbed GOD in His Tythes and Offerings O Thou who did'st open the Eyes of the Blind open the Eyes of this People and smite Lord their Hearts they that may See and Consider their Horrid Sacrilege and Repent and Return And that Thou may'st Pardon all that is Past all their Neglect of Paying their Tythe Hitherto all Mine O God who smite upon my Breast this Day and turning my self I mourn for this great Offence and Bless Thy Name with the Vtmost Powers of my Soul That Thou hast Graciously and Wonderfully had Mercy on me and now tho Late hast shewn to me Thy Glory and Thy Truth O Preserve and Bless me in it And bring more and more into it even this whole People Hos ix 4. That his their Bread for their Soul may never Hereafter cease to come into the House of the Lord Mal. iij. 10. that ther may be Meat in Thine House and that Thou may'st open the Windows of Heaven and Pour us out a Blessing till ther shall not be Room enough to receive it 11. That thou may'st Rebuke the Destroyer for our sakes that he may not Destroy the Fruits of our Ground nor our Corn cast her Fruit before the time in the Field 12. That all Nations may call us Blessed That we may be a Delightsome Land unto the Lord of Hosts Look down from Thy Holy Habitation Deut. xxvi 15. from Heaven and Bless thy People Israel and the Land which Thou hast Given us Bless Thy Holy Catholick Church and Every Land and Country where she Dwells This in an especial Manner O Lord our God Her Governours the Bishops with the Inferior Priests and Deacons And all Thy Faithful committed to their Charge their Kings their Princes and Temporal Government Isa xlx 23. Make them faithful Nourishers to Thy Church and to Bow down their Ear to her Instruction and submit themselves to her Discipline That Thy Worship may be set up amongst us in its Purity and Fulness That Thou may'st Delight to Bless us Deut. viij 16. and to do us good at our Latter End And now O Lord and my God let me Return unto Thee for a Blessing upon my self a most Miserable and wretched Sinner who am less than the least of all the Mercies which Thou dost daily Renew unto Me and for my and Whom Thou hast Graciously given unto Thy Servant And all my Family Friends Relations Benefactors and Well-wishers Feed us O Lord with Food convenient for us Gen. xxviij 22. And of all that Thou givest us Grant that we may surely give the Tenth unto Thee 21. that the Lord may be our God And may Bless the Fruit of our Body Deut. xxviij 4. c. and the Fruit of our Ground the Fruit of our Cattel and the Increase of our Kine and the Flocks of our Sheep that the Lord may Command a Blessing upon us in our Store-Houses and in all that we set our hand unto When we come in and when we go out That we may be Blessed in our Basket and Blessed in our Store Blessed in the City and Blessed in the Field That the Lord may open unto us His Good Treasure the Heaven to give the Rain unto our Land in his season and to Bless all the work of our hand And that we may Lend un-Many but not Borrow That the Lord may make us the Head and not the Tail and to be Above only and not to be Beneath when we shall hearken unto the Commandments of the Lord our God And therefor we do now Honour and Hallow and Worship Thy Holy Name in Rendring our Bounden Tribute and Service Thy Tenth of all our Increase which we offer with Thankful and Joyful Hearts Adoring Thy Goodness and Praising Thy Mercy in Giving us All that we have Blessed be thou 1 Chr. xxix 10. Lord God of Israel our Father for ever and ever Thine O Lord is the Greatness and the Power and the Glory and the Victory and the Majesty for all that is in the Heaven and in the Earth is Thine Thine is the Kingdom O Lord and Thou art Exalted as Head above All. Now therfor Our God we Thank Thee and Praise Thy Glorious Name But who am I and what are we that we shou'd be able to Offer so willingly after this sort For All things come of Thee and of Thine own have we given Thee For we are Strangers before Thee and Sojourners as were all our Fathers our Days on the Earth are as a Shadow and ther is none Abiding O Lord our God All that we have cometh of Thine Hand and All is Thine own I know also My God that Thou triest the Heart and hast Pleasure in Vprightness As for me in the Vprightness of mine Heart I have willingly Offered the Tenth unto Thee And Pray God that I may yet see with Joy All Thy People offer the same willingly unto Thee And O Lord God keep this for ever in the Imagination of the Thoughts of the Heart of Thy People Lord Psal x. 19. Prepare their Heart and let Thine Ear hearken thereto Redeem Israel O God 25.21 out of All his Troubles Our Father c. A Blessing to be Pronounced by the Priest BLessed be Thou of the most High God Gen. xiv 19 20. Possessor of Heaven and Earth And Blessed be the Most High God who hath given Thee a Heart to Fear before Him and to fulfil His Law 1 Sam. i. 17. And the God of Israel grant Thee thy Petition that thou hast asked of Him though Jesus Christ who Dyed for Thee To whom be Glory with the Father and the Holy-Ghost for ever and ever Amen FINIS
