of the Tithes of some Thousands of our best Benefices unto Abbies and Monasteries and robbing the Ministers of them to whom only they were given by God himself and the first Donors for their Maintenance to the great prejudice both of the Ministers and People was one principal cause that by a Divine Judgement and Providence beyond all mens expectation the Pope and they were both suppressed together on a suddain even by him who not long before had justified his usurped Supremacy against Luther and for which he had received this ominous Title from the Pope DEFENDER OF THE FAITH God grant our New Defenders of the Faith do not as ill â—â— quite those Persons Powers who first commissioned them with their Arms to defend our Faith Church Religion against Iesuites Papists and their Confederates in the Field as King Henry did the Pope after this new Moâ—â—o 7ly That ouâ— God blessed honoured us with the first incomparable Protestant King in the world no Papist but a REAL SAINT beyond any of his years in this or former Ages even young KING EDWARD THE SIXT the first King I read of who by publick Laws and Statutes suppressed banished all Popish Pictures Ceremonies Superstitious Monuments Practices Abuses throughout his Dominions and established the true worship Service Sacraments Ministers and Ministry and Gospel of Christ throughout his Dominions for which all Ages shall call him blessed no waies embesselling or diminishing the Churches Glebes Tithes or Revenues and enacting a New excellent Law for Tithes recovery when detained But God taking him suddenly from hence to a better Kingdom and his Successor Queen Mary defacing deforming his blessed Reformation and restoring both the Pope and Popery again almost to its former height except in point of Monkery which the defacing of the Monasteries prevented 8ly God then blessed our Church and Kingdom with an unparallel'd Protestant Princesse Queen Elizabeth a Nursing Mother to the Church who demolished the whole Body of Popery with the Popes revived usurpations again by publick Acts established the reformed Religion again in greater beauty and purity than at first banishing all Jesuites and Seminary Priests as Traytors restored the exiled Ministers of the Gospel suffering for Religion rewarding them with the rechest Bishopricks and Church-Preferments and planting a faithfull painfull preaching Ministry by degrees in most dark corners of her Dominions endowed them with a setled competent maintenance which our subsequent Protestant Kings continued to them and their Successors without diminution All which considered we of this Isle may with much thankfulnesse to God and honour to our Princes without flattery averr before all the world That the forecited Prophecies of Kings being Nursing Fathers and Queens Nursing-Mothers to the Church and specially Kings and Queens of this Isle have been more really accomplished in the Kings and Queens of this our Island than in the Kings and Queens of any other Isle Kingdom or Nation whatsoever throughout the world and God grant that those who shall succeed them in any other New modelled-form of Government may not prove such Step-Fathers and Step-Mothers to our Churches and Ministers as to demolish the one and strip the other quite naked of all that former Livelihood and remaining small Revenues which they yet enjoy by our Princes Grants Gists Charters Laws and Favours only and thereby give all Godly Ministers and people too in our Nation just cause to cry out with wringed hands weeping eyes and bleeding hearts in the Prophets words Hosea 10. 3 4. For now they shall say We have no King because we feared not the Lord What then should a King do to us or amongst us They have spoken words Swearing falsely in making a Covenant Thus Iudgement springeth up as Hemlock one of the deadliest Poysons to destroy men in the fields Or else to speak in Solomons language to the same effect Prov. 28. 2. For the transgression of a Land many are the Princes thereof as our Land had never so many Transgressions and Princes too as now But by a Man of Vnderstanding and Knowledge and where is such a one to be found to stand up in a Gap the state thereof shall be prolonged Now the Lord raise up such a Man or Men lest God say to our Nation and all Grandees in Power as he did once to the prophane wicked Prince of Israel whose day was come Ezech. 21. 25 26 27. Remove the Diadem and take off the Crown this shall not be the same Exalt him that is Low and abase him that is High I will overturn overturn overturn Church State Laws and it shall be no more untill he come whose Right it is and I will give it him To prevent these treble fatal over-turnings with the wiping and turning of our Jerusalem UPSIDE DOWN like a Dish a certain Fore-runner of a Churches Nations ruine 2 Kings 21. 13. Psal 146. 