the expresse approbation of God so that if all the men of the world should agree to change tithes yet this would not make it lawfull without expresse warrant from God who hath appropriated tithes to himselfe and out of his owne right assigneth them to the maintenance of the ministerie Thirdly what reason should moue any man to thinke it sacriledge to take away lands giuen to the Church albeit giuen for superstitious vses and yet thinke it no sacriledge to take away or change tithes which were not giuen for superstitious vses but for maintenance of preaching For hee that alloweth some other prouision in place of tithes graunteth that to take away tithes in some case is not sacriledge If the restitution of some prouision in place of tithes could salue the Sacriledge why may not the Sacriledge of men bee excused who take away as much of the Church lands as are at the value of tenne thousand pounds and in place thereof giue tenne pounds For when any thing is taken away that a thing of the same value should bee restored who can expect and and who shall bee iudge if then to giue some thing in place of that which is taken away salue it from the crime of Sacriledge who seeth not to what a wretched estate the Church must needes bee brought for may not all bee taken away and something bee giuen backe in place thereof and yet that something bee as good as nothing But they who admit that tithes may bee taken away from the Church doe it with this caution so that a sufficient prouision bee left This is a castle in the aier that neuer stoode on the earth For if wee speake of the ordinary maintenance of the preaching ministerie a sufficient maintenance is not neither at any time hath beene without tithes and in this point the world is not like to alter Then to speake of a sufficient maintenance without tithes is but a conceit in the braines of some men which neuer was brought into action neuer will be God allowing a sufficient maintenance to the ministery nameth it tithes Now what stipend can man name that will supply the place of tithes I suppose it would much trouble the wisest to name a stipend that would bee sufficient at all times but tithes are sufficient at all times howsoeuer the price of things rise or fall the minister hath his part with his people in all estates by tithes which proportioning of the ministers estate making it able to answere all estates a like whether deare or cheape proceeding from the wisdom of God cannot be bettered or matched by mans wisdom Were it not then much easier to bring that ordinance in vse which standeth so agreable with the lawes of God nature of godly kings then to deuise strange courses which neuer were in vse and being deuised will neuer proue sufficient But let vs returne to the vse of this time whereof wee speake The vse of giuing lands to chiefe Churches whether begun before Urban or by him so much as in him lyeth he confirmeth prouiding that those lands so giuen may bee retained to the vse of the Church such lands and possessions were then giuen to the head Churches of euery countrey and committed to the Bishops who gouerned those Churches as to wise and faithfull stewards to husband the same according to the necessities of the Church through their diocesses It grew afterward in processe of time that the Bishops held those lands for their proper vses but this was from a latter vse the distribution of Church goods being first brought into foure parts and by little and little afterward as authority so power to maintaine that authoritie falling into the hand of one man The former vse was so ancient that it is hard to fetch the beeginning thereof In the time of Urbanus Origen liued for Hierom saith that Origen was 17. yeares old in the tenth yeare of Seuerus and died about the 70. yeare of his age so hee liued long before and after the time wherein Urban sat in the Sea of Rome In his time that order of the Church which before was held in the communitie of all things decaying tithes were accounted due and called for That thus they were accounted in his time it appeareth by these testimonies Quomodo abundat iustitia nostra plusquam Scribarum Pharisaeorum si illi de fructibus terrae suae gustare non audent priusquam primitias sacerdotibus efferant Leuitis decimae separentur ego nihil horum faciens fructibus terrae ita abutar vt sacerdos nesciat Leuites ignoret diuinum altare nonsentiat where Origen for the farther manifestation of his meaning doth distinguish these tearmes lex mandata iustificationes praecepta testimonia but forasmuch as serueth our purpose hee obserueth that it is not written haec est lex decimarum as it is written of things ceremoniall haec est lex paeschae lex Azymorum lex circumcisionis where Origen noteth that this is a mark of a ceremonie for of such it is neuer written saith hee hoc est mandatum Paschae but haec est lex Paschae c. by which he proueth that tithes are no ceremonies and he layeth downe this position Christus nos redemit de maledicto legis non de maledicto