made this Heave-offering of a Tenth of it was called a Polluting of the Tythes of the People which they had Received and made them Liable to Death ver 32. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it when ye have Heaved from it the Best of it neither shall ye Pollute the Holy things of the Children of Israel lest ye Die Thus our entring upon any Part before we have Offered to God His Tenth Part is a Polluting of the Whole as to us For it is Sanctifi'd to us by our Offering the Tenth to God Till when the Whole is Hallowed to God and it is Sacrilege to Invade it Nor is any of it Releas'd to our Use till God's Part be first taken from it And you see how strictly this was Enjoyn'd by God and how Vniversally That as the People were not so much as to Taste of any of the Fruits of the Earth no not the Green Ears till they had offered to The Lord His Part out of it by Giving it unto the Levites so neither were the Levites to Taste of any of the Peoples Tythe till they had first Offered the Tenth of their Tenth to God by giving of it to the High-Priest And that under Pain of Death And of Rendering the Whole Polluted to them He that steals any of his Goods to his own use before he has given to God His Tenth steals it and all the Rest from God's Blessing And tries if he can grow Rich whether God will or not Which if God Permit it is for his Greater Judgment And God can Exact it from him or his Posterity Upon whom we Entail God's Curse when we Deprive God of His Due SECT XVII Of what Part of our Goods the Tythe is to be Pay'd OF the Very Best no Doubt for we offer it to God And in this we Express the Reverence Due to the Divine Majesty And to offer any thing to him that is not the Best we have Argues a Slight and Contempt of Him And Preferring our selves or something else before Him Therefor tho we give the full Proportion of a Tenth yet if we Give it not of the very Best we fail as to the Quality of our Gift tho not as to the Quantity We Forfeit the Blessing upon the whole And instead of that we bring a Curse upon us as seeking to Deceive or Blind the Eyes of God as if He took no Notice or did not Regard it Which is a Greater Contempt of God than if we did not offer to Him at all But cursed be the Deceiver Mal. i. 14. who hath in his Flock a Male and Voweth and Sacrificeth unto the Lord a Corrupt thing For I am a great King saith The Lord of Hosts And My Name is Dreadful among the Heathen But I need not Insist upon this The Commands are Numerous and cannot escape the observation of Any That whatever was offered to The Lord was to be without Blemish Deut. xvij 1. And the Texts before Quoted Num. xviij 30. and 32. do among Many others plainly Express it When ye have Heaved the BEST thereof from it then it shall be counted as the Increase of the Threshing-floor c. And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it when ye have Heaved from it the BEST of it i. e. if you do not Heave the Best it will be a Sin and you shall Bear it As to the same Notion among the Heathen see before p. 47. and p. 71. SECT XVIII Who they are that ought to Pay Tythe Ans ALL that Worship God For Tythe is a Part of His Worship 2ly All that Expect His Blessing upon the Remaining Nine Parts And upon their future Labours and Endeavours Object Tho the Rich may Bear this yet it seems very Hard upon the Poor Ans It is no Harder to the Poor than to the Rich because they Pay Proportionably So Equal is this Tax of God's Imposing After the Tythe of Worship the Jews were obliged to Pay another Tythe of Charity to the Poor which was call'd The Poor Man's Tythe And this latter sort of Tythe no Man was obliged to Pay to Any who was not Poorer than Himself By which Rule the very Poorest sort are Excused from this Tythe But none are Excused from the Tythe of Worship more than from their Prayers or any other Part of God's Worship None must Appear before the Lord Empty Ther is no Exception from this Rule If it be said what do's such a Modicum signifie which a Very Poor Man can Give Ans It is Accepted by God as much or more if given with a better Heart than the Great Offerings of the Rich. The poor Widow's two Mites were reckoned More than all that the Rich had offer'd of their Abundance Luke xxi 3. Observe That those Priests to whom this