God's Creation when all was blessed and at Peace and in Unity and Harmony one with another when Man was the Image of God and you through the rich Mercy and Love of God being called to believe in the Hope and Promise of God and having waited and obtained Life through Jesus Christ whom the Father hath given for Life and the Covenant thereof and of Peace unto all that believe I say it being given unto you of the Father to believe and receive him whom the Father hath sent to restore again all even all receive the free Gift and close therewith according as the Father tenders him unto all believing and obeying his Voice they come to witness Restoration and to be delivered from Darkness and Death and every evil Way and Work into perfect Freedom in due time and to serve the living God in Righteousness and Holiness and to be made Partakers of his precious Promise and of the Kingdom Power and Glory of God that fades not away and of Life eternal and Peace and Joy in the holy Ghost now and forever and makes all his chosen Ones who believe in his Name Partakers of his piteous and long Suffering and of his heavenly and spiritual Blessings in Christ Jesus to whom be Glory forever and ever Amen I say because the Lord hath chosen you and hath wrought Change in you and brought you out of their Pathes whose Habitations are full of Cruelty all that are in Bondage hate you and your Freedom and your Life and Way and there can be no Reconciliation no Concord in the Ground for as it was of old time even so now since Cain slew his Brother so all the Children of the Flesh of the Bond-woman and of the World hated them that were born of the Spirit and were redeemed up unto God to live unto him and glorifie him forever by shewing forth by a holy Conversation that they were so called and chosen of God I hope the Consideration of these things and the Knowledge of them dwells with you and in your Hearts and you see you are joyned to a blessed Company and an holy Assembly who are gone before and are entred into Rest and have precious Fellowship with them who now remain alive unto this Day who have Fellowship with the Father and the Son and in all our Trials and Afflictions are afflicted with us although you have had Exercises above many and have walked through the Region and Shadow of Death inward and outward yet the Lord hath upholden you unto this Day that you may bear in Mind his great and dreadful and wonderful Works and fear before him land honour him and speak Good of his Name and worship him in the Beauty of Holiness which he hath led you into and glorifie him in his Temple comfort and strengthen one another in the Truth and let not the World neither the fading Glory of it overcome your Hearts but in the Dominion of God stand over the World and its Temptations lest you be entangled that you cannot run with Patience and follow the Lord in the Cross the Dayes of our Pilgrimage go on apace the time is short all outward Suffering will have an End and Wrath shall cease to be any more happy are they that continue in the Patience for this Moment of time we have to follow the Lamb here through the War and Tribulation Victory is at the End thereof in the mean time God by his holy Spirit gives daily Hints of his Love in the inward Man unto all stay'd Minds and Assurance of the Victory which makes me often overlook present Suffering and forget the Afflictions that are past and little to heed present things though they seem to frown because the Light of God's Countenance is lifted up and his Favour and Love and strengthning Power felt in the inward Man which ballances all and weighs down the Scale of present Trouble and Affliction so that hard things are become easie and ponderous things light look not out at Trouble and Hardship but rather admire the great Goodness of God that hath so much restrained the Wrath of Men which was great and hath made some of it to turn to his Glory he hath made void the Intention of the prudent and hath turned Counsel backward and hath frustrated the Expectation of the proud and lofty who took Counsel together even as of old against the Lord and his anointed yet for all this God hath established his Son on the holy Hill of Sion and his Saints reign with him sure you cannot but have taken notice of these things and of the Out-goings of the Lord and have considered his handy-Works and say with me the Lord hath created Deliverance upon Mount Sion and hath appeared to the Joy of the Righteous and his Enemies he is making as the Dust under his Feet and is scattering the Devices of the Sons of fallen Adam and making them as the Chaff of the Summer Floor which the Wind scattereth Friends what shall I'say unto you that I love you ye know that it 's no less neither diminuished to the faithful I now give you to know I often remember you upon my Bed and not only so but before the Lord whom I know hath a Regard