that of the Diocess besides other Legacies and Mortuaries Their Conveyances were made to God and such a Church and that by the surest ways and under the severest Curses in case of Alienations imaginable by which they thought to ensure and perpetuate their several Pieties beyond the Power of Sacrilegious Alienations They gave to God because they thought no Man durst rob him not remembring that the Israelites were Mal. 3. 6. long ago charg'd with that Crime They hedg'd about their Donations with Denunciations of Hell and Damnation to those that shou'd be so bold as to pervert them to other Uses But all in vain There is nothing durable in this World The wild Boar out of the Wood first threw down the Hedges and so the little Foxes of the Hills were let in to devour the Grapes An Atheistical Covetousness is able to overthrow all Fences and when the Fear of God is departed from a Place nothing can secure the Gifts of Piety or Property but humane Laws and they too were drawn into the Conspiracy And yet even this cou'd not be done quickly and directly nor had Iniquity the forehead to invade God's Possessions but under the disguise of Zeal and Religion which was thus effected §. VIII How the Revenues of the Church came to be alienated There hath been in the Church very anciently some severe melancholy Christians who separated themselves from the World and its Temptations and Follies to serve God in Solitude and Wildernesses and some in Times of Persecution were forc'd to it such were the Eremits and Anchorites These afterward were reduc'd to Companies and Societies under several Rules and Orders and were called Monks and Friars These in time engross'd to themselves all the Credit of Christianity and were call'd by way of Eminency the Religious Their Rules were severe their Diet very poor their Hours of Devotion long often and exact their Discipline most mortifying and their Holiness so great that their very Habit in those Times of Superstition was thought effectual to save the Sinner that was buried in it By this means the ordinary Secular Clergy as they were call'd for distinction sake were slighted and the Pastors of Parishes that had care of Souls were disrespected and a severer Religion than Christ ordain'd was prest upon Men as necessary And hence the Patrons of Livings which usually were the first Endowers of the Churches and their Heirs the Bishops of Diocesses and Popes of Rome ran altogether upon building of Monasteries and Religious Houses and endowing of them and to this purpose fell to appropriating the Tythes of most of the considerable Parish-Churches and left some little Gleanings the small Tythe the halt blind and lame to the Church for the continuance of the Service of God there which was now counted but cold and dull in respect of the more ardent and lasting Devotion of the Regular and the maintenance of the Vicars By that Name was the Parish-Priest call'd who was left to perform the Service and he was to live of these and the Offerings of the People which were then considerable The rest of the Church-Revenues which consisted in the great Tythes were carried all away to these Fraternities And then for to supply the want of Hospitality some Feathers were left a Church-House some small Gift at Easter or such like were continued for ever In a word the Zeal towards this sort of life was so great from the time of the Conquest for about 150 Years that the State was in danger to be swallowed up of the Church and most of the Land of England as well as the Revenues of the Church turn'd all over to the Propriety of Monasteries so that they were forc'd to make the Statute of Mortmain in the Reign of Henry the Third to prevent it §. IX The Pretences and Methods of the same The Pretences for these Alienations were plausible which were the advancing the Service of God in a more Religious sort of way and the Salvation of Souls The Tythes seem'd to be still within the Church tho' alienated from the first Place they were annext to And the Portion which was still left was thought sufficient together with the Offerings and other Obventions to maintain a single Person to officiate in the said Church for such were the Clergy of those Times And yet this was a great Evil and the cause of greater as you shall hear presently For Time that depraves all things made at last the very Monasteries and Religious Orders publick Nuisances Those holy Brothers and Sisters degenerated wholly from their Primitive strictness and became abominable for Pride Idleness and Luxury They were dissolv'd in Ease Riches and Abundance The cry of their Sins fill'd the Earth and reach'd Heaven and importun'd a final Dissolution which accordingly came upon them in the fifteenth Century and the Reign of Henry VIII their final Suppressor God nor Man cou'd endure their Wickedness no longer but a pretended Visitation prov'd their Desolution Some as asham'd of themselves were persuaded to give up their Seals and Charters others were trick'd out of them through Promises of Preferment or Fears of Punishment and those that were obstinate were dissolv'd by Act of Parliament And thus a multitude of goodly Buildings became ruinous Heaps and a Place for wild Beasts and unclean Birds A Work perhaps not altogether so bad as it is represented if they had promoted the high Pleasure of God and Works of Piety and Charity with the Riches they found there as they pretended and the Acts of Parliament for their Dissolution seem to intend If also in their Dissolution each of their Acquests had return'd to their first Principle the Lay-Gifts to them of the Laity and the Church-Possessions to the several Churches from whence they had been taken But that King and his Favourites the Instruments of his Covetousness and Oppression divided the Spoils amongst them which tho' so infinite soon wasted away and came to nothing and left the first Alienators as poor and as hungry as ever Their Families are most of them dissolv'd as the Religious Houses were and like them become a Heap and a Ruine Thus the Tythes of so many Churches became lost to all Purposes of Religion and were amongst the other Spoils carried away captive to serve Luxury and Pleasure Whence they must now never return again but like the ten Tribes be lost for evermore Behold Sir the Effects of three contrary Principles Devotion Superstition and Covetousness Devotion built us up Churches which stand still as its Monuments nor hath biting Time been able to devour them She endow'd as well as built them and settled Persons there to perform Divine Service to the Glory of God and the Good of Mankind Superstition wou'd needs be meddling too till she had found ways to transferr them from the several Houses of God to those commonly call'd Houses of Religion and this under pretence of serving God more perfectly But Covetousness discovered the Sham
AN ESSAY TO Revive the Necessity OF THE Ancient Charity and Piety WHEREIN God's Right in our Estates and our Obligations to maintain his Service Religion and Charity is demonstrated and defended against the Pretences of Covetousness and Appropriation In Two Discourses Written to a Person of Honour and Vertue By George Burghope Rector of Little Gaddesden Com. Hertford and Chaplain to the Right Honourable JOHN Earl of Bridgwater Luke 16. 9. And I say unto you Make you friends c. LONDON Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1695. Imprimatur Humf. Hody R. in Ch. P. ac D. D. Johanni Div. Prov. Archiep. Cant. Ã Sac. Dom. Sept. 26. 