Widow gave her two Mites were Rich and Covetous beside they Devour'd Widows Houses Luk. xx 47. they were these to whom our Blessed Saviour said Mat. xxiij 33. Ye Serpents ye Generation of Vipers how can ye escape the Damnation of Hell yet He made it no Objection against this Religious Widow that she should throw in her Mite to swell the Wealth of those Wicked Men who were much more capable to have Relieved her Great Necessities than she was to add to their Store For He knew and has Instructed Us that her Offering was to God and not to the Priests tho the Prists did Receive it and it was put into their Treasury yet Christ calls those Gifts which were cast into it The Offerings of God Luk. xxj 1 4. Let us observe in the 2d place That this Farthing which the Widow gave was only a Free-will Offering which was of less Obligation than the Tythe for the Tythe was Positively Required and might be Exacted if not Pay'd How will this Rise in Judgment against those who have not the Heart to Give what is Barely Due And think a Tenth too much when it is Commanded It has been before observed how the Primitive Christians Gave Many of them All that they had as this Widow had done But None Less than a Tenth For that they thought themselves Bound to give More than the Jews because as Irenaeus said they had a Better Hope Now the First-Fruits the Tythe to the Levites the second Tythe to the Poor the Tythe for Feasts the Corners of their Fields which they were forbid to Reap and the Gleanings which they were not to Gather Lev. xix 19. are computed not to leave to the owner above a Fourth or a Fifth Part Clear to Himself Out of which their Daily and Multitude of Occasional Offerings for Legal Vncleannesses besides their Voluntary or Free-will Offerings which cannot be Reckon'd were to be taken How far short then of the Jewish Performance and how much shorter of the Primitive Christian Devotion do we come who will not Pay the one Tenth even of Worship which is Indispensibly due to God himself which he has Reserved by an Vniversal
ejus Prosperos si quis vero Minuere vel Mutare presumpserit Noscat se ante Tribunal Christi redditurum rationem nisi prius satisfactione emendaverit i. e. He that shall Add to what I have Given The Lord add to him Prosperous days But if any shall Presume to Lessen or Change it let him know that he shall give an Account of it before the Tribunal of Christ unless he first Repent and make Satisfaction This Mr. Selden says he had out of the Cotton Library where it is in MS. among the Chartularies of the Abbey of Abingdon The Charter expresses That the King made this Grant by the Advice and Consent of the Bishops Earls and All the Great Men. And Mr. Selden says p. 208. That this was a Constitution by the Parliamentary Consent of that time 3. But in the Year following A. D. 855. King Ethelwolf did Renew this Grant in a more solemn Manner Dedicating and Vowing the Tythe of All the Lands in England In Sempiterno Graphio in Cruce Christi as it is Express'd and was the Manner at that time of the most Solemn Vow And Tender'd the Charter by him sign'd upon his Knees offering it up and laying it upon the Great Altar of St. Peter's Church in Winchester the Bishops receiving it from him oâ— God's Part. And this was done nâ—â— only with the Consent of both Lord and Commons of whom an Infiniâ—â— Number was Present But all the Bishops Abbots Earls and Nobles diâ— Subscribe it with the Greatest Applause of the People And it was seâ— and Published in every Parish-Church throughout the Kingdom 4. This Ethelwolf was the first â—â—reditary Monarch of the English Saxons who held the whole Nation under his Subjection in Peace anâ— without Contradiction and consequently he was the first who cou'd effectually make a Law to oblige 〈◊〉 whole Nation And this Law and Vow of his and of the whole Nation by their Consent given as aforesaid was Confirm'd and Renewed by almost every King and Parliament that succeeded in the Reigns of Alfred Edward Athelstan Edmund Edgar Ethelred Canutus and Edward the Confessor before the Conquest and from William the Conquerour down all the way to Hen. VIII in many Parliaments with solemn Curses and Imprecations upon Themselves or Posterities who shou'd Detract any of the Tythes so Vowed and Granted And such Curses and Excommunications were Pronounced in the most Solemn and Dreadful Manner by the Bishops with Burning Tapers in their hands in Presence of King Lords and Commons in Parliament Assembled and All Consenting and Confirming the same in Name of Themselves and their Posterities And as it is express'd in the Act of Parliament made in the Reign of King Edmund A. D. 940. Wherein All the People are Charged Spelm. Concil T. 1. p. 420. Hist Jorval Col. 858. upon their Christianity to Pay their Tythes and those who Neglect it are Declar'd Accursed i. e. Excommunicated and they were Esteem'd as Men who had Renounced their Christianity and not to Deserve the Name of Christians And these Grants and Vows are Confirm'd by Magna Charta and all the rest of our Laws both before and after it 5. Now it is a Receiv'd Maxim in the Civil Law as well as a Dictate of Reason That Votum transit in Haeredes A Vow do's Descend and Oblige our Heirs And in the Law of Justinian which he Receiv'd from Vlpian it is Particularly apply'd to this of Tythes f f. lib. de Policit l. 2. Quis §. 