9. I shall now in the last place present the whole Nation with a brief Catalogue of those manifold Laws Statutes which our Kings have successively made in their Great Councils and Parliaments almost from the very first establishment of Religion in our Island for the due payment of Ministers Tithes by coercive Means Forfeitures Penalties in case of willfull detaining or neglect in paying all or any part of them at the times appointed which those who please may peruse in Câ—ronicon Johannis Brompton Mr. Lambards Archaiâ—n Sir Henry Spelmans Councils Mr. Fox his Acts and Monuments John Bridges his Defence of the Government of the Church of England Book 16. p. 1350. Our Statutes at large and Mr. Rastals Abridgement of Statutes Title Tithes which Laws being well known to most learned men are therefore needlesse fully to transcribe The first of them is the forecited Law Decree of the Council of Calcuth under King Oswald and Oâ—â—a An. 787. of famous King Alfred Anno 787. of King Alfred and Gutburn the Dane cap. 9. De Decimis Deo Debiâ—u about the year 890. of King Edward the elder and Gutburn Anno 905. or 906. as some Cap. 6. in some c. 9. DE DECIMIS ET CENSU ECCLISLE RETENTIS of King Aethelstan made in the famous Council of Gratelean An 928. cap. 1. DE DECIMIS REDDENDIS tam ex Animalibus quam de fructibus terrae which this King himself duly paid and then enjoyned all his great Officers and People duly to render of King Edmond An. 944. c. 2. concluding Qui non solverit ANATHEMA ESTO Of famous King Edgar Anno 967. c. 3. DE DECIMIS Canon 54. of the Kings and Presbyters of Northumberlana made a little after that time Lex 51. of King Aetâ—elred An. 1012. c. 1 4. of King Knute the Dane An. 1032. c. 8. but 15. in some Copies De Decimis reddendis c. 11 17. and a Statute law against obstinate Detainers of Tithes there stiled JURA ET DEBITIONES DIVINAE of King Edward the Confessor about the year 1060. confirmed verbatim by William the
Conquerour in the fourth year of his Reign c. 8 9. forecited To which may be added the Great Charters of King Henry the first and King John recorded in Matthew Paris ratified by King Henry the 3d. in his Magna Charta c. 11. made in the 9th year of his Reign confirmed by above 37 Acts of Parliament since in many successive Parliaments That the Church of England shall be free now in greater Bondage than ever and shall have all her whole Rights and Liberties inviolable never so much violated diminished as now notwithstanding all Oaths Laws Covenants Declarations Protestations lately and all antient Solemn Curses and Excommunications annually made against the Infringers thereof 13 E. 1. 17 E. 3. 14. 2 H. 4. c. 4. Enacting the Cistertian Monks to pay Tithes to Ministers and Evangelists notwithstanding any Buls of Exemption from the Pope which the King and Parliament declared to be void and that the Promâ—vers or Executors of any such Buls shall be attainted in a Praemunire It appears by the Parliament Roll of 2 H. 4. nu 40. This Act was made upon the Petition of all the Commons which because not extant in print pertinent to the present business of Tithes and unknown to most I shall here transcribe at large May it please our most gracious Lord the King to consider That whereas time out of mind the Religions men of the Order of the Cistercians of your Realm of England have paid all manner of Tithes of their lands tenements possessions let to farm or manured and occupied by other persons besides themselves and of manner of things tithable being and growing upon the same lands tenements and possessions in the same manner as your other Lieges of the said Realm Yet so it is that of late the said Religious have purchased a Bull from our Holy Father the Pope by the which our said Holy Father hath granted to the said Religious That they shall pay no Tithes of their Lands Tenements Possessions Woods Eattel or any thing whatsoever although they are or shall be leased or farmed notwithstanding any Title of Prescription or Right acquired or which hereafter may be had or acquired to the contrary The which Pursute and Grant is apparently against the Laws and Customs of your Realm by reason that divers Compositions real and Indentures are made between many of the said Religioius and others your Lieges of the prise of such Tithes and also by reason that in divers Parishes the Tithes demanded by the said Religious by colour of the said Bull exceed the fourth part of the value of the Benefices within whose limits and bounds they are and so if the said Bull should be executed much more the late Petions against all Tithes and coercive Maintenance for Ministers câ—ndescended to as well your dreadfull Majesty â—s your Lieges Patrons of the said Benefices shall receive great losses in their Advowsons of the said Benefices and the Conusance which in this behalf appertains and in all times hath belonged to your Regality shall be discussed in Court Christian against the said Laws and Customes besides pray mark the prevailing reason the Troubles and Commotions which may arise among your people by the motion and execution of such