1694. To the most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan and one of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council c. May it please Your Grace TO pardon the Presumption of one of the Clergy of Your late Diocess and of Your present Province in this Address one who had never the honour to see your Person but in your Episcopal Visitation where he observ'd with a mixture of Contentment and Admiration the Humility Condescention and Paternal Tenderness to your Clergy when you might have come with a Rod you chose to visit us in Love and the Spirit of Meekness by which you subdu'd every Heart to Obedience and commanded all our Acknowledgments But my Lord you have a more especial Title to these Papers from your Piety and Charity which are their Argument Of both which even then when you were but a private Presbyter in the Church you gave so large a Specimen in your own Parish and in dangerous Times that it remains as a lasting Monument and a sufficient Testimony of what you durst then and what you will do still for the Support of that Church of which you are deservedly now the Chief Member And we have all the reason in the World to congratulate your Advancement to the Archiepiscopal Throne as the Ancients use to call it not so much for your Happiness as our own And so much the more when we remember that we are under the Care of such a Leader who is an Example to us all in Word in Conversation in Charity in Faith and in Purity One who having regularly past through all the Degrees of the Clergy to the highest Place in the Church knows the Nature and Circumstances of all its Members and consequently will take all occasions to encourage the Inferior as well as Superior Parts of that August Body The poor Curates that do the whole Religious Duties sometimes of great Parishes for small Stipends and the poorest Vicars dis-spirited and dispossess'd of the ancient Demesns of their Churches and forc'd with their Families to live upon the Tythes of Mint Anise and Cummin c as well as the Reverend Dignitaries or others of larger Revenues And in a word when we remember that You are not only a prudent and careful Governor but a skilful Pilot who will omit no Diligence or Opportunities to Steer the late tossed Ship of our Church amongst so many Rocks and Waves private and publick Enemies into the Haven of Prosperity and Peace To which the Author in his present Circumstances can only contribute these his Papers and his Prayers who is My LORD Your Graces Most dutiful Son and Humble Servant Geo. Burghope From Little Gaddesden in the County of Hertf. March 12. 1695. A PREMONITION TO THE READER WHen the Author had been persuaded to make these Discourses publick he thought it necessary also to say something in defence of such Publication and maintain that even in these bad Times they are not unsuitable nor possibly unfruitful For the first Part it will make shift for it self and carry its own Apology even with the most Selfish and Covetous For those that will not be persuaded by it themselves will yet be willing that others should if it be but to spare their own Pockets for the more is done in that part of Charity which consists in relieving of the Poor the less is left to be done And seeing the Poor we must have always with us and they must be always maintain'd by us the Miser is eas'd and gratified by another's Bounty But then for the latter Part which is a Persuasive to Works of Piety the very Attempt seems to be ridiculous and the Author expects he shall be loudly laugh'd at as a silly Fellow that in such an Age as this is shou'd think to persuade Men to part with their beloved Mammon to such Uses And tho' he has considered the Objections of this Nature towards the latter end of the Discourse it self yet it well be proper here to prevent those that he hath not there spoken to sufficiently or not at all And those are these Three First The universal decay of Religion it self Secondly That of the particular Church yet by Law established Thirdly The general Aversion there is almost in all Men to Works of this Nature Of which in their order For the first We are told that Religion which he wou'd in this Discourse embellish and adorn by such Accessions is in it self sick and decaying and its very Foundations much weakned and therefore it wou'd be more serviceable to endeavour to secure them than adorn its Frontispiece And indeed if we consider the many Apostates from its Doctrines and Government and the more from the Practice of those Duties it enjoyns we shall have but a melancholy Prospect of the present State of Religion Custom and the Charity of the Church hath indeed brought us into its Bosom in our Infancy and we still retain the Name of Christianity as most Creditable and in Fashion but the generality proceed but little further The Baptismal Vow is undertaken as it ought but by few and those that are Confirm'd are look'd upon with an odd Aspect by the Vulgar and thought more than ordinary Scrupulous The Worship of God is generally neglected by some and superficially performed by others and Men think they have little Obligation to it beyond Decency Custom and Example Most of these nominal Christians live in a wilful Neglect or rather Contempt of those dear Pledges of our Salvation in the Lord's-Supper and some abstain from it as they pretend out of a preposterous fear of Damnation There is an universal Indifferency as to our Duty and a Coldness and Unconcernedness as to our future State Religion has little or no Power over the Souls of Mankind to oblige them to part with the least unlawful Pleasure for God's sake tho' the praise of Men and other secular Advantages sometimes may And no wonder when the very Being of their Maker is impiously questioned by some and Providence that supports them daily by others Deism is breaking in upon reveal'd Religion and if that can prevail Atheism will follow after So that the Author's Effort may be like his that would beautifie a falling House or dress up a
dying Body To all which he answers 1. That Religion which was at first quick and active naturally decays like the Course of a Stone or Bullet the further it is remov'd from the first Principle that gave it Motion And our Lord and his Apostles have foretold this decrease of Zeal and a falling of many in the latter Days and yet he remembers the Promise for the Perpetuity of the Church and that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it that is that God by his mighty Power will preserve its Being amongst even those many Adversaries rais'd against it by the Devil and the animal Life so that there will still be a competent Number of true and sincere Worshippers That there will and must be a Ministry with whom he has promised to continue till the end of all Things to direct and assist his Service 2. That there will be always Propriety and Inequality of Estates and consequently opportunities of administring to his Service And that the Support of those dedicated to it is and ever will be as it hath been necessary to the continuance of it throughout all Times That Gratitude and suitable Returns of Praises will be still a Duty incumbent upon all his Servants and that God doth and will expect it From all which it follows that the Subject of these Papers are now and will continue seasonable even in the worst of Times to come as well as in those past and are necessary to the Being of the Service of God while the Church is Militant here on Earth 2. But Secondly if the whole Church shall not cannot fail nor revealed Religion be thrust out of the World as the Atheist wou'd have it yet 't is the Opinion of many Persons of different Interests and the Desires of some That the Church in its present Constitution cannot continue long and then who wou'd build a Piety upon such a Foundation which is apt through the Iniquity or Changeableness of the Times to fail For then his pious Gift shall be either devoured by Covetousness as we see many have or else be diverted to the support of a false Worship The Author has taken notice of this Objection and answered it as far as 't was necessary to his Design To which he has thus much to add That 't is confest that this National Church has been long the Envy of some as well as the Joy of others That she has Multitudes of secret Enemies within her own Pale as well as publick ones from without yet hitherto the Hopes of her Adversaries have not prevail'd but her Foundations laid in the Blood of her Martyrs have stood immoveable And indeed if we consider the Purity of her Doctrines the Reasonableness of her Discipline the Beauty of her Government and the Conformity of all to the Primitive State of God's Church in its Virgin Purity yea and to the universal Church of God dispersed over the whole World some few reform'd Churhces excepted whose present unhappy Circumstances will not admit of such a Constitution I say if we consider these things it will be hard to conceive that this Church should be totally overthrown as long as either Reason or Religion continues amongst us unless we suffer our selves to be over-run with Enthusiasm or conquer'd by the French which