2. Si forte qui Decimam vovit Decesserit ante Sepositionem Hares ipsius Haereditario nomine Decime obstrictus est Voti enim obligationem ad Haeredem transire constat i. e. If any that had vowed Tythes should Dâ—ebefore they were Pay'd his Heir is oblig'd to Pay them because it is a known Rule That the Obligation of a Vow do's Descend to the Heirs How much more then if any not only Voweth but actually Executeth his Vow and has Already Given the Tythes which he Vowed out of his own Possession to those to whom his Vow did oblige him to give them how much more is his Heir obliged in this Case not to Recall or Take back such Tythes out of their Possession to whom they were so Vowed and Given If a Man cannot Annul or Make void his own Vow without a manifest Mocking of God how can he Re-call or Disannul the Vow of Another If a Man's Grant of his own Estate when Duly Executed cannot be Recall'd tho' to the Prejudice or Ruin of his Family And tho' it was a Wrong in him and very Vnjust to make such a Grant shall not his Grant of Restitution stand whereby he only Gives back what he had Vn-justly taken from Another What he had Robbed from God of His Tythes and Offerings Must ther be a writ of Enquiry to Examin into the Justice and Equity of the Original Grant And to Recall it because it was too Much Shall we think that too Much which God has Reserved as Holy unto Himself And for which He has Promised to Bless us in All that we set our Hand unto Is not He Able to make us Amends and Encrease our store an hundred fold Is not He Able to Punish our Distrust of Him And take away our Nine Parts who Grudge to Give Him the Tenth Is not this a Snare of the Devil to throw us out of God's Favour and make us Forfeit His Protection Is it not a Snare to the Man who Devoureth that which is Holy Prov. xx 25. and after Vows to make Enquiry If it is not Lawful to make Enquiry to Grudge or Snip from what I have Vowed tho it be of things which I was not Obliged to Vow or to Give away How much more Unlawful is it to make Enquiry after I have Vowed that which was God's Due before I Vowed and which I was Obliged to Pay tho I had not Vowed it at all If Ananias and Sapphira were stricken Dead upon the Place for keeping back but Part of the Price which they had not formally Vowed no nor Promised for ought Appears but only Thought of or Resolved in their Minds to Give even of Their Own and which cou'd not have been Exacted from them Shall they Escape who keep back not a Part but the Whole of those Tythes which God had Reserved like the Forbidden fruit not to be Touched by us Ever since the Creation of Man upon the Earth And which had been moreover so often and so Solemnly VOWED with the most Dreadful Imprecations both Temporal and Eternal upon all those who should Refuse or Neglect to Pay them If the Dissembling of Ananias and Sapphira was constru'd a Lying not to Men But to The Holy-Ghost How is it not a Lying both to Men Act. v. 4. and to The Holy-Ghost to Defeat the Grants of our Fore-fathers to Disannul their Vows And Rob GOD of what they had vowed to Him and which was His Due before And is
from Him For says he Isai xlv 7. I make Peace and Create Evil I the Lord do all these things And Am. iij. 6. Shall ther be Evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it The wicked Blaspheme God Psal x. 12 14 15. while they do say in their Heart Tush Thou God carest not for it He hideth away his Face and He will never see it Surely Thou hast seen it for Thou beholdest Vngodliness and Wrong This Thou may'st take the Matter into Thine own Hand And the Jews are Reprehended by our Saviour for Not Discerning the Signs of the Times Mat. xvi 3. It is call'd a Knowing of God to observe the Course of His Judgment and His Mercies for how otherwise can we Know Him upon Earth He Judged the Cause of the Poor and Needy Jer. xxij 16. then it was well with him Waâ— not this to know Me saith the Lord And the Consequence is That not to take Notice of these things is