Novelties within your Realm That hereupon by assent of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament you would be pleased to ordain that if the said religious or any other put or shall put the said Bull in execution shall be put out of your Protection by due Process made in this behalf and their goods forfeited to You lost and that as a work of Charity Which Petition being read and considered was answered in the words following It is accorded by the King and Lords in Parliament That the Order of the Cistertians shall be in the state they were before the time of the Bull purchased comprised in this Petition and that as well those of the said Order as all others Religious and Secular of what estate or condition soever they be who shall put the said Bull in execution or shall hereafter take advantage in any manner of any such Bulls already purchased or to be purchased shall have Process made against them and either of them by sommoning them within a moneth by a Writ of Premunire Facias And if they make default or shall be attainted that they shall be put out of the Kings Protection and incur the peines and forfeitures comprised in the Statute of Provisors made in the 13. year of King Richard And moreover for to eschue many probable mischiefs likely to arise in time to come that our said Lord the King shall send to our Holy Father the Pope for to repeal and annal the said Bulls purchased and to abstain to make any such Grant hereafter To which Answer the Commons well agreed and that it should be made into a Statute From which memorable Record I shall desire Iohn Canne and all his ignorant deluded Disciples who cry out against Tithes and the payment of them as Popish to observe 1. That all the Commons of England in this Parliament even in times of Popery together with the King and Lords resolve the quite contrary That the exemption of any order of men from payment of their due and accustomed Tithes is Popish and that the Pope was the first and only man who presumed by his Bulls to exempt men from payment of due and accustomed Tithes to their Ministers 2ly That Popish Friers of the Cistercian Order not Godly Saints abhorring Monkerie and Poperie were the first men who sued for procured and executed such Exemptions from the Pope and that merely out of Covetousness against the express word and Law of God as our John Salisbury de Nugis Curialium l. 7. c. 21. and our Arch-deacon of Bathe Petrus Blesensis observe who tax them for it And therefore the petitioning writing endeavouring to procure a like exemption from the payment of antient and accustomed Tithes to our Ministers must be Popish and Monkish likewise infused into our New lighted Saints by some Popish Monks and Jesuits disguised under the notion of New-lights Seekers Anabaptists c. 3ly That they declare this Bull though granted by their Holy-Father the Pope whose Authority and esteem was then very great to be against the Laws and Customs of the Realm and thereupon repeal null it for the present and provide against the grant of any such Bulls for Non-payment of Tithes for the future and make the Procurers and Executioners of them subject to a Praemunire Such a transcendent Crime and Grievance did they then adjudge it to seek or procure the least exemption from payment of Tithes from any earthly Powers yea from their very Holy Father the Pope himself then in his highest Power 4ly That they resolve the exemption from Tithes though amounting but to a fourth part in every Parish would prove a great prejudice to the King and all other Patrons in their Advowsons
without due reverence and finally Christians without Christ as Bernard writes they then had by this Monkish Sacrilegious Doctrine and practice The fourth Objection much insisted on as I hear against our coercive Laws and Ordinances for Ministers Tithes is this common Mistake That the payment of Tithes to Ministers as a Parochial Right and Due was first setled by the Popish Council of Lateran under Pope Innocent the 3d. An. 1215. before which every man might freely give his Tithes to what Persons or Churches he pleased Therefore it is most unjust unreasonable to deprive men of this liberty and enforce them to pay Tithes to their Ministers now by such Laws and Ordinances I answer That this is a most gross Mistake of some ignorant Lawyers and John c Canne For in the Canons of this Council there is not one syllable tending to this purpose as I noted above 20. years since out of Binius and Surius in the Margin of Sir Edward Cooks 2. Reports fol. 446. where it is asserted which error he expresly retracts in his 2d Institutes on Magna Charta f. 641. The words of the Council Can. 56. Plerique sicut excipimus Regulares Clerici Seculares interdum dum Domos locant vel Feuda concedunt in Presudicium Parochialium Ecclestarum pactum adjiciunt ut Conductores Feudatorii Decimas eis solvant apud eosdem elegant Supremam Cum autem id ex avaritiâ— radice procedat pactum hujusmodi