I find we do not so dread but that we dare still purchase Estates build and plant here And if any of our Churches Ceremonies cou'd be chang'd for others of more Antiquity Significancy and Decency she wou'd yet be as much the same as the same Woman in a different Dress However in this and all other Bequests to the Church and to our own Families we must referr our selves to that Providence that oversees and purvades all things and no Man can undertake for Futurity 3. But Lastly it will be said that these Papers cannot expect any success in an Age wholly averse to such Doctrines Men are generally prejudic'd against any thing of this Nature They have more love for themselves than to part with any thing to the Holy Church in their Lives-time and more kindness to their Relations than to deprive them of that which they account their due at their Deaths These Doctrines will they say might have been harkned unto in the former Times of Superstition and Ignorance when the Priesthood carried all before it and the Church had almost swallowed up the State When Men bartered for Heaven with Earth and thought to purchase an Estate there with a religious House here But to hope to prevail with any Man at this time of the Day to part with any thing upon the account of Religion is to expect to cleave a Rock with a Word and produce thence Rivers of Water To this the Author's Answer is That he cou'd well wish that every Man had a clear Notion of the Value and Necessity of good Works that he might not fall into the Extreams of Superstition on the one side or Profaneness on the other For as the first play'd the Tyrant in former Days so it is too plain that the second doth in the latter That there shou'd be an equal poise betwixt Church and State as there ought to be between Prerogative and Liberty and neither shou'd be exorbitant That tho' the Church heretofore were once too rich which yet was not so much the Church as an Excrescency adhering to it so as to make the Members of it too fat and idle yet in many Places 't is now so poor that it is not able to attend upon Divine Service And finally tho' some are prejudiced against these Doctrines yet they have no reason to be so and there is great need of shewing them their Error to which he hopes these Papers may contribute And even in these last and worst Days to our Comfort and the Glory of God be it spoken Vertue and Piety are not without their Votaries There be still many devout conscientious Christians who can distinguish betwixt the right Use and Abuse of Things and see a necessity for the Continuance of the Worship of God and the Maintenance of those that attend it to which they think that they are bound to contribute and not wholly depend upon the Devotion of their ancient without making up the Breaches and Satisfaction for the Sacrilege of their more immediate Predecessors That the Number of these may increase so that God may continue to be daily worshipp'd and his Ministers encourag'd supported and maintain'd and that every Parish or Congregation may not want an able and learned Pastor to feed and instruct them to pray for them and conduct them in their way towards Heaven is the Design of the Author in these Papers and having contributed what he could to this End he leaves the Issue to him who only can give the Increase I have only this to add That whereas these Papers in their private capacities were only intended for the Service of a Person of Honour and Vertue he is willing to
such must be the happy Condition of the Founders and Benefactors of Colleges Halls Hospitals and other religious and charitable Foundations whose Reward shall not only continue but be increased daily in proportion to the Good it doth and shall do daily till the consummation of all Things §. XVII The Conclusion shewing the difference betwixt the Desert and Reward of the ordinary and charitable Disposals And here give me leave to observe to you the difference betwixt Self-serving on the one Hand and Liberality and Charity on the other and desire you to consider the different Methods of Distribution and the different Deserts and Rewards by which you may judge which is the more prudent way of Disposal in our lives-time or Settlement at our death And for once let us suppose That every rich Man has a Son to be Heir of his Estate and Fourtunes yet even in that Case there is this to be said 1. We think our selves happy That of the Ordinary consider'd when we can beget our like and transmit our Nature to another and so preserve it from the common fate of Mortality And yet indeed it is no more ours when we die than anothers for then all Relations cease and Kindred is at an end And even while we live here considering the constant Flux of Matter there 's very little of us in our Children unless the Soul also cou'd be prov'd to be ex traduce However we call them ours we give them an Original and Nature by Nutrition and Increase But then we communicate to them our evil and corrupt Nature and Disposition and commonly our Customs and Habits If there be any Imperfection it is usually propagated and we may view our sinful selves in them An Object of Grief more than Joy And so much the more when by the want of Education or a depraved one when by Fondness and Lenity we make him twofold more the Child of Wrath than our selves But if we cou'd be secure of his happy and prosperous Life in respect of all his Capacities yet this like wise must be taken into Consideration That Families as well as single Men have their period and two or three Generations usually put an end to our Place and Name and then where 's the effect of all our Cares Projects Designs Joys and Griefs when Strangers shall inherit our Labours Well but what 's the present or future Reward for all our Cares and Troubles in providing Estates for our Heirs or Heirs for our Estates Verily nothing at all We have here but our Labour for our Pains and the thin aery Pleasure of thinking we shall leave an Estate to our Children or rather to we know not whom Sometimes we have the mortification to foresee that all shall be spent and wasted in a short time as 't is said of an eminent Person in a former Reign to have made this sorrowful Bequest Scelera omnia Edoardo Primogenito meo dissipanda neque unquam melius speravi religo c. And if Souls departed have any Account of the Affairs of their Successors here on Earth it must be most commonly a very sorrowful one but if they have none at all it will not concern us who they are and what they do Thus for our present and then for our future Reward we can expect nothing For this is the Effect only of self-love to support our selves first and then our second selves our Heirs and Assigns when we can hold it no longer and so do the Heathens and then what Reward can we expect more than they Or rather what Punishment may we not expect above them who have a greater Light Promises and Encouragements and yet manage our earthly Talent mostly worse than they And this is in short the Account of our ordinary Disposals of the Goods of Fortune as they are commonly called and Deserts and Rewards consequent thereunto §. XVIII That of the Charitable Persons c. 2. Let us now in the second place consider those of the Charible Person and for Instance sake that of the Founder of a College or School in particular He cannot be suppos'd to be Childless but has a numerous Family and that selected out of the best Wits and Humours in the Nation and the greatest Persons are glad to part with the most ingenious of their Sons to become his and serve under his Rules He prescribes Laws which they willingly bind themselves by Oath to observe with a greater Reverence and Care than the Commands of their natural Parents and they leave their Fathers and Mothers to become his Children Their continual Practice is that of Vertue Learning and Religion And thus the worst Natures are rectified and the best improv'd and all are mended And when this Work is perfected some go out into the World and are fitted to serve God in his Church the King and their Country and others succeed in their Places and Advantages So that his Family is a Seminary of Religion and Learning and there is a succession of it as long as the Sun and Moon endureth And when these have finished their Courses and the end of all Things is come he may present himself and them to his Maker with the Words of the Prophet Behold Lord I and the Children that thou hast given me §. XIX In Summ Charity hath the preference of any other Disposal of Estate and that in these Three Respects following First The Charitable Person doth Good to others and not to his own Family only and I wou'd not be so understood as if I pleaded for the neglect of them but the Good of others also and therefore his Work is more Heroick Diffusive and remov'd from private Good and so is more excellent And he may say out of the Mouth of Wisdom Behold I have not laboured Ecclus 24. 