mandati nec de maledicto testimonij aut iudiciorum which sentence would bee fauourably expounded as taking usaledictum for the obligation which did bring the curse with it but I seeke out onely the iudgement of Origen for the point in question vpon these reasons he saith plainely hanc ego legem speaking of the law whereby tithes were payed obseruari etiam secundum literam sicut alia nonnulla necessarium puto and againe non videtur huinsmodi anima habere memoriam Dei nec cogiture nec credere quia Deus dederit fructus quos caepit quos iâ—a recondit quasi alienes à Deo si enim â Deo sibi dates crederet sciret vtique munerando Sacerdotes honorare Deum de datis muneribus suis farther he expoundeth that saying Mat. 23. these things you ought to haue done and not to haue left the other vndone to bee a precept no lesse for the vse of Christions then Iewes Out of which testimonies we see plainely what Origen whom Hierom accounteth the most learned of the Fathers esteemeth of tithes Of diuerse things so expresly affirmed by him we may especially obserue two First that Origen who by Hieroms account was borne in the yeare of Christ 188. had receiued from his elders no other knowledge of this question then this that tithes are due among Christians secundum literam aswell as among Iewes Secondly it is to bee obserued that as soone as wee first heare any thing spoken of this question in the church we finde that tithes were not accounted ceremoniall or iudiciall but morall and perpetuall precepts for the Church Now as Origen receiueth and reporteth the
doctrine of the Church before him so immediately succeeding the Apostles for betweene the death of Iohn the Apostle and Origen were but 84. yeares so that which Origen heere deliuereth of tithes was neuer crossed in the Church following till Antichrist oppressed all Now this seemeth to mee a very great presumption for the truth if there were no more that a sentence should bee kept in the best times of the Church so long vncontrolled and neuer altered till the mist of superstition came in which changed all things But let vs consider the rest which follow Next after Origen followeth Cyprian who reprouing Geminius Faustinus whom Geminus Victor had made ouerseer of his will this hee sharply rebuking as being against the Canons saith that ministers or as he termeth them by a word in vse in that age Presbyteri haue nothing to doe with secular affaires but as the Leuites had no other businesse but to attend on the Altar so the Lord had prouided for ministers that they might not be drawen by worldly occasions from their holy businesse but might liue of that honorable stipend with their bretheren as they who receiued tithes of the fruit of the earth c. Tanquam decimas ex fructu accipientes ab altari sacrificijs non recedant sed die ac nocte celestibus rebus ac spiritualibus seruiant Where he saith the ministers liued in honore sportulantium fratrum It sheweth that auncient vse whereof we spake before that the goods of the Church whether rents of lands or tithes or whatsoeuer other prouision were in his time retained according to the ancient custome in the Bishops hands and out of them did the Bishop minister to the necessitie of euery one for sportula was the stipend or allowance of each Presbyter or minister which the Bishop then vsed to distribute among them of the goods of the Church This was the ancient vse of the Church before the diuision of Parishes for at this time the diuision of Parishes was not yet instituted so wee finde tithes payed before Parishes were deuided but then brought to the Bishop and by him distributed among the Ministers It is the common opinion that Dyonisius did first institute the deuision of the parishes who was Bishop of Rome by Hieroms account in the yeare 266. that is some eight years after Cyprians martyrdome or Origens death for they two dyed almost within one yeare By this time parishes began to be deuided and tithes orderly assigned to seuerall Churches Heere the question may be moued when began tithes to be distinctly assigned to their seuerall Churches This question wee mooue for our ministers at the common law who following a common error and taking vp some rumor without skanning hould that tithes were not assigned to any certaine Churches before the councell of Lateran and that in the former times before that councell it was lawful for a man to pay tithes to what Church he would so he paied it was no matter to whom But this is a tale not onely without all groūd of story but against the testimonie of auncients for presently vpon the deuision of parishes it was assigned to what seueral churches tithes should be paid Gratian bringeth a testimony out of Dionisius himselfe to proue this Ecclesias singulas c that is wee haue assigned seuerall churches for seuerall ministers and deuided to each their parishes and church-yards appointed that euery one should haue their proper right so that none may intrude vpon the parish or right of another The same is also