penitus reprobamus Statuentes ut quicquid fuerit ratione hujusmodi pacti praeceptum Ecclestae Parochiali reddatur By which Constitution it is apparent First that Parish Priests and Churches had a just Parochial Right to the Parishioners Tithes within their Precincts before this Council else they would not have awarded restitution to them of the Tithes received and that they had so ordered and decreed it by sundry Councils and Civil laws some hundreds of years before is apparent by the 2. Council of Cavailon under Charles the Great An. 813. Can. 19. Synodus Ticimensis under Lewis the 2d An. 855. The Council of Mentz under the Emperour Arnulph An. 894. Can. 3. The Council of Fliburg An. 895. Can. 14. The Decree of Pope Leo the 4th attributed to Gelasius by some about the year 850. The Council of Wormes and Mentz about that time or before cited by Gratian Caus 16. qu. 1. The Council of Claremont under Pope Vrban An. 1095. these abroad and at home in England The Ecclesiastical Laws of King Edgar An. 967. c. 1 2. The Council of Eauham under King Edgar An. 1010. and his Laws near that time c. 14. and the Council of London under Archbishop Hubert An. 1200. 15 years before this of Lateran All which enjoyn the people to pay their Tithes to their own Mother-Churches where they heard divine Service and received the Sacraments and not to other Churches or Chapels at their pleasures unless by consent of the Mother-Churches Hence Peirus Blesensis Archdeacon of Bath about the year 1170. 45. years before the Council of Lateran in his 62. Epistle writes thus to the Praemonstraticatian Monks who procured an Exemption from paying Tithes out of their Lands That their Lands were obnoxious to Tithes before they became theirs and were paid hitherto not with respect of Persons sed ratione Territorii but by reason of the Territory and Parish Precincts And Pope Innocent the 3d. his Decree dated from Lateran An. 1200. mistaken for the Council of Lateran cited in Cooks 2 Instit p. 641. was but in confirmation of these precedent Authorities 2ly The abuses complained against and reformed by this Council was not the lay Parishioners giving away of their Tithes from their own Ministers and Parish-Churches at their pleasures not a word of this but a New minted practice of most covetous Monks Religious Houses and some secular Clerks to rob the Parish-Churches and Ministers of all the Tithes of the lands held of them by compelling their Tenants and Lessees by special covenants in their Leases and Bonds to pay their Tithes arising out of their Lands only to themselves and their Monasteries not to their Parish Churches as formerly which the Pope and this great General Council resolve to proceed merely from the root of Covetousness let Canne and his Comrades observe it who pretend Conscience to be the ground whereupon they condemn reform this practice null the Covenants Bonds Deformations and decreed Restitution of all profits by these Frauds to the Parish-Churches And was not this a just righteous and conscionable Decree rather than an Antichristian and Papal as Canne Magisterially censures it 3ly Admit the Parochial Right of Tithes first setled in and by this Council which is false yet being a right established at 438. years since confirmed by constant use Custom Practice even since allowed by the Common law of England ratified by the Great Charter of England ch 1. with sundry other Sâ—atutes Acts of Parliament Canons of our Councils and Convocations and approved by all our Parliaments ever since as most just expedient necessary Yea setled on our Parish Churches by original Grants of our Ancestors for them their Heirs and Assigns for ever with general warranties against all men with special Execrations and Anathemaes denounced against all such who should detain or substract them from God and the Church to whom they consecrated them for every and that as sacred Tribute reserved commanded by God himself in the Old and New Testament as a badge of his Vniserval Dominion over them and their Possessions held of him as Supream Landlord as the Council of London under Archbishop Hubert in the 2d year of King John with another Council under Archbishop Replain 3 E. 3. The Council under Archbishop Stratford with others resolve There neither is nor can be the least pretext of Iustice Reason Prudence Law or Conscience for any Grandees in present Power by force or fraud to Null Repeal Alâ—er this Ancient Right and unquestionable Title of our Ministers to them now and set every man loose to pay no Tithes at all or to dispose of them how and to whom they will at their pleasure to destroy our Churches Ministers Parishes and breed nothing but Quarrels and Confusions in every place and Parish at this present when all had now need to study to be quiet and to do their own Business and not to disturb all our Ministers and others Rights without any lawfull call from God or the Nation Which unparalleld incroachment on our Ministers and Parish-Churches Rights if once admitted countenanced all the people in the Nation by better right and reason may pull down all the Fences and Inclosures of Fields Forests or Commons made since this Council deny substract all Customs Impositions Duties Rents Payments publick or private imposed on or reserved from them since that time by publick Laws or special Contracts and pay all their Rents Customs and Tenure-Serviceâ— to whom and when they please which our
