Selected quad for the lemma: book_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
book_n	bishop_n	church_n	king_n	3,230	5	3.5319	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A86306	The undeceiving of the people in the point of tithes: wherein is shewed, I. That never any clergy in the Church of God hath been, or is maintained with lesse charge to the subject, then the established clergy of the Church of England. II. That there is no subject in the realme of England, who giveth any thing of his own, towards the maintenance of his parish-minister, but his Easter-offering. III. That the change of tithes into stipends, will bring greater trouble to the clergy, then is yet considered; and far lesse profit to the countrey, then is now pretended. / By Ph. Treleinie Gent.	Heylyn, Peter, 1600-1662.	1647 (1647)	Wing H1741; Thomason E418_1; ESTC R204596	25,471	32

hath his Stipend from the publick Treasurer the Doctor being maintained wholly as I am credibly informed at the charge of the people and that not onely by the bounty or benevolence of landed men but in the way of Contribution from which no sort of people of what rank soever but such as live on alms or the poore mans box is to be exempted But this is onely in the churches of Calvins platform those of the Lutheran party in Denmark Swethland and high Germany having their Tithes and Glebe they had before and so much more in offerings then with us in England by how much they come neerer to the church of Rome both in their practise and opinions especially in the point of the holy Sacrament then the English doe And as for our dear brethren of the Kirk of Scotland who cannot be so soon forgotten by a true born English man the Tithes being settled for the most part on Religious houses came in their fall unto the Crown and out of them a third was granted to maintain their Minister but so ill paid while the Tithes remained in the Crown and worse when alienated to the use of private Gentlemen that the greatest part of the burden for support of the Ministery lay in the way of contribution on the backs of the people And as one ill example doth beget another such Lords and Gentlemen as had right to present to churches following the steps of those who held the Tithes from the Crown soon made lay-fees of all the Tithes of their own demesnes and left the presentee such a sorry pittance as made him burthensome to his neighbours for his better maintenance How it stands with them now since these late alterations those who have took the Nationall covenant and I presume are well acquainted with the Discipline and estate of the Scottish Kirk which they have bound themselves to defend and keep are better able to resolve us And so much for the proof of the first proposition namely That never any Clergy in the church of God hath been or is maintained with lesse charge of the Subject then the established Clergy of the church of England And yet the proof hereof will be more convincing if we can bring good evidence for the second also which is II. That there is no man in the Kingdome of England who payeth any thing of his own towards the maintenance and support of his Parish-Minister but his Easter-offering And that is a Paradox indeed will the Reader say Is it not visible to the eye that the Clergy have the tenth part of our corn and cattell and of others the increase and fruits of the earth Doe not the people give them the tenth part of their estates saith one of my pamphlets have they not all their livelihoods out of our purses saith another of them Assuredly neither so nor so All that the Clergy doth receive from the purse of the Subject for all the pains he takes amongst them is two pence at Easter He claims no more then this as due unlesse the custome of the place as I think in some parts it is bring it up to sixe pence If any thing be given him over this by some bountifull hand he takes it for a favour and is thankfull for it Such profits as come in by marriages churchings and funerall Sermons as they are generally small and but accidentall so hee is bound unto some speciall service and attendance for it His constant standing fee which properly may be said to come out of the Subjects purse for the administration of the Word and Sacraments is nothing but the Easter-offering The Tithes are legally his own not given unto him by the Subject as is now pretended but paid unto him as a rent-charge laid upon the land and that before the Subject either Lord or Tenant had any thing to do in the land at all For as I am informed by Sir Edw Coke in his Comment upon Littletons Tenures li. 1. cap. 9. Sect. 73. fo. 58. It appeareth by the Laws and Ordinances of ancient Kings and specially of King Alfred that the first King of this Realm had all the lands of England in Demesne and les grands manours royalties they reserved to themselves and with the remnant they for the defence of the Realm enfeoffed the Barons of the Realm with such jurisdiction as the court Baron now hath So he the professed Champion of the Common laws And at this time it was when all the lands in England were the Kings Demesne that Ethelwolph the second Monarch of the Saxon race his father Egbert being the first which brought the former Heptarchie under one sole Prince conferred the Tithes of all the kingdome upon the Church by his royall Charter Of which thus Ingulph Abbot of Crowland an old Saxon writer i An. 855. which was the 18 of his reign King Ethelwulph with the consent of his Prelates Princes which ruled in England under him in their severall Provinces did first enrich the church of England with the tithes of all his lands and goods by his Charter Royall Ethelward an old Saxon and of the bloud royall doth expresse it thus k He gave the tithe of his possessions for the Lords own portion and ordered it to be so in all the parts of the Kingdome under his command Florence of Worcester in these words l King Ethelwolfe for the redemption of his own soul and the souls of his Predecessors discharged the tenth part of his Realm of all tributes and services due unto the Crown and by his perpetuall Charter signed with the signe of the Crosse offered it to the three-one God Roger of Hovenden hath it in the self-same words and Huntingdon more briefly thus m that for the love of God and the redemption of his soul he tithed his whole dominions to the use of the Church But what need search be made into so many Authours when the Charter it self is extant in old Abbot Ingulph and in Matthew of Westminster and in the Leiger book of the Abbey of Abingdon Which Charter being offered by the King on the Altar at Winchester in the presence of his Barons was received by the Bishops and by them sent to be published in all the Churches of their severall Diocesses a clause being added by the King saith the book of Abingdon that whoso added to the gift n God would please to prosper and increase his days but that if any did presume to diminish the same he should be called to an accompt for it at Christs judgment seat unlesse he made amends by full satisfaction In which as in some other of the former passages as there is somewhat savouring of the errour of those darker times touching the merit of good works yet the authorities are strong and most convincing for confirmation of the point which we have in hand Now that the King charged all the lands of the Kingdome with the payment of