unto the Supplications of the upright and their Prayers are as Incense and from whom he smells a sweet Savour and gives them to feel and know it in their Hearts so that they come unto him with Confidence having Access through Jesus our Life and Joy unto whom be Glory and Honour forever and ever Amen Dearly beloved what shall I say to comfort your Hearts and stir up your Minds to the Exercise of his Grace in you but the plenteous Harvest of the Lord is come wherein they that have sown to the Spirit and have walked in Obedience thereunto do reap the plenteous Fruits of Righteousness Peace Joy Assurance and pure and perfect Consolation so that all Cause of Complaint is taken away Glory to the Lord forevermore the Vintage is ripe the Press is full and many Fatts overflow because of Plenty and many are filled with the Fatness of God's House the new Wine is drunk that comes from the pure and living Vine Christ Jesus Clusters of heavenly Grapes are possessed better by far then them the Spies brought from Eshcoll which may animate all your Hearts and encrease your Faith and Hope and further this I say unto you God is ready to give bountifully unto all if you be ready to receive and meet to digest his heavenly Food and I am sure you cannot want any good thing neither will his Consolation be withhâ—lden from you but that which the Prophet Hosea prophesied concerning Israel and the Blessings that should come upon them The Lord shall hear the Heavens and they shall hear the Earth and the Earth shall hear the Corn and Wine and Oyl and they shall hear Israel the same you shall feel inwardly to the Satisfaction of all your Souls the
is only acceptable And reverend Brethren let us all agree not to be idle but diligent read the Scriptures and pack them up together a deal of Exhortations Reprehensions Admonitions and Prophecies and read some old Authors as Ireneâ—s Ambrose Cyprian Jerom Bazal Austin Origen Damizin and it 's not amiss if we take in Luther Calvin Menno and Beza and some other late modern Writers and so by much reading and Meditation our Actions will be whetted up and quickned and those Words which we read often will lodge in our Memory so that we shall be able to pray half an Hour ex tempore or an Hour and an half upon a Fast-Day for that is the best Traffick that goes off such Dayes as those without Tautologies or Reiterations and so though we pray several Times and in several Places as before Kings or Councils or a Synod or Classis Merchants of our own Order yet by this Means we shall be fitted for all Places and Time to sute the Business which we are about and if any question the thing let us say we pray by the Spirit as it gives us Utterance but now this is the last Beast of our merchandize which is as Gold and Silver and precious Stone and Pearl if this will not go off as upon the Account of the Spirit or spiritual Worship or a spiritual Ordinance then there is little Hope of driving any more Trade or getting any more sale with these men then let us cry to the Magistrates they are new fangled and giddy-headed and delight in Novelties and are erroneous Schismaticks and Hereticks and are factious and seditious which if they be let alone and not be timely checked and reproved they will overthrow us Merchants call'd by our selves Ministers and not only us but also both Church and Common-Wealth And furthermore let us agree reverend Brethren in Unity and Peace and strive all with one Consent to be furnished with such Merchandize as will sute with the Countries and Regions where we traffick as Kings Princes Protectors Parliaments and Councils Noble men Gentlemen and also take in the common People if happily we can please them all because that by the last mentioned we receive much of our Subsistance yet if any of them do not like our Merchandize it is the least matter of them for then we have a King a Prince a Protector or a Parliament to appeal to and if we can but satisfie them with Merchandize upon Petition they will make us a Law and set a Compass upon every one of our Ships to ride in at Sea and they will command every Parish to buy our Merchandize and if they will not buy it at the worst compel them to give us our Price whether they receive our Merchandize or Traffick or not but if they will not having a Law to guard us we can take it from them whether they will or no and if at any time any seem obstinate and refuse to pay us Easter-Reckonings and Midsummer Dues which may be come to the Value of 18 d. or 2. s. we can take a Pot worth 7 or 8 s. or a Pan or a Kettle and if they shall neglect to pay us a Mortuary which hath been an Ordinance ordained by our mother Mystery Babylon seven or eight hundred Years ago or upwards if they will seek to disannul such a laudable Custom then we can sue them for it in a County-Court and get 20 or 30 Shillings Dammage and if any of the common People refuse to