effect ensued Then brought all Iudah the Tithes of the Corn and the new Wine and the Oyle unto the Treasurers c. And Nehemiah was so far from deeming this Injustice or Oppression as some now malitiously term it that he prayes Remember me O my God concerning this and wipe not out my good Deeds that I have done for the House of my God and for the offices thereof Neh. 13. 10 to 15. From which President Nicholas Hemingius a far better Divine and Scholar than John Canne and all his Associates against Tithes thus resolves in his Commentary on 1 Thess 5. 1â— 1â— Therefore the Godly are to be admonished That by Divine Right they owe Stipends unto the Ministers of the Church But that nothing may be here neglected to the dammage of the Ministry This care belongs to the Superious For if Kings be nursing Fathers to the Church as Isaiah admonisheâ—b Possunt et debent jure divino ministris Ecclesiae stipendia ordinare they may and ought by Divine Right or Gods Law to ordain Stipends to the Ministers of the Church by the example of the most godly King Hezâ—chiah 2 Chron. 31. That they may wholly addict themselves to the Law of God And if the people detain these Salaries and setled Dues from them they may enforce them by Fines penalties and Actions to pay them 3ly If these Examples prevail not we have the President of a zealous Heathen Prince who shall rise up in judgement against many pretended Magistrates resusing to assist complaining Ministers to recover their just Tithâ—s and Dues from their refractory ingrate people to wit King â—â—taxerxes who making a Decree for furnishing Ezra the Priest with whatsoever he should require for the maintenance of Gods worship and House Ezra 7. â—1 c. concludes it thus v. 26. And whosoever will not do the Law of thy God and the Law of the King which confirm our Ministers Tithes and Dues Let Iudgement be executed speedily upon him whether it be unto Death or unto Banishment or to Confiscation of Goods or to Imprisonment And lest any should deem this a Tyrannical Oppressing Edict Ezra himself subjoyns in the very next words v. 27. Blessed be the Lord of our Fathers who hath put such a thing as this is in the Kings heart Which Law if now put into due execution would send Canne and most of his Confederates here packing back again to Amsterdam or some Gibbet or Prison and strip them of the Goods they have got by the warres and troubles of the time 4ly We have King Darius his Decree for repairing Gods House and furnishing the Priests there with all necessaries they required which thus concluces with a most severe penaltie against the wilfull Disobeyers of it Ezra 6. 11. Also I have made a Decree That whosoever shall alter this word Let Timber be pulled down from his House and being set up Let him be hanged thereon and his House be made a Dunghill for this How many nâ—w 〈◊〉 should we now have throughout England and how many new purchased Houses by those who had noâ—e of late would be made Dungheaps if this rigid Law were now put in â—â—e Which may stop the clamorous months of such who cry out against Laws and Ordinances for Tithes prescribing more moderate penalties Object But all this is but Old Testament will many now object what can you allege for your Propositions â—â—â—â—f out of the Gospel Answ To stop their mouths I answer 1. That the Gospel expresly commands all living under it To render to all their Dues Therefore to Ministers to whom I have proved Tithes and other setled maintenance to be a just Due and Debt to owe nothing to any Man Rom. 13. 7 8. Therefore not to Ministers But what if bold atheistical obstinate or covetous Wretches will not pay these Dues to their Ministers doth the Gospel allow Magistrates and higher Powers to compel them to it Yes in the very antecedent words v. 4 5. If tâ—ou do that which is evil as the defrauding denying detaining of the Ministers as well as the Magistrates or any others Due Debts and Salaries is a doing of evil prohibited by the forecited words and many other Texts elsewhere insisted on be afraid for â—e beareth not the Sword in vain as he should do might he compell none by it to their duties For he is the Minister of God even a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doth evil Wherefore ye must needs be subject in yielding to their commanding Laws and Ordinances for Tithes and Ministers Dues as well as others edged with coercive Penalties not only for wrath that is for fear of the Penalties which else fall upon you for your disobedience exasperate the Higher Powers and Civil Magistrate to execute wrath upon you but even for conscience sake which should more prevail with men than wrath and Penalties though our Tithe-detainers now are grown so atheistically impudent as to alledge conscience for not rendring them and robbing God himself of them Mal. 3. â—â— as well as his Ministers 2ly The Holy Ghost by the Apostle Peter thus seconds his former precept by Paul 1 Pet. 2. 