confirmed by the testimonie of Leo the fourth who saith de decimis c. that is concerning tithes not wee onely but also those aunceaunts that haue bene before vs haue thought good that the people should pay them to baptismall Churches By a baptismall Chuch is meant such a Chuch where all who dwell within the circuit of that parish ought to be baptised and it is distinguished by this name from Chappels for albeit diuerse Chappels were founded within the same circuit yet it was the ancient order that Baptisme might not bee celebrated in those Chappels but onely in the chiefe Church in that circuit This is confirmed out of a councell of Toledo plures baptismales ecclesiae in vna terminatione esse non possunt sed vna tantummodo cum capellis suis. The counsel called Cabilonense about the yeare 650. hath thus Ecclesiae antiquitus constitutae nec decimis nec vlla possessione priuentur ita vt nouis oratorijs tribuantur And in case a man should build a Church or Chappell within his owne libertie yet hee might not pay tithes to it but the tithes must goe to the auncient Church as in former times for so saith a councel of Wormes about the time of Charles the great Quicunque voluerit c. that is If any man will build a new Church within his owne liberty hee may so hee haue the consent of the Bishop in whose diocesse it is but then the Bishop must prouide that the auncient Churchs loose not their right and tithes by these new but the tithes are alwaies to be payed to the auncient Churches Anastasius Bishop of Rome Ann. 398. hath two testimonies to the same purpose Statuimus c. that is we appoint that if any shall with-hold the tithes and offerings which the people are to pay or shall giue them from the baptismall Churches without the knowledge of the Bishop or of him whose duetie it is to looke thereto and will not be ruled by their counsell he be accursed and debarred from the communion Now if hence any shall surmise that hee may by the sufferance of the Bishop doe this because he is commanded without his knowledge not to doe it that is answered Concil Wormac that the Bishop himselfe may not giue that license to pay tithes from Baptismall Churches and in an other place it is said that if the Bishop should do so he should turne the house of God into a den of theeues and should therefore bee excommunicate without hope of returne Againe Anastasius saith quidam laici qui vel in proprijs vel in beneficijs suas habent basilicas contempta Episcopi dispositione non ad Ecclesias vbi baptismum praedicationem alia Christi Sacramēta percipiunt decimas suas dant sed proprijs Basilicis vel alijs Ecclesiis pro libitu sue tribuunt quod omnibus modis legi sacris canonibus constat esse contrarium The councell of Chalcedon Can. 16. witnesseth that the country parish Churches were vnder the iurisdiction of seuerall Bishops and if a question rose to which Bishop the parish belonged 30. yeares prescription was required to proue the right If any citie should bee afterward renued by the authoritie of the Emperour then the ordination of Parishes should follow the new ordination of that citie Thus were parish Churches vnder the gouernment of Bishops and tithes assigned to
TITHES Examined and Proued to bee due to the Clergie by a diuine right VVhereby the contentious and prophane Atheists as also the dissembling Hypocrites of this age may learne to honour the Ministers and not to defraude them and to Rob the Church The Contents heereof is set downe in the Page next following Written by George Carleton Batchelour in Diuinitie Printed at London by T. Este for Clement Knight dwelling in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Holy Lambe 1606. The contents of this Booke CHAP. FOL 1 The state of the question is set downe and the truth confirmed 1 2 How Tithes stood before the Law b 4. 3 How Tithes stood vnder the Law Where it is prooued that then this constitution of tithes was neither ceremoniall nor iudiciall but morall 11 4 How Tithes stood in the time of the new Testament 21 5 How Tithes stood in the ages of the Church after the Apostles wherein the point in question is confirmed by the testimonie of Fathers without contradiction vntill Antichrist by vsurped authoritie disordered the Church 24 6 The obiections answered and the point in question confirmed 35 To the most Reuerend Father in God my very good Lord the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury his Grace Primate and Metropolitane of all England and one of his Maiesties most Honourable Priuie Counsell SVch hath beene the preiudice of the times most reuered Father in God not in this age onely but in many ages of the world heeretofore that many truthes haue lien either neglected as couered in the dust or oppressed by the countenance and multitude of such as commonly are ready to condemne the thing which they will not vouchsafe to vnderstand The feare of which censures hath moued me to suppresse for a long time that which I had written of this question In which purpose I should