not to Know God it is to Belie Him to Blaspheme Him as in the Texts before Quoted and Many More that cou'd be Produc'd to the same Purpose Now to Apply this to our Present Purpose I do not Pretend to draw an Argument from the Many Instances of God's Remarkable Judgments upon both their Persons and Families who had Robb'd His Church as if those Judgments Must of Necessity have been Inflicted Purely and Solely for this Sin But if this be a Sin and of so Deep a Dye as it must be if it be any Sin at all for it can be no other than Sacrilege And if that be the most Open and Notorious Known Sin of these Persons And likewise That these Judgments are observ'd to follow the Lands Houses and Tythes Impropriate tho often Bought and Sold and Changing of Owners Not in Every Case for if God shou'd Punish Wickedness in All the World must soon be Destroy'd And He do's often suffer the Wicked to Prosper It is one of the Sharpest Scourges He uses to Chastise a Sinful Nation And having done His Work to Burn the Rod But when we see Judgments to follow such a Sin for the Most Part and in such Repeated and Remarkable Instances as Sir Henry Spelman gives Us in his History of Sacrilege And many more of the same sort which we can Gather elsewhere And some that our own Experience can furnish Us withal In such Cases it is far from Superstition to take Notice of the Hand of God in them And not to do it is that Stupidity and Blasphemy before Reprehended it is a Hardning our selves against all the Methods of Divine Providence a Denial of it and Living without God in the World Who can for Example avoid the Observation of the New-Forest in Hampshire Devouring so Many of William the Conqueror's Sons by Strange Deaths he having Destroy'd 26 Parish Churches to make Room for his Deer there as you may see in Spelman's Hist Sacril p. 119 120. Or what is observ'd in the Preface to his De non Temerand Eccl. p. 42. That within 20 years after Hen. VIII his Seizing the Revenues of the Church by the Advice and Assistance of his Nobility and Dividing her Patrimony among them Chiefly More of them and their Children were Attainted and Dy'd by the Sword of Justice than from the Conquest to that time which was about 500 years Sir Henry Spelman's Hist Sacril c. vij Computes that The great Increase of Lands and Wealth that came to the King by the Dissolution was Quadruple to the Crown-Lands And takes Notice p. 226 227. how the Crown-Lands were Dwindling away Most of them being then gone when he Wrote in the Reign of King Charles I. and only Fee-Farm Rents Reserv'd out of the Greatest part of them viz. 40000 l. a year out of the Crown-Lands and 60000 l. out of the Church-Lands And observes as a Continuance of the Judgment upon them That an Infraction was then begun to be Made upon the Very Fee-Farm Rents themselves And that some of them had been Alienated But if he had Liv'd another Reign he wou'd have seen them Every one Sold And the Crown Reduc'd to Live from Hand to Mouth upon the Mere Benevolence of those Whose Care it is to keep it Always so Depending and upon its Good Behaviour So much has the Crown Gain'd by the Access of Sacrilegious Wealth as from Imperial Dignity and a Propriety Paramount in all the Lands of England to become an Honourable Beggar for its Daily Bread I know not how far this has sunk with those who are Concern'd Or whether another Curse may not be Added that is Never to Consider but Go on However Sir Hen. Spelman has told Us of several Gentlemen in England who out of a Due sense of the sin of this Sacrilege have freely Given up and Restored to the Chruch as far as the Laws wou'd Permit them all their Impropriate Tythes which had Descended to them from their Ancestors That instead of them and the Curses which attended them they might Entail the Blessing of God upon the Rest of their Estates and upon their Posterities The sense of this sunk so Deep with the Great Earl of Strafford that foreseeing a new Sacrilegious Deluge of Vsurpation upon the Church then coming on An. 1640 he made it his Dying In junction to his Sâ—â— under Peril of his Curse and of the Curse of God never to meddle with any Church-Lands or what had been once Dedicated to God This Legacy he sent him from the Scaffold where Men are past Dissembling or Courting of Favour tho this cou'd have been no Recommendation to him at that time And how Light soever some Men make of the sin of Sacrilege while they Gain by it yet when they come to Dye they may have the same sense of it which that Noble Lord then so Religiously Exprest But ther being no Repentance Accepted by God without Restitution as far as in our Power I Pray God they may think of it while it is