34. for my self only but for all them that seek Wisdom Secondly He doth the best Good not only in supporting the Bodies but dressing up the Souls and cultivating of the Minds of Men for Religion and Vertue And so the End of his Endeavours is the acquisition of the greatest present and future Happiness of Mind and Body here on Earth and afterwards in Heaven Thirdly Others Labours cease and rest as well as they from their Labours but his continue increase and produce new Advantages daily and so will continue to do till the end of the World unless the Supreme Providence suffers them to be invaded and diverted And even in that Case the Pious Donor may reasonably expect from the just God Rewards in proportion to the presumptive Effects of his Work and the Intention of the Benefactor So that let things happen how they will he cannot miss of his Reward If his Charity remains his Reward increaseth with its Fruits but if it be obstructed by Fraud or Violence yet it will be remunerated according to the uprightness of his Intention §. XX. In a word Every Action of Charity we do here is recorded above and hath its
Family of Aaron they had the First-Fruits of all things the Earth produced as Corn Wine and Oil and he was a Man of an evil Eye that offered under the sixtieth part They had also the First-Fruits of Cattle clean and unclean the first in kind the other to be redeemed at a Price They had the First-born of Man to be redeemed at five Shekels a piece being likewise the Shekel of the Sanctuary They had all the Vows Gifts and Offerings and all Males were to appear before God thrice every Year and none to appear empty-handed And besides all this they had thirteen Cities with their Suburbs of the same Dimensions with the former So that every Priest considering the smalness of their Number could not chuse but live if he wou'd himself in a plentiful Condition far above Want and nearer to that of great Men than the common People What Provision was made for the Chief of every Course I remember not but the High-Priest had the Tenth of the Levites Portion and a Revenue equal to many some say three or four thousand Levites suitable to that of the Princes amongst whom he was accounted the chiefest Now let any Man tell me why God shou'd thus provide for those that perform'd his Worship after such an extraordinary manner above others under the Law was it not to free 'em from Wants and consequently from Contempt And if so as none can deny if we have a Specimen of the Divine Allotment in those Days of the largest Measures why should we think that he is not of the same Mind now Or that he would have his Priests under the Gospel live upon Alms as Beggars Especially seeing there is the same reason in the thing it self and he hath declared nothing to the contrary But this will be better clear'd by taking a view of that Competency which his Providence ordered his Ministers under the Gospel §. VII The large Provision God made for the Ministry under the Gospel in the Primitive Times Tho' our Lord chose Poverty as a state of Life best suiting his Design of redeeming Mankind and his Apostles were of mean Concerns and forc'd to leave what they had as unportable Matter which they cou'd not nor indeed needed carry with them about the World whither they were sent to publish the Gospel yet no sooner was the Holy Ghost given and those their mighty Powers confirm'd to them the least of which was of more worth than a Crown and Scepter but we find that they commanded all that their Converts had And in recompence of their own Losses receiv'd their Proselytes whole Estates in Money at their Feet and Disposal The right of Tythes and Offerings which was appropriated during the Levitical Law to that Tribe and Priesthood reverted now to its old Channel And that Priesthood being at an end they return'd to God's Ministers of what Nation or Family soever they were This our Lord himself intimated in the Sentence of giving to Caesar the things that are Caesar ' s and unto God the things that are God's by which last the Primitive Fathers who must best know his Mind say he meant the restoration of God's due his Tythes and Offerings to his Servants they now properly belong'd to and thereby laying down a Maxim or Foundation for the right of the Christian Priesthood And St. Paul alludes to this or some other Ordination of our Saviour when he maintains the Priests Right under the Gospel to the Dues of the Altar upon our Lord's Order Even so as the Ministers of the Temple and the Altar were partakers of the Things of the Temple and Altar which were Tythes and Offerings hath the Lord ordained that they that preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel 1 Cor. 9. 14. But those Times wou'd not bear that Truth and therefore it was not seasonable to declare it in plain Terms or press it upon the Churches lest the Jews should be scandaliz'd at it and cry out Sacrilege and the Devil should have an Objection of pretended Covetousness and Self-Interest against the Propagators of the Gospel It was therefore abundantly sufficient to assert the Ministers Rights in general Words and in such Terms that they knew the future Christians would interpret to the Churches Settlement Besides Tythes cou'd neither be demanded without Offence nor paid nor receiv'd in those Times and therefore Providence ordered Things so that they needed them not For the Believers with themselves made the Apostles a Present of all that they had and left them to be Stewards and Distributers of it as they shou'd think fit Offerings supply'd the Place of Tythes which were so considerable during those Times of Trouble and Persecution that not only the succeeding Bishops Presbyters and Deacons but the Poor also were plentifully maintain'd and that in all Places whither Christianity extended it self And this till the Times of Constantine who settled Peace and its Rights to the Church and Tythes amongst the rest which cou'd not be regularly and universally paid before tho' they might and were privately and in some Places where suffered and therefore we read of some Churches endow'd before But be that as it will After the time of this Christian Emperor Churches were built and endow'd by Pious Men who gave to them Portions of Glebe and the Bishop of the Diocess allotted and appropriated Portions of Tythes to the new-built Churches such as was sufficient to maintain the Minister of Religion plentifully and enable him to be hospitable and to give to the Poor This was the Original of Parochial Rights and by these means these Portions of Tythes by little and little were derived from the Bishop who was at first the Grand Proprietor and Receiver of them in his Diocess to the Parish-Priest to whom likewise with the Profits he derived also part of his Charge and Care the Curam animarum of those in such and such Precincts And this last is done to every new Incumbent to this Day and it is call'd the Bishops Institution to the Benefice The rest of the Tythes Offerings and Endowments were reserv'd to the Cathedral Church of the Bishops Sea and the Priests there resident who lived longer together in common till Abuses made it necessary to separate likewise their Allowances which we call at this Day Prebends This was the Work of several hundred Years more or less and sooner or later in the Nations wherein Christianity was settled during which time God stirred up the Hearts of Pious Men both Ecclesiastical and others to endow and settle the Revenues of the several Churches that the Pastors or as they are now call'd Rectors of them liv'd above Contempt kept Hospitality maintain'd the Poor for then there needed no Laws for their Sustenance by Collection as now and so waited comfortably on their Office Their Gifts were great and Offerings many No Man came to the Christian Altar empty-handed and none died but he gave something in his Will to his Parish-Church if not to