still haue continued if the reasons of other had not more preuailed with me then mine owne opinion Being therefore perswaded of your graces fauourable acceptance I haue presumed to offer this as a pledge of my dutie which as it was intended for the seruice of the Church so to whom may it more worthily bee offered then to him who as in place so in care and resolution sitteth to aduance the good estate of the Church In offering heereof my case is strange and singular for I must do it with protestation that I am far off from thinking that the thing for which I plead will or can be effected onely the opinion which many haue conceiued of your Graces wisedome and courage for the aduancement of the Churches oppressed estate doth incourage mee also to thinke that by your Graces care the oppressions of the Church may be mollified if not remooued that the malice of iniurious customes and prescriptions against the Church may be abated that the vse of impropriating may now at least be staied from proceeding to any further greauance of the Church In which seruice of the Church as you shall heereafter leaue a memorable name to your selfe so in the meane time you shall stir vp the prayers of many for your preseruation and continuance for the good of the Church of God who with his plentifull graces blesse and direct your wayes to his glory and the comfort of his Church through Iesus Christ. Your Graces in duetie and in the seruice of the Church to be commaunded George Carleton To the Reader SEing wee are fallen into these last times times dangerous and filled with much euill wherein the furtherances of pietie doe dayly decrease and the Church her selfe euen with that small portion which shee hath left is become an vsuall praie either to the prophane Atheist that will violently rob her or to the cunning hippocrite that vnder pretence of long prayers will deuoure Gods house I thought it fit to recommend this learned treatise to the indifferent reader that men of place in the common wealth indued with knowledge to support the truth may make a conscience to assist the clergie for obtaining their owne right least vnder coulour of some vaine title or pretense of custome the Lord himselfe complaine both against them and vs that his house is a house of prayer and we haue made it a den of theeues Our land I confesse is faire and blessed like the kingdome of Canaan but many of the people are like the Anakims that eate vp the clergie thereof and though Iosias were a good king yet the times were euill and a punishment of the former sinnes reserued in Gods iustice to the dayes that followed And howsoeuer wee cannot with Iosua finde kings in this caue yet I feare mee wee may fetch out more then fiue times fiue of our great families made richer by the spoiles of the Church who haue either come in dissemblingly like Icroboams wife or boldly like Pharo to the Israelites saying of the clergie this people is stronger then we are come let vs work wisely with them least they multiply and without a witnesse the leprosie of Gehezie sticketh so fast vnto their families as many of our most auncient houses I am perswaded haue beene ruinated by this meanes for the Church liuing dealeth as the Arck with Dagon casteth that downe which they had of their owne If some of them delt but as Dauid with Saul cut off the lap of our garment it were well yet I would wish them to haue remorse for it but to vse the Clergie as the king of the children of Ammon did the messengers of Dauid who shaued of halfe of their beards cut off their garments in the middle it is a contempt which the Lord wil not suffer to escape vnpunished Now I doubt not but the diligent perusing of this treatise shall so perswade the consciences of all that are not alreadie forestalled by some great sinnes that tithes are the Lords portion holy to himselfe that this portion he hath giuen to his ministers that serue at the Altar and so consequently that they may not safely detaine that from the Clergy which belongs vnto them but rather make restitution with al humilitie and desire the Lord with penitent harts to receiue at our hands the tenth part which in a peculiar manner holily is his owne portion for by another right the cattell are his that are on a thousand hils that so in mercy hee may blesse vnto vs the nine parts that remaine of all our substance this fruit if it shall bring vnto thee that readest and rest and peace to the poore Clergy that are torne with contentions for their owne right wee shall haue iust cause to reioyce for thy good and be ready to recommend our further paines to tho blessing of thy prayers and the benefit of this Church Lambeth Ianu. 4. 1606. WILLIAM COVELL CHAP. I. The state of the question is set downe and the truth confirmed COncerning Tithes so farre as I could learne there haue beene three opinions First that Tithes are meere