in their Power to make that Restitution which Alone can witness the Sincerity of their Repentance 8. Ther can no Pretence be made for the Lawfulness of Impropriations when those Very Acts of Parliament which took them from the Church and Gave them to Lay-Men do acknowledge that they are God's Dues and His Right That they are Due to God and Holy Church as in 27 Hen. VIII c. 20. Nay they were always so acknowledg'd and no otherwise Insomuch that ther was no Law or Precedent for a Lay-Man to sue for Tythes it was utterly Heterogeneous and Abhorrent For which Reason when Tythes were given to Lay-Men they were forced to have a Particular Act of Parliament 32 Hen. VIII c. 7. to Enable Lay-men to sue for Tythe which before they cou'd not do In which Very Act Tythe is Nam'd as being Due to Almighty God And next to Act of Parliament the Great Oracle of our Law Sir Edw. Coke is to be heard who
Decree ever since Adam How will the Heathen Rise up in the Judgment and Condemn us who have through All Ages and Nations made Conscience of Paying the Tythe of God tho they Worshipped GOD in this as in other Parts of their Worship after an Vn-lawful and Idolatrous Manner How will this Condemn us who stand out against the Light and Vniversal Tradition which they had against the Positive Commands of the Law and the Gospel and against the Current sense of the Primitive and Vniversal Church of Christ and oppose to All these the Modern Corruptions of the Church of Rome which have made Tythes Eleemosinary and Alienable And we have Alienated them in a much more Scandalous Manner and upon less Pretence than Rome had done She gave them from the Secular to the Regular Clergy We from all Clergy to the Laity This was a Piece of Popery whereby a Penny was to be got Therefor we Reform'd it Backwards into our own Pockets our Jehu destroy'd Baal indeed out of the Land 2 Kin. x. 28 29. But he departed Not from the Sin of the Golden Calves SECT XIX If Tythes may be Commuted or Redeem'd I. TYthes are a Part of God's Worship Instituted by Himself and therefor cannot be Alter'd or Changed but by Himself No Man might Alter or Change any Part of the Sacrifices under the Law He might not Sacrifice a Bullock for a Sheep where a Sheep was commanded though a Bullock was of more value We must keep close to the Institution of God And Tythe was one of the Offerings under the Law it was an Heave-Offering as before is shewn and therefor cou'd not be Bought off or Redeemed And to Prevent all such Redemption of Tythe it was ordered Levit. xxvii 31. That if any wou'd Redeem ought of his Tythe he should Add thereto a Fifth part thereof and Ver. 33. Both it and the Change thereof shall be Holy It shall not be Redeemed And Ezek. xlviii 14. They shall not Sell of it neither Exchange neither Alienate the First-fruits of the Land for it is Holy unto the Lord. And so the Jews of after ages understood it as we may see in Judeth xi 13 14 15. where it is declar'd to be Unlawful for the People tho in the Greatest Extremity to meddle with the Tythe or so much as to touch them with their hands and that it was not dispensable by the Senate And so the Heathen thought Gen. xlvij 22 26. that the Lands of the Priests were not to be sold upon any account even when the People were forc'd to sell All and Themselves too for the Greatness of the Famine And if the Lands given to the Priests were held so Sacred as being Dedicated to God Much More the Tythe which were Dedicated likewise but Moreover were Antecedently Reserv'd by God Himself which the Gentile world did believe as well as the Jews as before is shewn II. Again for another Reason Tythes cannot be Redeemed by Vs because they have been so oft Vowed and Dedicated to God as before has been said And it is expresly commanded by God Lev. xxvij 28. That no Devoted thing that a Man shall Devote unto the Lord of All that he hath both of Man and Beast and of the Field of his Possession shall be Sold or Redeemed every Devoted thing is most Holy unto the Lord. But the Pope and a Popish Parliament first have Dispenced with this out of the Plenitude of their Power And their Pardon is All that either of their Impropriators will have to Plead at The Day of Judgment III. These had no other consideration of TYTHE but as a Maintenance for the Clergy And if they Provided for them Another way where was the Harm But the Folly of God is wiser than Men. He knew well what would be the Consequence of having the Clergy Depend upon Any for their Subsistence That the Temptation was too strong for Humane Nature in our Fallen Condition That Time-servers and Men-Pleasers wou'd by this creep into the Church and sow Pillows under the Arms