13 14. Submit your selves to every Ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether to the King as Supream or unto Governours who have made many Lawes and Ordinances for payment of our Ministers Tithes and Duties Yea but say our sturdy armed and unarmed Tithe-detainers now What if we will not do it as we are resolved notwithstanding all such Laws and Ordinances What Are you resolved to disobey and contemn Gods Gospel Laws and Ordinances as well as Mans Where is your Religion your Saintship you so much boast of Will you provoke the Lord himself to wrath are you stronger than he I presume not Therefore the Apostle subjoins That these Kings and Governours are sent by him for the Punishment of Evil doers And such are all those who detain the Ministers established Dues who are not only Theeves and Robbers of God in the Old Testaments language Mal. 3 8. but committers of Sacrilege Rom. 2. 20. Thou that abbâ—rrest Idols as many Tithe-oppugners pretend they do Dost thou commit Sacrilege and Church Robberie Acts 19. 37. in the New Testaments and meer Heathens Dialect who fall under the just punishment of Kings and Governours whom God will bear out in the just punishment of such evil doers or elle punish them himself in a more severe manner if the Armed sonnes of Zerviah be too hard for David and It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God who even under the Gospel is a consuming fire Heb. 12. 29. and hath proved so to many Tithe-oppugners very lately both in consuming their Houses and personal Estate as well by real fire as by inflicting Spiritual judgements on their souls 3ly Our Saviours own words recorded in the Gospel are direct in point Luke 12. 57 58 59. Mat. 5. 25. And why even of your selves judge
who flourished but 200. years after Christ Modicum uâ—â—squisque stipem Menstrua die vel cum velit et si modo volit si modo possit apponit nam nemo compellitur there was no need when they were so free of their own accord sed sponte conâ—ert Haec quasi deposita pietatis sunt And though their Monthly stipends in regard of their great Poverty were thus termed small comparatively to what they were before the Persecution yet indeed they were very large considered in themselves as by the same Authors following words in this Apology c. 42. appears Plus nostra misericordia insumit vicatim quam vestra Religio templatim they bestowing more in a Liberal free way of Christian Charity in every Village towards their Ministers and Poor than the wealthy Pagan Romans did in their Temples and Sacrifices for the Maintenance of their Paganism In the 9th general Persecution of the Christians about 273 years after Christ or before The Governour of Rome told Saint Lawrence the Martyr Arch-Deacon to Pope Xistus the 2d and Treasurer of the Christians Oblations for the Ministers Maintenance and Poors relief that the common Report then was how the Christians did frequently cell their Lands and disâ—nherit their Children like those in the Acts to enrich the Ministers and relieve the Poor bringing thousands of Sestertii at a time to St. Lawrence out of the sale of their Lands so as their Treasury was so great that he thought to seise on it for a prey Which their bountiful Liberality Prudentius thus poetically expresseth Offerre fundis venditis Sistertiorum Millia Addicta Avorum praedia Faedis sub auctionibus Successor exhaeres gemit Sanctis egens Parentibus Et summa pietasli creditur Nudare dulces beros What need then any Law to compel the Christians to pay Tithes or Ministers dues when in the heat of Persecution they were so bountifull to them and the Poor as thus voluntarily to contribute their whole Estates for their support Whose President if the Cavillers against our present penal Laws Ordinances for Tithes would imitate no Minister nor other voluntary Tith-payers would oppose their repeal And though in these Primitive times of Persecution the Christians being spoyled of their Lands and Possessions could not pay Tithes in kind in most places but were necessitated to such voluntary Contributions as these yet without all peradventure they held the payment of Tithes to Ministers in kind a Divine Moral Duty and in some places and at some times when and where they could did voluntarily pay Tithes as a Duty for their Maintenance without any coercive Laws or Canons upon the bare demand or exhortation of their Ministers by vertue of Gods own Divine Laws as is undeniable by Irenaeus l. 4. c. 34. who records That the Christians in his time being but 180. years after Christ did not give lesse to their Ministers than the Jews did to their Priests by the Law of Moses who received the consecrated TITHES of their people but more Designing omnia quae sunt ipsorum all they had to the Lords use Hilariter ac liberaliter ea quae non sunt minâ—ra Giving chearfully and freely those things which were not lesse than Tithes as having greater hope than they And further confirmed by Origen Homil. 