and Abuse and took thence occasion to seize upon them to its own Use and that of Pleasures Thus Avarice was too hard for all the Devotion of our Fore-Fathers and God is robb'd of his Tythes and in some Places of his very Offerings And the Curse annext to the Alienation has in some measure operated upon the Alienators and I pray God that neither that nor his mention'd Mal. 3. 9. may descend to the present Proprietors or rather Impropriators §. X. The miserable Effects of such Alienations And now Sir before I part with this sorrowful Instance of humane Frailty give me leave to lay before you the dismal Consequence of these Alienations whereby the best Livings in England are impropriated and God's Portion become a Lay-Fee Some of which are visible at this Day and are these that follow First The extream Poverty of 1. The Poverty of the Clergy such of the Clergy who succeeded to those remains of Benefices The Gleanings were only left a few small Tythes both troublesome vexatious and invidious to be collected paid with regret and murmurings The Lees that are to be squeez'd out with some Violence and oftentimes with the loss of Charity And the Law of them is so defective that it is better to lose all than remedy it The Poor paying nothing and the Rich what they please and the Minister of God their Spiritual Father forc'd to stand by see himself wrong'd by his Children and dare not own it The Tythe of Mint Anise and Cummin is reserv'd still instead of that of the Staff of Life and even this not to be enjoy'd without deductions And indeed there were two or three Things that in those Days conspir'd together to promote the Poverty and Misery of many of the Clergy First Their being dispossest of their great Tythes that shou'd have supported them Secondly Of the Offerings since At the Appropriations of the Tythes to Monasteries the Offerings were great and many No Man as I noted before approached God's Altar but he offered liberally and none made a Will but he gave something to God and the Holy Church And this was the reason why Vicaridges were left so bare in Tythes because of the Plenty of Offerings But even these since the Reformation of our Religion which was a Blessing acknowledged with all due Thankfulness and is no way guilty of these Evils which supported the Church for 300 Years are now vanished into Air and sunk almost to nothing and by some counted Superstitious and by most unnecessary 'T is true the Law hath taken notice of them amongst other Dues and commanded their payment which by the way hath changed the very Nature of the Thing but then the Law refers to Custom which has melted them down to almost the smallest Summ payable and that not to be recovered without great Charge and Trouble so that in some Places they are forc'd to be wholly laid aside Thirdly The Abrogation of the Vow of Celebacy and the Licence to Marry filled the Vicaridges full of small Children and that augmented their Cares and Poverty and still continues them And indeed if ever the Clergy had need of their Corn-Tythes to find them Bread it was then when they had so Many Mouths to eat it But the Church-men were 't is like then grown too proud and encroaching and Providence suffered a complication of Causes to meet and work their Humiliation and so they did effectually and have done ever since Nor shou'd I grudge if this were all or the worst Effect of Impropriations But there be worse that follow And therefore §. XI 2. Their loss of Authority and Contempt Secondly From hence proceeds their loss of Authority and the Contempt they labour under Our Enemies I know assign other Causes of the Contempt of the Clergy but yet they cannot say but this is one and no mean one too and the natural Effect of the smallness of their Estate 'T is true St. Paul commands Titus not only to exhort but rebuke with all Authority but those were Times in which the Apostolick Men were endued with the Power of Miracles and inflicting Diseases and Judgments upon those that slighted their Authority They were delivered over to Satan for the chastising or destruction of the Body that they might learn what it is to blaspheme But these miraculous Effects have long since left the Church I presume since the time that the temporal Authority took upon her its defence And what we do of this nature must be ordered according to the Methods of Prudence For who dare in this irreligious Age undertake to reprove sharply his Benefactor which is the way to lose him for ever I know very well the Scripture-Precepts do not consider the outward Condition of Pastors but oblige their Flocks to give them double Honour and to know i. e. acknowledge them and esteem highly of them for their Work 's sake But these Precepts may perhaps make some impression upon the meek humble and conscientious sort of Christians and yet the Minister of God may fall under the Contempt and Derision of most of those that yet profess themselves to be so And what a precarious Authority he can exercise over those that feed and cloath him is apparent by those that do the Sacred Offices in many great Mens Families where they seem to be retained mostly I fear for State rather than Religion and are more like Servants than Spiritual Fathers And in imitation of these our Gentry likewise admit them to bless the Meat and then unless they are Dignitaries rich and considerable to sit at the lower end of their Tables and prefer every Lawyer Physician Tradesman yea and sufficient Mechanick to them And then what can Vicars and Curates with a great many poor Children expect from the wealthier sort of Yeomen who want the Education and Learning and consequently the Civility of the other 'T is true the inferior Priests have a large Spiritual Authority but what are Titles without Estates to support their Credit The Clergy have Titles by Divine Right great enough to make them envied did not the meanness of many of their Fortunes make 'em despised And should a heavenly Angel descend down and dwell among Men he must expect the same usage And therefore 't is hard measure first to take away their Estates and then to object it to them §. XII 3. Their Depression and Dejection in Mind and Conversation Thirdly From hence it is that so many of them are the faeces Populi the lowest of the People that they descend low in their Conversation and are content to be thought so For Poverty emasculates the Person and makes him dis-spirited and dejected It brings him down into the Company and consequently into the Vices of the Vulgar It invites him into the Society of Sots and Fools and into a Copartnership of their Habits of Riot and Drinking And hence it was that perhaps a memorable Person had his Maxim That scandalous Places makes scandalous
Ministers For Man is a sociable Creature and must associate with some or other and if his Circumstances will not permit him to chuse that of the best he is apt to take up with the worser And by this means many an ingenious Man in his Youth loses his good Parts in his Age and out-lives all his Learning And even the most innocent and unspotted being confin'd to a rustical sort of Life and wanting the Conversation of the Learned shall contract a kind of Assimulation to his Company he shall become rude and diffident and not able to carry himself amongst his Betters and depress'd with Cares and Wants must sink down into the lower Orb of Ignorance and Stupidity § XIII 4. The increase of the Poor c. Fourthly From hence I may I hope without Vanity or Falshood assign one Cause of that Inhospitality which produc'd a necessity of making Laws for the maintenance of the Poor For the Tythes being divided from the Churches to which they did of Right belong and conferr'd on Monasteries and they dissolv'd there must necessarily follow an increase of the Poor who were wont to be reliev'd at their Gates And accordingly we find few or no Laws made for the Relief of the Poor or Repair of the Churches while they were Proprietors of that which enabled them for Hospitality St. Paul tells his 1 Tim. 3. 