pay us our Tythes which belong unto us Church-Officers which were given unto us by our Mother who sate upon the scarlet-coloured Beast at the least 13. hundred years ago that if our Tythe come to 40. s or 3. l. we can go to a Chapman or two who resents our Commodities and they will give us a Warrant for treble Dammages and then we shall get some Bailiffs who are our Church-Members and take away a Yoke of Oxen worth 8 or 10 Pounds or a Horse or a Cow worth ten or twelve Pound and if the Tythe come to 5 or 6 Pound then we can take five or six Cows and a score of Sheep and half a score of Swine and thresh the Corn out of his Barn and take it away and take away the Feather-Beds and Curtains Court-cloaths and Blankets Rugs Sheets Kettles Brewing-furnance or the Rayment which the Family wore and if we judge it too little to satisfie our insatiable Desires take Pin-cushions or if it be but half a Cheese as our reverend Brother Alexander Bradly in the Parish of Elmstone in the County of Kent from Robert Minter of the same County and Parish And in thus doing there will be little loss or detriment to us And if any refuse to give us a Tythe-cock of Hay or a Shock of Corn having the Power of the Earth of our Side we can pull down the Hedges and break open the Gates and fetch away a Wain-load or two or as much as we think fit as many of our reverend Brethren of our Order have lately done which are good Precedents to Posterity that may come after us and if any with whom we have traded who are Neighbours do think much at us we can call them Hereticks and say they are Enemies to the Church and Common-wealth therefore why do you pity them But reverend Brethren it is not with us now in the North Regions of the World as it hath been in time past about two or three hundred Years ago neither as it is with the rest of our fellow-Merchants in Italy Rome Jerusalem Arabia Greece Portugal Spain Hungaria France and the rest of the Regions where our Mother sits as a Queen the People being all as asleep at Midnight any old dark rusty cankered Ware will go off there at a good rate and for Ave-maries or Pater-nosters Te Deum or a Magnificat Anima or the like or some other Charm in an unknown Tongue or a Story of St. Damisen or St. Benedict about Images or a story of St. Francis of his converting of Wolves and Bears or speaking an Hour from some old-Fathers and call it the Word of God and meddle not with the Scripture at all for a story of the Lady of Laurette or the image of the Virgin Mary and of what Miracles they have wrought which the Members of the Mother-Church believe for good Doctrine and receive these or the like as Crosses Crucifixes Pictures Beads and Images and such other like Merchandizes of the baser Sort are all brought and received without Question as Merchandizes of great worth and things belonging to Happiness and Felicity but alas it is almost Day and the Night is far spent and the People in these Northern Regions are come past Mid-night some towards the dawning of the Day and they question our Merchandize and with some the Night is quite over and they are come to the Day-break and to the rising of the Sun and with those there is no hope of trading
Judaism among the Christians brought in by their Leaders and from the Opinions of these and other Ancient Fathers Tythes Easter and Pentecost came to be introduced and brought into the Church among the Christians Also Jerome in these Words I do not take a Part as the rest of the Tribes of Possessions of Lands but as a Levite I live of the Tenth and as I serve at the Altar I am sustained by the Oblation of the Altar being content with Food and Rayment I follow nakedly the naked Cross But there is no Necessity to understand his Words of Tythes but as the Levites lived of Tythes serving at the Altar even so am I maintained by the free Offering of them that do believe But it is to be observed that there were divers Councils in and about the 600 Year only provincial as Mascon and Arles and some others do take it for granted that a Tenth was due by Way of Offering and put into the Hands of them that ministred to the Church is spoken of as good Antiquity grounded upon the Mosaical Laws which they call their Divinas all which did spring from the Doctrine of the four Fathers before mentioned but especially Ambrose and Austin about the Year 400. but take his own Words It is not fit for us saith he to prefer our selves as Christians unless we do the Work of Christians viz. to offer the tenth Part of Corn and of Cattel and all the first Fruits of the Earth and took it for granted as due only his Ground from Moses's Law and if they should offer less then a Tenth their Offering was not accepted Also agreeing with him is Augustine in a Sermon after this Manner viz. Dear Brethren forasmuch as the Day of Christ draws near we ought to assemble our selves together and to give Thanks