with the vse of these times whereof wee speake This the Waldenses and after them Iohn Wiclife did foresee and well vnderstood that if the practise of the Apostles be vrged in this point then assuredly nothing can be clamed but almes And therefore they vrging that vse did truely thereupon couclude that the ministers maintenance must be almes though they vrged those times without reason yet that being once graunted the other must follow Now let vs consider the reasons which the Apostles vse in mouing these contributions these reasons if a man consider them aright doe reach farther then they are applyed and indeed doe conclude another thing for seeing the contributions then practised were almes and the reasons confirme a due maintenance surely they confirme another thing then was practised at that time For example the reasons whereof wee haue spoken 1. Cor. 9. Who goeth to warfare at any time of his owne cost who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof or who feedeth a flocke and eateth not of the milke These reasons doe not so much proue that which then was in vse as another thing what that other thing is that is heere in question wee say tithes other say a competent maintenance but these reasons proue the ordinary maintenance of ministers due Now because tithes the ordinary maintenance could not bee payed without great incumbrance the reasons shew that in place thereof for a time some other thing must of right bee payed So the Apostle reasoneth 1. Cor. 9. 13. Doe you not know that they who minister about the holy things eate of the things of the temple and they who waite at the alter are partakers of the altar So also hath the Lord ordained that they who preach the Gospell should liue of the Gospell This reason concludeth very strongly for tithes and for nothing else for it must be graunted that the Apostles words concluding something certainely doe rather conclude that which was the ordinarie maintenance commonly receiued in the Church then that which was neuer in vse in the Church certainly not in those tymes Now tithes were ordinarily receiued in the Church as the ministers maintenance but this competencie as it is vrged was neuer in vse in the Church surely not in the Apostolike times Now it were hard to say that the Apostle reasoneth for such a thing as was neuer in vse Againe the Apostle saith the Lord hath ordained the ministers maintenance this ordinance is not indiuiduum vagum but some certaine thing beeing a part of gods worship Now we can say that tithes are the Lords certaine ordinance but who is able to say and proue so much for this competent maintenance As for the vse and practise of the Apostles times assuredly it was no perpetuall ordinance of the Lord but an extraordinarie vse for a time wee seeking the ordinary maintenance and this being extraordinarie to indure but for a short time shall neuer finde that which we seeke in the vse and practise of those times Then whereas the Apostle saith the Lord hath ordained that they who preach the gospell should liue of the gospell there must be some ordinance of the Lord shewed but none can bee shewed but either tithes or the vse of the Apostolike times therfore this ordinance must eyther be tithes or almes but not almes for this vse of the Apostles times were extraordinarie therefore the ordinary and perpetuall ordinance of the Lord for the ministers maintenance can be nothing else but tithes and that the reasons vsed by the Apostle doe in truth confirme tithes albeit they name not tithes it is the iugdement of diuers fathers as heere after may appeare Now that which standeth with best reason with the perpetuall and ordinary practise of the Church before and since Christs time and hath the full consent and testimonie of the auncients I prefer before that which standeth with no reason was neuer vsed in the Church and hath the testimonie of no auncient father CHAP. V. How Tithes stoode in the ages of the Church after the Apostles wherein the point in question is confirmed by the testimonie of fathers without contradiction vntill Antichrist by vsurped authoritie disordered the Church HOW long that communitie of all things lasted in the Church which began in the Apostles times wee cannot precisely determine but it seemeth to haue beene in some vse in Tertullians time for so hee saith omnia sunt indiscreta apud nos praeter vxores Eusebius laboureth to proue out of Philo that the Christians at Alexandria conuerted by Mark had all things common But the testimony of Philo speaketh of those who were called Essaei not of Christians yet that this communitie was long continued among christians it is out of doubt Some thinke that Vrbanus Bishop of Rome Ann. 223. did make some mutation in the vse of this communitie who first of all is reported to haue retained lands to the Church vse for whereas before we read Act. 2. 