2. Timothy That a Bishop or Presbyter for the word Ἐπίσκοπος in that place may signifie both should amongst other things be given to Hospitality And therefore he did presume that the Offerings of that Age and the Tythes Offerings and Endowments of those succeeding wou'd enable him to be so And such I believe the Clergy then were till Covetousness broke in upon them and such also I dare say the generality of those few that escap'd the fangs of Covetousness now are As for others they are forc'd to retrench House-keeping and Expences live meanly and give little because they can spare but little from their own Necessities §. XIV 5. The neglect and intermission of God's Service 5. But the greatest Evil of all is this That hence it is that the Service of God becomes neglected and the grateful Homage that we shou'd pay him daily is laid aside His Mercies are not kept in remembrance and our Obligations are forgotten because so seldom acknowledged Amongst God's own People the Jews there was the daily Administration the Morning and Evening Sacrifice and every Priest Rub. In the End of the Service of the Church and Deacon is by the Rubrick of our Church enjoyn'd to use the Publick Prayers Morning and Evening publickly or privately not being lett by Sickness or other urgent Cause And accordingly there is a Course of Service provided for every Day of the Year both for Mattins and Evening Song So it was anciently in the Church and so it shou'd continue to this Day That the Minister the Mouth of the People might supply their Defects offer up their Prayers and give a fit opportunity to those that are devout and cou'd spare time to joyn with him But this pious Custom is now quite laid aside Men post over this Duty to the next Lord's-Day or the next Holy-Day where they are kept and think it sufficient to make their Acknowledgments when they have nothing else to do God is defrauded of his daily Sacrifice of Praise and the Church stands empty and useless all the Week And indeed the Clergy for the most part cannot attend the daily Service for worldly Cares and the necessary Provision for their Families and they that can have learn'd of the necessitous to be idle They cannot vacare Deo wait upon God at his House but must divide their Service six parts to the Thoughts of this Life and the seventh only to him Such a daily Service must suppose a Man of sufficient Estate able in times of necessary Avocations to keep an Assistant free from Cares and having those about him who shall provide the daily Bread he asks at God's Hand and who is the Master of such a Family who may attend him to the House of Prayer and give others a good Example Whereas as things stand now we had need to Fast as well as Pray continually and if we go to God's House it must be by our selves without any Company For since the Wages have fallen so low a part of the Duty proportional to it hath been omitted and God is robbed of his Tythes and Offerings and of his Honour also I do not say that this deduction of Wages will justifie the neglect of Duty but something must be allowed to humane Frailty and the want of Encouragement and the necessities of Life Who goes a Warfare at his own Charges Who planteth a Vineyard and eateth not the Fruit thereof Or who feedeth a Flock and eateth not of the Milk of the same 'T is hard to muzzle the Ox that treadeth out the Corn or expect that a sort of Men shou'd plow and thresh without any expectation to be partakers of the Product When the Reward was duly brought to the Altar there cou'd not but be an Attendance there but when there is nothing but Hunger and Nakedness to be found there how many or rather how few will attend it The Church puts us in mind of our Duty by commanding it and yet thinks it not seasonable to make any enquiry into the performance of it lest she should find too many Omissions and too many Reasons for them But further from this disuse of Whence proceeded the Opinion of the Indifference or rather Vselessness of Divine Service the daily Service proceeds an indifference as to its Necessity the neglect and slighting of it yea and a misapprehension of the true Nature of it For heretofore the Worship of God was thought to consist in Prayers and Praises and the Liturgy was look'd upon as the Standard and Magazine of both But now this Notion of Worship is lost or chang'd into Enthusiastick Harangues made up of canting Terms and Tones to tickle the Ears and move the Passions of the Ignorant who are apt to admire what they understand not and be taken with a noisie Zeal for God Hence it is Preaching hath supplanted Prayer and taken away all its Credit and all its Necessity yea and hath fermented it self away to little else but Froth and Vapour The truth is Enthusiasm hath got into the Church and is ready to justle out sober Reason extraordinary Gifts the ordinary and the pretended Spirit-speaking in particular Men the Spirit which speaketh in the Church The ancient Methods of Religion will not now maintain its Ministers and therefore Credit and Estate must †After the Example of the Sectaries c. be gotten by pious Frauds and pretences to extraordinary Gifts and Illuminations All which and many more evil Consequences * As the increase of Fanaticism and Non-conformity that I must not now take notice of may be reduced to this Head
offered up all to Works of Piety and Charity as at Jerusalem Acts 4. 35. Their Charity was so great that they seem'd to give away even their own selves to the Lord and his Apostles as the Church of Macedonia 2 Cor. 8. 5. And indeed in all Places in those times of Zeal and Devotion they were so abundantly Pious in respect of God and so Charitable to the Poor and took such effectual Care for the Worship of God and his Worshippers that there needed no Decrees of Councils or Laws of the Church or State to force Men to build Churches or endow them Lib. de dispensatione contrà sacrilegos p. 176. Nulla enim compulit necessitas fervente ubique religiosâ Devotione amore illustrandi Ecclesias ultrò aestuante saith Agobardus while the Flame of religious Devotion lasted and the earnest Desire of building and endowing of Churches burned of its own accord There needed no Laws or Canons to enjoyn Men to pay their Tythes and Offerings and to give to God's Treasury They did it of their own accord as far and beyond what they were able All the stately and magnificent Structures throughout the Christian World that have escaped the Ruines of Time and Sacrilege and their ample Revenues The decent parish-Parish-Churches and the Portions of Glebe and Tythe allotted to them by pious Benefactors whose Names are recorded in Heaven tho' lost some of them on Earth are sufficient Evidences of this Truth Thirdly From the Equity of the 3. From the Equity of the Thing and natural Reason and from Men of all Religions Thing and a Parity of natural Reason It cannot be imagin'd but that God shou'd take Care of his Honour and we are told in several places that he is jealous of it and that he will not give it to another Nor can it be thought but he hath the same Design in preserving the World and every Man's Estate and Properties that he had in making it at first which was for nothing but for the manifesting his Glory and Goodness to created Beings so that it must be concluded that he is well pleased that Men shou'd praise him for his Goodness and declare the Wonders that he doth for the Children of Men. And consequently that there shou'd be an Order of Men for that purpose and Places where they might officiate and declare his Praises Besides it is no reason we shou'd hold Estates of God and yet not acknowledge the same by Word and Deed. Homage and Fealty are but rational Returns amongst our selves the Foundation of our Titles and Right and the Conditions upon which we possess what we have and 't is no less than Injustice and Ingratitude to deny them And can we expect to possess his Gold and his Silver and all the precious Products of his Earth and yet allow him no Acknowledgments Or shall we imagine that he was careful of his Honour heretofore under the Jewish Law and yet has wholly forgot it amongst us No certainly the contrary seems to be written in every Man's Heart and to be part of the Law of Nature Hence it is that even the Heathens as well as the Jews and Christians had ever and have still their Temples Oratories Oracles Priests and the Places and Ministers of Religion and these endowed plentifully and