to God who hath given unto us by our offering unto God our Tenths for God is worthy to have the whole and this he grounds from that of Malachi Honour the Lord with thy Substance c. Farther exhorting them to pay their Tribute to the poor and their Sacrifice to the Priests then urging more Texts out of the old Testament he tells them That the Neglect of Payment of Tythes was the Cause of Sterility and Blasting of their Corn and the like These two great Bishops agree and as was said before from the Law of Moses infer their whole Doctrine yet notwithstanding the great Pressures and hard Threats of some of the Bishops at that Time it was not a general received Doctrine that Tythes ought to be payed until about the Year 800. neither was any Thing by the Church then determined or ordained touching the Quantity that should be given though no Doubt in many Places the Offerings of the more devout Sort Tenâ—hs or a greater Part of their Encrease were given according to the Doctrine then in Use And then about this Time the Offerings and Gifts to the Church were disposed of on this wise being received into a common Treasury one fourth Part to the Priests out of which every one that laboured had his Portion another Part for the Relief of the Poor sick and Strangers and a third for the repairing Places of publick Worship and the fourth to the Bishop and generally then the Bishop lived in some Monastery and his Clergy with him from whence he sent them to preach in the Diocesses and Countries and there they received such Offerings as were made and brought them to the Treasury so that hereby the Reader may take Notice that the Priests had not such a peculiar Interest in that which was given but others had a Share with them but now they claim all their Churches were builded out of the Gifts of the People the Poor Fatherless and Widdow were relieved out of them and the Prisoners who suffered for the Faith they held were relieved also the Bishop and his whole Clergy were sustained but now they claim it as due and take Tythes by Force and Violence three or four fold and sometimes ten fold and People thrown into Prison and Widdows Goods spoiled how unsuitable these Practices are from what they were in the Apostles time and the ancient Fathers for 500 Years though they are very proud and boast much of their ancient Fathers yet they will not so much as come near them in Example yet they cry up the Church the Church and Antiquity when they are far enough off from their Practice though they were in a declining Condition in this Age I have been speaking of before Also Jerome upon the third of Malachy in his Commentary doth admonish Christians to give their Alms to the poor and double Honour to him that labours in the Lord's Service not binding at all to offer this oâ— that Part yet exhorts them not to be more backward then the Jews wherein they payed their Tenths Neither is Chrysostome at all different from him in his Doctrine in perswading even Labourers and Artificers to give bountifully their Alms to the Church for Holy Uses according to the Apostolical Ordinances relating to the weekly Offerings in the Churches of Corinth Galatia Antioch and the Jews Liberality was brought as a President below which he would not have Christians determine their Charity and sayes withal that he speaks these Things not as commanding or forbidding that they should give more yet as thinking it fit they should not give less then a tenth Part for holy Uses as the Phrase was Cyril Bishop of Alexandria speaking upon that Passage of Abraham Gen. 14.23 who after he had gained the Victory over the King of Sodom's Enemies and rescued Lot when the King of Sodom offered him Part of the Spoils he would receive nothing but a few Victuals Though saith he the holy Teachers do war in the Behalf of perishing Mankind yet do they not take any thing from the Men of the World nor do they heap up unto themselves Riches lest the World should say We have made you rich they only ought to receive the Sustenance from the Hands of those whom they have converted to the Faith for it 's Christ's Command saith he that those who preach the Gospel should live thereby So that it 's evident that very many of the ancient Fathers whom this Generation have talked so much of did deny Tythes and a forced Maintenance from the World but in this Point it 's like they will be judged but weak-sighted or erroneous in their Judgment by this Generation as they do the Quakers or Men of mean Understanding but I see many will traduce them in Words but few in Practice It was the Judgment also not of private Persons but of the most learned and sound Teachers of that Age in five or six hundred Years after Christ. Prosper saith They that live of the Gospel who will be Propriators of nothing who neither have nor desire to have any thing not possessing their own but the common Goods and what