34. as many as were possessours of lands sold them and brought the price to the Apostles Afterward it was thought expedient for the perpetuall reliefe of the Church that such lands should not be sould and the price giuen but the lands themselues should be giuen to the Church Fassiculus temporum ascribeth this to Urbanus praedia caepit ecclesia possidere huius vrbain tempore de quibus clericis notarijs sumptus deputabant qui gesta martirum conscripserunt antea viuebant more Apostolico qui in actis Apostolorum scribitur Marsilius Patauinus saith likewise that Vrban was the first that possessed lands and temporalties yet it seemeth that vse began before Vrbanus his time if Gratian cite truely the words of Vrban Albeit there may be some question of the authoritie of this testimonie the credit whereof I will neuer seeke to salue yet because in a matter of story it agreeth with other stories of that time I thincke it not amisse for the stories sake to set it downe as it is in Gratian and in the first tome of councels Videntes autem summi sacerdotes alij atque Leuitae c. that is The chiefe Bishops and other and the Leuites or ministers and the rest of the faithfull perceiuing that whereas lands and inheritances were wont to be sold and the price giuen to the Church it might be more profitable if those lands and inheritances themselues were giuen to the Churches that are gouerned by Bishops because the faithfull that liue in common might better be serued and much more conueniently by the rents of such lands both for the present time and for the time to come then by the price in money heereupon those lands which before they were accustomed to sell they begunne to bestow vpon Cathedrall Churches and to liue of the rents Now these lands were within the priuiledge of euery such diocesses of the Bishoppes who hold the place of the Apostles and so the same lands are and for
the time to come ought to be Out of these the Bishops being faithfull stewards heereof ought to minister all necessaries to them that desire to liue in common so that among them none want for these things are the oblations of the faithfull by these meanes the cathedral churches gouerned by the Bishops haue by Gods help had such increase and so many so well prouided that among them none that liueth in common wanteth any thing but receiueth all necessaries from the Bishop and his ministers And therefore if either now or heereafter any shall take those lands let him bee accursed c. Out of which testimonie first it appeareth that the communitie of things lasted in some sort to this time and therfore tithes are not spoken of so long as this communitie was in vse It is also apparant by that which followed that this thing was the first occasion that the community ceased and that tithes came in vse againe Secondly we obserue that the land and temporalties of Bishops were not for this end and vse giuen them that they should keepe all to themselues but that they thence might comfort such as wanted especially in the ministery Thirdly it appeareth plaine sacriledge to take such lands and temporalties away from the Bishops and the Church For first the lands were sold and the price giuen afterward the lands were giuen if it were in the choise of the giuers whether they would giue the price in money or in lands I demaund this question when they gaue the price in money was it not sacriledge to take it back againe or any part thereof as Ananias and Saphira did Act. 5 1. Now if it were such sacriledge to take backe the price is not the same to be thought of the lands themselues for in this question what difference is betweene the lands and the price of those lands Now whereas the question may be moued concerning Abby lands which were giuen for superstitious vses first the Ciuilians and Canonists are agreed vpon the poynt for the Canonists hold that a custome may make a law how erroneous soeuer the beginning was the Ciuilians iudge that if a thing be giuen to the Church for vnlawfull vses those vses must bee altered but the thing remaine But now admitting that an errour in the beeginning make a nullitie in the gift from the beginning yet we say this toucheth not Bishoprik lands at all for whoseuer is diligent in the story of the Church will confesse a great difference betweene lands giuen to Bishopriks and to Abbyes for Bishoprick lands were giuen presently vpon the planting of Churches And no story can shew that euer there was a Church planted in the best times but either lands were committed to the gouernment of Bishops for the vse of the Church or else the price was brought to them who then gouerned the Churches but in Abbey lands the case was nothing like for this indowment of Abbyes with lands was of late in the time of superstition brought in vse not vpon the calling and planting but vpon the corrupting of Churches For which cause it must be confessed that these two things are not to be spoken of confusedly as if one and the same case were in both seeing they are from such differing beginnings and for such differing ends Thus much then may be drawen I say not from Urbanus his testimony but from the practise of the Church in the Apostles times that whatsoeuer was giuen to the Church there being no errour or superstition in the gift that of right ought to