in some Places magnificently provided for And tho' they mistook the Object the true God yet they agreed with all others that he was to be worshipped The Christians in all Ages since our Lord's Ascention had their Oratories Places of Divine Service and as soon as they cou'd for Persecution their Churches and Houses of Prayer yea and those beautified inrich'd and endow'd with plentiful Revenues Thus they continued for many Centuries till the Devil found out the way to impoverish them under pretence of Religion And what ought to be taken likewise into Consideration and shame the luke-warm and covetous Members of the Church of England who are content to serve God with a cheap Religion and that which cost them nothing the Dissenters themselves of whatsoever Denomination they are or by what Sect or Name distinguished think themselves oblig'd to build Meeting-Houses seeing they must not nor can take possession of our Churches nor can I blame them it being the natural Consequence of their Principles which cannot it seems joyn with ours in our worship of God And without doubt if Times and Circumstances wou'd allow they wou'd do what was necessary to the maintaining and settling their Service in the said Places And in the mean time they raise voluntary Contributions for the Support of their Teachers in proportions as 't is said superior to what we of the Church of England enjoy by Law of the Estates that are still left us And while those of our Communion leave the Ministers to make shift with the present Settlements tho' never so small which are the Remains of our Ancestors Piety and no thank to us for it has been demonstrated that we pay nothing of our own to the Parish-Priest but our Offerings c. whilst they I say seldom will be persuaded to add any thing to their small Stipends unless they increase their Duties with an additional Sermon or the like the Dissenters all but the Quakers pay Scot and Lot and their Tythes and yet can find Money to pay their Teachers and discharge the particular super-numerary Expences of their Communion And this I note to the shame of those of our own Communion that are bred up under the best Church in the World and yet are most unworthy of that Privilege The Summ of all is this and The Con clusion from the Premisses from the Premisses I wou'd inferr this Conclusion Every Man ought to the utmost of his Ability contribute to the maintenance and continuance of the Worship of God which by reason of the smalness of the settled Revenue is in some Places quite intermitted and in others perform'd by halves so that the Administrator of God's Service and his Dependents might live plentifully and be able to attend the Duties of his Calling without necessitous Avocations Then God wou'd be duly serv'd his Minister be rever'd his Authority be preserv'd Hospitality and Charity maintain'd the Poor reliev'd and Publick Prayers wou'd be made daily for himself and them while the Devout wou'd have the opportunity of the Hours of Prayer Then every Bishop and Presbyter wou'd be the Husband of one Church as well as one Wife nor wou'd there be more need of Pluralities of Parsonages than of Wives And whether these are not Blessings considerable and worth the desire and striving after I leave you and all the World to judge §. XVIII And now I have done when I have answered the Pleas that Avarice and Selfishness may put in against the Duty I plead for and made some fit Applicatory Conclusion And First It will be said That this The several Pleas against Works of Piety consider'd and answer'd is a Project
too large for Practice and a burthen too heavy to carry on It wou'd require the Additional of 100 l. per Annum in some Places and in most Vicaridges some And this is impracticable at any time and unseasonable because impossible in this time of scarcity of Money and great Taxes That such Additions wou'd render the Clergy proud and idle and might in any Revolution of Government be chang'd to advance Superstition and perhaps Popery it self at least be diverted from the Intentition of the Benefactor To all which I shall answer in their order First For the greatness of this Work let it take up what time it will so it were begun and tho' a Sufficiency cannot be provided in an Age or two yet this can be no Excuse to a Man of good Estate for not contributing something towards it Who knows how prevalent and effectual a good Example may be and whose Hearts God will raise up to repair the Breaches of his House upon so good a Precedent But if no Body follows you yet your Reward shall not be deny'd you and if they do it will be augmented by their Additions while yours was the cause But I cannot see the impossibility of such a Work if Men were but willing and in Earnest For we see many Places contribute for Sermons besides their Dues to the Minister and Impropriator The Reformed in France till this late Persecution gladly paid their Tythe to the Curate of their Parish and yet maintain'd their own Pastors And the Dissenters whether willingly or no do the same and yet they are the thriving part of the Nation and who knows but God may bless their well-intended tho indeed needless Piety Now what is done from Year to Year may be settled for Futurity and were the Members of our Church as Industrious and Zealous to support it as the dissenting Party are to pull it down and as good Husbands to save as they are I do not see but Additions may be made to many small Places and a Settlement of the same for future Generations 'T is but to abate something from our Pride Sensuality Luxury Riot Drunkenness and other chargeable and expensive Crimes and mind our own Business and God's Glory and the Difficulty wou'd be soon removed and if the Thing cou'd not be effected in one Age yet there might be a Foundation laid for the finishing it in another Secondly But it is further said That such an Address is at this time unseasonable for that War seems to be entail'd upon us c. But I may answer in St. James's Words From whence come Wars Come they not from our Lusts And shall these hinder the payment of our Quit-Rent to God our Chief Lord or our Homage to our Maker But this may be done and the other left not undone And the present State of all the dissenting Christians in the World evinces so much who bear their part of all ordinary and extraordinary Taxes support their Families and contribute plentifully to their Teachers besides An Example be sure of the feasibility of the Thing and a Pattern to all the Professors of the Church of England Thirdly The Presumption of the Pride and Insolence of Church-men hath been considered already Alas there is no danger of that in these Times and when that is like to be let the Benefactors stay their Hands or impose such Conditions that may bridle them But then Fourthly For the suppos'd Possibility of the alteration of Religion as it is but a bare Possibility so the piously inclin'd may well leave that to God and trust him with the Event Give then with an upright Heart and a right Intention and leave the Issue to Providence who will take Care for his own Glory And if the Gift should chance to be mis-imploy'd yet that being not our Fault cannot in the least lessen the Reward But this Objection wou'd hinder all good Works and rob the Church and Poor of what is left 'em and therefore I dismiss it as impertinent and of mischievous consequence both to Religion and Charity §. XIX A general and particular Application and Address And now Sir because the World shall not know your Name Condition Character or Person give me leave to make the Application in general to all sorts of Men and to those especially whom God hath made capable of Works of Piety and Charity Wherein tho' I may seem to leave you yet I may perhaps meet you incognito and speak to you still under one Denomination or another And First Let me address my self of 1. To the Noble Rich and Wealthy all the Rich and Wealthy amongst whom many are dignified and distinguished with great Names and Titles Our blessed Lord seems to pass a hard Sentence upon rich Men when he makes their Salvation as difficult as for a Camel to pass through the Eye of a Needle which one wou'd think was impossible The reason is the great Disposition that is in humane Nature to become proud and fastidious by the flattery and false measures of Grandure