of those who Fed them That by this they must fall into Contempt and Religion with them as the Effect has sadly shewn Therefore God would not give the LEVITES Temporal Possessions among their Brethren for these wou'd be Liable to their Municipal Laws like the Rest and they might be VOTED out and in be Chop'd and Chang'd according to the Caprice of those who wou'd not abide their Doctrine But He setl'd upon them His own Inheritance as he calls it Deut. xviij 1. which none others might touch without Sacrilege and throwing off their Homage and Allegiance to God Himself i. e. Rejecting Him from being their King and their God which now a days is the slenderest sort of security That as the Priesthood had its Original and Institution so it should have its Revenue and Maintenance and Dependence from God Alone And as they that served God at the Altar were Partakers with the Altar i. e. with the Dues of God which were offer'd upon the Altar Even so hath the Lord ordained that they who Preach the Gospel shou'd Live of the Gospel i. e. of those things which are Due to God under the Gospel as Tythes and Free-will-offerings still are And shou'd be as Free and Independent on Man in their Office as the Priests were under the Law SECT XX. To whom Tythes are to be Paid I. THE Tythe of Charity or the Poor-man's Tythe being Alms we may dispose of them to such Objects of Charity as we think best And these are call'd Sacrifices in a Large Sense under the Gospel as well as under the Law See Heb. xiij 16. Phil. iv 18. 1. But ther is a Preference given Gal. vi 10. to that Charity which is Extended to The Houshold of Faith that is to our Fellow-Christians rather than others Christ reckons it as done to Himself Matth. xxv 40. 2. The Reason of this carries it likewise to Prefer the Members of the True Church before Sectaries Yet so as not to Neglect even Sectaries Jews or Infidels For all that are in Want are Objects of our Charity whether Good or Bad All must be Supported And while God grants to the most Wicked Person Life and Time of Repentance we ought to Contribute towards it by Preserving that Life which God continues to them For they are our Brethren and God has made of One Blood All Nations upon the Earth They are the Image of God Christ has shed His Blood for them and may yet Grant them Repentance and make them Glorious Saints of His Kingdom Therefor Charity must Extend to All without Exception tho not without Discrimination II. That this Charity must of necessity be a Tenth and not under I do not Contend For tho the Jews did pay a Second Tythe to the Poor yet that stands not upon the same Foundation as the Tythes of Worship which were before the Law and Vniversally Receiv'd from the Beginning of the World Yet
set the Sacrifices to Farm Wou'd it have been a Reasonable Proposal to have said to a Priest Your Proportion oâ— the Sacrifice is a Shoulder or a Leg come I will give you the Value of it in Money or next Beast I kill I will send you a Shoulder or a Leg home to your House and Excuse me from the trouble of Bringing my Sacrifice to the Temple Wou'd not the Answer have been I cannot Excuse you from your Sacrifice for it is Offered to God and not to Me My Maintenance out of it is but a Secundary and the least Consideration I cannot Commute or Alter the Nature or Manner of your Sacrifice or take a Bullock if you wou'd give it me instead of a Sheep or a Barly-Corn where that is Appointed No more cou'd he Commute or Change or Compound for the Tythe for that was a Sacrifice and Offer'd to God as well as the Rest and was to be Brought by the Owners to the Temple to be there Offer'd to God in their Names by the Priests The Priests were no more to Draw the Tythes of the People thither than their other Sacrifices SECT XXII How Priests are to Pay their Tythe 1. Ans TO the Bishop as the Levites to the High-Priest They are to Pay the Tenth of their Tenth And the Levites Tythe which they paid to the High-Priest was as much an Offering and Sacrifice to The Lord as the Tythe which the People pay'd to the Levites and under the same Limitations They are call'd an Heave-Offering and Holy unto The Lord. The Levites were not to Taste of their Tenths till they had first Offer'd the Tythe of them to the High-Priest and of the very Best of them As you may see Numb xviij from Ver. 26. II. Tythes argu'd the Superiority of those to whom they were Pay'd Whence the Apostle inferr'd the Superiority as of Melchisedec above Abram Heb. vii 4 9 10. so of the Priesthood of Melchisedes and in that of the Christian Priesthood above the Levitical And as the Levites TYTHING of the People or putting them under that Tribute argu'd the Superiority