remaine to the Church and to take that away is sacriledge what is sacriledge if this be not Now as this doth maintaine the right of Bishops temporalties to the Church because that gift was giuen to the Church in the beginning without errour or superstition so it maintaineth the right of tithes which haue beene giuen by the common consent of Christians to the Church If there were no other right sauing this that tithes haue beene dedicated to the Church and in that dedication there was no errour or superstition this were enough to proue that tithes could not be taken away no more then Ananias and Saphyra might take away any part of that which they had vowed to the Church But when we haue this reason added to the expresse will of God that all tithes are the Lords alwaies to bee giuen to him as we haue shewed heerein must needes be double sacriledge and manifest impiety committed to take that away from God which God and man hath decreed should be his A learned and godly minister of Scotland hath set foorth of late certaine sermons against sacriledge yet not touching this question of tithes in this sort but rather declaring his opinion that in some cases tithes might be changed into another meanes of sufficient prouision if such godly zeale were now among men as was of old time yet these cases wherein this change may be admitted hee doth not open but as now the zeale of men standeth hee is vtterly against the change But it fareth with him as it must needes doe with all that sincerely write eyther against sacriledge or for the maintenance of ministers for let a man throughly touch these points and will hee nill hee hee shall proue tithes due as this man doth though not purposing the same for hee proueth that to take away any thing of that which is holy to God is sacriledge Now that tithes are euer holy to God wee haue proued both dedicated to him by man and aduouched by himselfe so that of all things that can bee called holy in this sense nothing hath that place before tithes If then sacriledge be in taking away holy things from God and his Church it appeareth more in taking away tithes then in any other thing whatsoeuer Neither can sacriledge heerein be excused though men should establish something in place of that holy thing taken away First beecause the changing of holy things is sacriledge no lesse though happely a lesse kinde of sacriledge then taking away of the same If Nabucadnezzer hauing taken away the holy vessels out of the house of the Lord should in place thereof haue put some other might his sacriledge thereby be excused or Beltassar taking the vessels of the Lords house and in them banquetting with his Lords and Concubines if he should in stead there of haue placed other could any iustifie his sacriledge therefore no more can the taking away of tithes bee iustified though something in place thereof should bee appointed by men Secondly againe albeit wee should admit that in some things of the Church this might bee done yet that it can bee in tithes wee vtrerly denie vnlesse it bee proued that the change is made by the same power and authoritie by which tithes are made holy to God now wee haue shewed that man did not make tithes holy to God and his Church but the Lord himselfe Heerein then wee haue not onely the consent of man but
their proper Churches long before the councell of Lateran that counsell prouided nothing at all in this point onely whereas the Regulars and Seculars were then deuising a trick to defraud the Churches of tithes the counsell prouided to take order to stop that iniustice for the Regulars and Seculars when they let their houses or farmes would couenant that the farmer should pay tithes to them heereby the Church to whose parish the farme belonged was defrauded To redresse this abuse the counsell of Lateran Cap. 56. ordaineth that such tithes should not be payed to the land-lords but to the parish Church This is the rather to be noted because it openeth the manner and beginning of that wickednes which came in by such fraternities for from these beginnings impropriations came in now the counsell cunningly helped forward the matter for by taking away priuate authoritie there was a priuiledge cunningly thrust into the Popes hands and therefore this abuse was forbidden by the counsell because they who would doe it must fetch a license from the Pope for before this time began those dispensations as heereafter will bee shewed Before wee proceede to the testimonies of succeeding Fathers one thing I would note concerning patronages of Churches for that is a thing not vnworthie of knowledge and pertaining to the question which I follow The Church had of old euen from the Apostles times or very neare them lands and possessions which were desposed by the chiefe of the clergy that is Bishops there were also as parishes were distinguished some portions of land assigned to euery parish Church Ministers then hauing temporalties as now wee call them it could not choose but questions might arise concerning