They that will be rich saith his Apostle usually fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful Lusts that drown men in distraction and perdition They are put in a dangerous Post and have a great Duty upon them and must make a greater Account than other Men. And yet amongst all these lov'd and courted Dangers they have this great Advantage that they are capable of doing more Good and serving God to more and better Purposes than other Men. These Men are possessors of the earthly Mammon and with that which is usually an Instrument of Unrighteousness may procure everlasting Habitations But then this is not to be done but by Works of Piety and Mercy by giving God and the indigent Part of Mankind their due by loving of Mercy and walking humbly with that is worshipping God For there is a way of making Returns to Heaven of paying in worldly Goods and receiving Glory of laying in Bank and Fund here such a Stock of good Works that shall produce a Reward infinite both in Duration and Quantity And this is the true best and prudentest way of Merchandizing I will not say that a Man may purchase Heaven and barter for a Crown of Glory for that seems to be the exchange of an equivalent but so it is God has made by a free Promise Heaven and its Joys the Reward of good Works and of those that we do which are hardly our own So that there is a way opened for Man to advance himself in the World to come as well as in this And as Riches is the Footstool to Honour for who ever heard Poverty courted or honoured in this World so it may be in the next and if us'd as it ought will be certainly Every transient Act of Piety and Mercy is recorded above and hath a Reward assign'd for it there But those that are fix'd for a continuance and that benefit succeeding Subjects continually
returning back some of the Churches ancient Demesns or dedicating some Equivalent under such Conditions and Limitations that might oblige the Minister to frequency and fervency of Duty over and above what the Law can compel him to upon peril and loss of such Endowments and so become new Founders of Religion and Restorers of God's Glory And if this may be done then whether they are not bound in Conscience to do it These are weighty Considerations which nearly concern all Impropriators especially of what Degree soever they be and I pray God to set it home to their Hearts that they may make some sort of Satisfaction for the Sacrilege of the first Alienators and that the Curse of the wrong'd Donors may never reach them §. XXI To those that have no Children to provide for Third Let me next address my self to certain Persons of Estate and Quality in this Nation who are qualified and as it were mark'd out for such a Work Such are they to whom God never gave any Children the necessary Provision for whom we make our continual Plea for our selfishness or from whom he hath taken most or all and so consequently the Charge appropriated to them Men that have plentiful Estates but want Heirs of their Bodies and so are forc'd to seek for them amongst the other Branches of their Family or adopt some one of their Name amongst those that are no Relations and oftentimes bestow all upon one that wants it not or that shall waste all when they are dead and wish them so while living Fond Men that refuse God for their Heir and his Service to bestow their Estates upon even then when they can hold it no longer What might not such a Man do Why he might buy Heaven with Earth and a Crown of Glory with this worldly Trash He might purchase an everlasting Habitation with the Mammon of Vnrighteousness even then when he must use it no longer He might raise to himself an everlasting Monument and a Name more durable than that engraven in Brass or Marble And yet lose all those precious Advantages and throw away all he hath upon some Kinsman afar off or some Nieces Husband or some Body less deserving tho' nearer in Relation one who shall use it to the Satisfaction of his Lusts and Appetites and the dishonour of himself and his Maker Doth not such a Man seem to be design'd by Heaven to promote the Honour of his Maker his way is prepar'd all Obstacles are remov'd and himself adapted to so great and glorious a Work And shall a vain Name a pompous Retinue a great Table and a company of debauch'd Servants eat him up living And some politick Relation sweep all away when he dies and so defeat himself of the Product of all the Good that he might do or Example that he might give to others Or doth such a Man expect that God shou'd give him a plainer Indication of his Will than to take away all Objections and enable him to do some considerable Good He acts with Man by such Methods as are consistent with his freedom of Will he gives us opportunities and then leaves us to make our Election I wou'd not here nor any where else be misunderstood I think the Principles upon which these Discourses are built will make no Man unkind to his Relations or himself but this is all I say That if every Man that is Childless or otherwise enabled wou'd but leave God a Legacy worthy of him when he dies and lay up the Tenths of his increase while he liv'd for his Use it wou'd soon make every Living a Competency and every Church a House of Praise §. XXII 4. To the Bishops Dignitaries and others of the Clergy Fourthly Nor must I pass by my Lords the Bishops the Dignitaries and other the richer Part of the Clergy but humbly represent to them the Repairing of the House of God the proping up of a declining Church and that Service that must uphold them They are fed nourished and sometimes advanc'd by the Devotion of others to God's Altar To that many owe their Living and the Riches that they have gotten and 't is all the reason in the World that their Relations shou'd not sweep away all but that something shou'd be return'd back again to increase that Treasury from whence they have received all The Policy of the Church of Rome forbids the Marriage of their Clergy and if I am not mistaken makes the Church their Heir Our Church obliges us to neither Not to the first because contrary to the Holy Scriptures and Reason not to the latter because 't is contrary to Nature for Men to pass by their own Children and leave them Beggars But tho' the Church obliges to neither yet she cannot but commend both or either to those to whom this Gift is given Happy is that Man that is therefore unmarried that he may care for the things of the Lord whilst he lives and provide for them when he dies But woe is me Can there be any such Men amongst us whose desires of Pluralities and Riches are insatiable who take no other Care but to shear their Flocks and gather the good Things of the Altar and lay them up in store as if against an approaching Famine That leave the Cares of their Flocks to their poor Curates whose Faces they grind amongst the rest and will not allow them to live tho' they bear the Burthen of the Day That leave them the Care of great Parishes to attend the daily Service and themselves live at Ease reap all the Profit and allow them not the twentieth Part I am asham'd to say that there is such a Man For next to the Sot the Sensualist the Drunkard and the Debauch'd the covetous and cruel Clergy-man is the most unseemly and unbecoming Object and the very Contradiction of his Calling And let me humbly propose one thing Would every Bishop once in his whole Life do some eminent Work of Piety it wou'd not only be Exemplary to stir up others but wou'd have been considerable by this time and if every rich Clergy-man who has either no Children or whose Charge is moderately provided for wou'd but return to the Church some Part of those Alms that he hath receiv'd at her Hands and 't is all the reason in the World it shou'd be so it wou'd be the like And as for those of this Order that are utterly uncapable to add any thing but their Prayers to so good a Work I shall entreat them that they do not hinder it I mean that by the strictness of their Lives and the conscientious Discharge of their Duty they wou'd walk worthy of such a Blessing encourage Piety and Charity and shew that that which remains still to the Church is not perverted or thrown away upon it § XXIII 5. To all in general Lastly Let me apply my self to all Men in general that they wou'd take that Account of their Stewardship that they must make