tithes and not that onely which he held in his own possession is evident both by that which was said before from Sir Edw Coke and by the severall passages of the former Authours For if all the lands in the kingdome were the Kings Demesnes and the King conferred the tithes of all his lands on the church of God it must follow thereupon that all the lands of the Realm were charged with tithes before they were distributed amongst the Barons for defence of the kingdome And that the lands of the whole Realm were thus charged with tithes as well that which was parted in the hands of tenants as that which was in the occupancy of the King himself the words before alledged doe most plainly evidence where it is said that he gave the tenth of all his lands as Ingulph the tithe of his whole land as Henry of Huntingdon the tenth part of his whole kingdome as in Florence of Worcester the tenth part of the lands throughout the kingdome in the Charter it self And finally in the book of Abingdon the Charter is ushered in with this following title viz. Quomodo Ethelwolfus Rex dedit decimam partem regni sui Ecclesiis that is to say how Ethelwolf gave unto the church the tenth part of his kingdome This makes it evident that the King did not only give de facto the tithe or tenth part of his whole Realm to the use of the Clergy but that he had a right and a power to doe it as being not onely the Lord Paramount but the Proprietary of the whole lands the Lords and great men of the Realm not having then a property or estates of permanency but as accomptants to the King whose the whole land was And though it seems by Ingulph their consents were asked and that they gave a free consent to the Kings Donation yet was this but a matter of form and not simply necessary their approbation consent being only asked either because the King was not willing to doe any thing to the disherison of his Crown without the liking and consent of his Peers or that having their consent and approbation they should bee barred from pleading any Tenant-right and be obliged to stand in maintenance and defence thereof against all pretenders And this appears yet further by a Law of King Athelstanes made in the year 930 about which time not only the Prelates of the church as formerly but the great men of the Realm began to be settled in estates of permanency and to claim a property in those lands which they held of the Crown and claiming to make bold to subduct their tithes For remedy whereof the King made this Law commanding all his Ministers throughout the kingdome that in the first place they should pay the tithes o of his own estate that is to say that which he held in his own hands and had not estated out to his Lords and Barons and that the Bishops did the like of that which they held in right of their churches his Nobles and Officers of that which they held in property as their own possessions or inheritance By which we finde that tithes were granted to the Clergy out of all the lands in the kingdome and the perpetuall payment of them laid as a rent-charge on the fame by the bounty and munificence of the first Monarchs of this Realm before any part thereof was demised to others And if perhaps some of the great men of the Realm had estates in property as certainly there were but few if any which had any such estates in the times we speak of they charged the same with tithes by their own consent before they did transmit them to the hands of the Gentry or any who now claim to lay hold under them So then the land being charged thus with the payment of tithes came with this clog unto the Lords and great men of the Realm and being so charged with tithes by the Kings and Nobles have been transmitted and passed over from one hand to another untill they came to the possession of the present owners Who whatsoever right they have to the other nine parts either of fee-simple lease or copy have certainly none at all in the tithe or tenth which is no more theirs or to be thought of then the other nine parts are the Clergies For whether they hold their lands at an yearly rent or have them in fee or for tearm of life or in any other tenure whatsoever it be they hold them and they purchased them on this tacite condition that besides the rents and services which they pay to the Lord they are to pay unto the Clergy or unto them who do succeed in the Clergies right a tenth of all the fruits of the earth and of the fruits of their cattell and all creatures tithable unlesse some ancient custome or prescription doe discharge them of it And more then so whether they hold by yearly rent or by right of purchase they held it at lesse rent by far and buy it at far cheaper rates because the land it self and the stock upon it is chargeable with tithes as before was said then they would doe or could in reason think to do were the land free from tithes as in some places of this Realm it is To make this clearer by example of an house in London where according to the rent which the house is set at the Minister hath 2 s. 9 d. out of every pound in the name of a tithe Suppose we that the rent of the house be 50 l. the Ministers due according unto that proportion comes to 6 l. 17 s. 6 d. yearly which were it not paid and to be paid by law to the Parish-Minister there is no question to be made but that the Landlord of the house would have raised his rent and not content himself with the 50 l. but look for 56 l. 17 s. 6 d. which is the whole rent paid though to divers hands And if this house were to be sold at 16 years purchase the Grantee could expect no more then 800 l. because there is a rent of 6 l. 17 s. 6 d. reserved to the Minister by Law which is to be considered in the sale thereof whereas if no such rent or tithe were to issue out of it he would have as many years purchase for the sum remaining which would inhaunce the price 110 l. higher then before it was Now by this standard we may judge of the case of lands though by reason of the difference of the soil the well or ill husbanding of grounds and the greatnesse or smalness of the stock which is kept upon them it cannot be reduced to so clear a certainty But whatsoever the full tithe of all be worth to the Minister we may undoubtedly conclude that if so much as the tithe comes to yearly were not paid to him the Landlord would gain it in his rent and the Grantee get it in the sale no benefit at