those possessions Now when any troublesome question did arise those godly men in the beginning would not bee contentious in the law no not for their owne lands wherefore because they should neither bee drawen from the seruice of the Church through sutes nor yet loose their land vppon the sute of contentious men there were certaine temporall men appointed eyther by godly kings whom Marsilius Patauinus calleth Legislatores or by such as gaue those lands to be Patrons of Churches who might be readie to defend the Church-rights that the Bishops and Pastors might with more fruit and lesse incumbrance apply their vocations Marsilius Patauinus witnesseth thus much Dominium temporaliū quae sunt pro ministrorū Euāgelicorū sustentatione statuta est legislatoris aut eius vel eorū qui per legislatorem ad hoc fuerint deputati vel per eos qui talia dederunt si fuerint singularès personae quae supra dicta temporalia dederint et ordinauerint ex bonis suio ad vsum praedictum Qui sequidem sic statuti ad ecclesiasticorum temporalium defensionem vendicationem vocari solebant ecclesiarum patroni Nam antiquitus viri sancti atque perfecti ministri euāgelici Christum imitari volentes contra nullum voluerunt contondere iudicio Our purpose is not to stay in examining euery defect in Marsilius whereunto he was carried by an earnest welwilling to the Emperours cause and an hatred against the abuses of the church as then it stood Onely we note that temporall patrones were appointed by the first doners not to bestow church-liuings as now they doe but to defend the right of the land giuen to the church For at the first patrones had no more right neither could retaine any more to thēselues then that which was common to all This appeareth out of diuerse testimonies which I cite onely for storie sake for although these be not vndoubted testimonies yet vndoubtedly this vse may bee made of them Whereas one Iulius had founded a church Gelasius writeth to Senectior Bishop of that dioces wherein the church was founded to dedicate the same Prouided that first Iulius did resigne the donation and he must know that he can retaine therein no right to himselfe praeter processionis aditum qui omnibus christianis dibetur What is ment by processionis aditus I leaue to the canonists to expound but by the words it seemeth to be a thing common to all christians It is likewise witnessed that one Frigentius founding a Church retained no more then the former The same is confirmed by a constitution of the fourth Toletan councell Nouerint conditores basilicarum in rebus quas eisdem conferunt nullam se potestatem habere sed iuxtà canonum instituta sicut ecclesiam ita dotem eius ad ordinationem episcopi pertinere But in the same councell it is graunted that the founders of churches in their life time onely may nominate a minister to the church Thus much concerning the beginning of patronages where wee may note how far this thing among many is drawen by corruption frō the beginning for patrons were first instituted for defence of the church rights from the wrong and insolences of corrupt and contentious men But the rights of the church are at this day euery wher ouerthrowen as it were by a common conspiracie of men against the church ministerie partly by auncient corruptions partly by latter And where can the church haue her right for corrupt customes but doe the patrones stand in the gap to defend the church-right doe they not looke on whilst enery one maketh hast to carry away the spoiles one inuiting another as to a common pray They will say it were to much for them to defend the church in this spoiling age yet this they should doe from the beginning Sed quis custodiat ipsos custodes but I returne to my storie Wee haue shewed out of such records as are least when tithes began to be established in the church after the Apostles how parishes were seperated and tithes seuerally assigned to each limitation that the vse of paying tithes to limitted churches was not a matter deuised by the councell of Lateran but in better vse and more incorrupt order before that councell then euer since that the vse of patronages in the beginning was for the defence of the church-rights Now we are to inquire how the succeeding fathers did write of tithes after they were once assigned to particular churches Chrisostome teaching an husbandman how he may be a worthie Christian and doe good workes though hee build no Churches saith quasi ducta vxore vel sponsa vel data virgine sie erga Ecclesiam affectus esto dotem ascribe illi ita benedictionis praedium multiplicabitur quid enim non erit illic bonorum parumne est obscero toreular benedici panumne est Deum ex omnibus fructibus prius partem ac decimas accipere ad pacem agricolarum hoc vtile and presently after preces illic perpetuae propter te laudes ac synaxes propter te hee doeth not onely teach them that they ought to pay tithes but he giueth these reasons because their seruice prayers preaching is for thee and because this is the meanes to haue a