of the Levites above the People so the High-Priest's TYTHING of the Levites shewed the Superiority of his Order above that of the other Levites And this is as Necessary to Preserve the Superiority of Episcopacy above the Order of Presbyters in the Christian Church The Reason holds the same and the Levitical Priesthood was an Exact Type of the Christian Bishop Presbyter and Deacon being the same in the Church that Aaron his Sons the Priests and the Levites were in the Temple as St. Hierom observes Ep. ad Evagr. III. If it be ask'd To whom the Bishop shou'd pay his Tythe Ans He having no Superiour as Aaron had none I conceive that he is not under the Tythe of Worship For it must End somewhere But then as the Heaven returns the Tribute of those Exhalations which it draws from the Earth in Dew and Fruitful Showers so the Bishop being the most Immediate Representative of Christ ought to Distribute his Tenths and more of Charity and to Water his Flock with his Beneficence Thus Returning to the Poor with Encrease their Tythes and Dispensing the Temporal as well as Spiritual Blessings of God to them That the Revenues of the Church whatever other Abuses were in the Administration of them were Apply'd more to this End than since they came into Temporal Hands will be shewn in the Next Section Let it be only Observ'd in this place That even since the Reformation more Acts of Charity and Publick Works are to be seen from what is left to the Church than from Many Many times the Greater Proportion of Wealth that is amongst the Laity And this notwithstanding that ther are some Thousands of Parishes in England which Exceed not Twenty Pounds a Year And but very few of the Bishopricks that can Afford a Decent Subsistence with the Best Husbandry And notwithstanding that the Church has been for many Years in the Revolution of 1641 totally Divested of all her Revenues SECT XXIII The Remedy HAving thus far Consider'd the Divine Obligation of Tythes and the Breaches of it that have been in this Nation We ought not to Leave the Subject till we can Propose a Remedy if any such can be found I. For the Obligation of Conscience That lies upon Every Man Concern'd to Restore what has been Robb'd from God in order to Procure His Blessing instead of that Curse which is Intail'd upon the Sacrilegious Possession of the Spoils of His Church into whatever Hands they come II. But because this has been a National Sin and these Impropriations have been Bought and Sold upon the Credit of Acts of Parliament Therefor ther ought to be a NATIONAL REPENTANCE and RESTITVTION Which may be by a Tax to Purchase the Tythes from the Impropriators and Restore them to the Church That the Whole Burden may not Lie upon those who have been Ignorantly involv'd in this Sin as having Descended to them from their Fathers and may be the Whole or Greatest Part of their Estates Tho that nor any thing else can be an Excuse for Continuing in any Sin God is Able to make Amends and has Promis'd it to those who will Trust in Him And as said before there are Examples of it even here in England whose Hearts God has Touched III. The House of Commons have in their Votes Encourag'd any to Make Proposals for the Employing and Maintaining of the Poor who are now so Great a Burden upon the Nation I have no Skill at Proposals or Projects Yet may Offer some Considerations which others may happen to Improve 1. First then Let it be observ'd Ther never was any Tax laid upon England for Maintaining of the Poor before the Latter End of the Reign of Q. Elizabeth as may be seen in our Book of Statutes 2. That before the Reformation the Poor were Maintain'd by the Clergy besides what was Contributed by the voluntary Charity of well-dispos'd People But ther was no such thing as Poor-Rates or a Tax for the Poor The Bishops and Clergy as well Secular as Regular kept open Hospitality for the Benefit of Strangers and Travellers and the Poor of the Neighbourhood And were so oblig'd to do by their Foundations They had Amberies for the Dayly Relief of the Poor And Infirmaries for the Sick Maimed or Super-Annuate with Officers appointed to Attend them They Employ'd the Poor in Work which is the most Charitable way of Maintaining them It was they who Built most of all the Great Cathedrals and Churches of the Nation besides the Building and Endowing of Colleges and other Publick Works of Charity and Common Good They bound out to Trades Multitudes of Youths who were left Destitute Bred others to Learning of whom some grew very Eminent And gave Portions to many Orphan Young Women every Year They Vey'd with one another in these things What Superstition or Conceit of Merit ther was in