11 in Numeros Saint Cyprian lib. 1. Epist 9. De unitate Ecclesiae the words of Saint Augustine Hom. 48. Majores nostri ideo copiis abundabant quia Deo Decimas dabant And the second Council of Mascin An. 586. Can. 5. Leges Divinae Consulentes Sacerdotibus ac Ministris Ecclesiarum pro Haereditaria portione omni populo praeâ—eperunt Decimas fructuum suorum locis sacris praestare ut nullo labore impediti per res illegitimas possint vacare Ministeriis Quas leges Christianorum Congeries legis temporibus custodivit iutemerata Which prove a long continued Custom and Practice of paying Tithes to Ministers as a Divine Right and Duty used amongst Christians long before St. Augustins dayes and this antient Council And no sooner were the times of Persecution paâ—t but the Divine Right of Tithes was asserted pressed and the due payment of them inculcated by St. Hilary Nazianzen Ambrose Hierom Chrysostom Augustine Eusebius Cassian Cyril of Jerusalem Isiodore Pelusiota and Caesarius Arelatensis all flourishing within 500. years after Christ as Dr. Tillesly proves at large And the people during that space paying their Tithes freely without any compulsion in all places there needed neither Laws nor Canons to enforce their payment whence Agobardus writes thus about the year of our Lord 820. when Laws and Canons began to be made for their payment of the precedent times Nulla compulit necessitas fervente ubique religiosadevotione amore illustrandi Ecclesiae ultro aestuante That there was no need of Canons or Laws to compel the payment of Tithes whiles servent religious Devotion and love of illustrating Churches every where abounded But in succeeding degenerating times when according to Christs prediction the love and zeal of many Christians to God Religion and Ministers began to grow lukewarm and colder than before so as they began to detain their Tithes and Ministers dues then presently Christian Kings and Bishops in Ecclesiastical and Temporal Synods and Councils began generally in all places to make Laws and Canons for the due payment of them declaring in them only the Divine Right Laws and Precepts of God to the People both in the Old and New Testament as a sufficient obligation seconded by their bare Canons and Edicts without any coercion or penalty to oblige them to their due payment The first unquestionable Canon for the payment of Tithes I find extant is that of the second Council of Mascin forecited An. 586. cap. 5. The first Law extent made by any General Council or Parliament for the payment of Tithes is that of the Council of Calcuth in England under Offa and Alfred An. 786 declaring their Divine Right and enjoyning their payment without any Penalty After which Charles the Emperour about the year of our Lord 813. by Canons made in sundry Councils and in his Capitulars or Laws enjoyned the payment of Tithes under pain of being enforced to render them by distresse upon complaint and some small penalties Since which time many Laws and Canons were made in our own and forein Realms till our present times for the due payment of Tithes under sundry penalties which because collected by Sir Henry Spelman in his Councils Mr. Selden in his History of Tithes Bochellus Decret Eccles Gal. l. 6. Tit. 8. De Decimis Fridericus Lindebrogus Codex Legum Antiquarum Surius Binius Crab Lindwood in their Collections of Councils and sundry others I have therefore only given the Reader a brief Catalogue of the principal Civil laws both at home and abroad for the due payment of them reciting more at large but what others for the most part have omitted and are not vulgarly known giving only
those who sate there before you and why not as well on Faux and the Gunpowder Traytors as those since there seems another Powder-plot in the Vault to blow them up intended by Canne and his Confederates if they fail in accomplishing this their desired work whom the Lord hath lade aside as despised broken Idols and Vessels wherein his Soul had no pleasure And why As they knew not their Generation-work which he excites them to neither were faithfull to the interest of Jesus Christ God is no respecter of Persons as men sow so they shall reap Ex ungue Leonem ex cauda Draconem You may see by these passages and his whole Pamphlet pursuing them what these malicious inhuman barbarous irreligious hypocritical Anabaptists aym at in their present violent prosecutions against Tithes even utterly to starve famish subvert extirpate our Ministers Ministry Church Worship Government and make our Land a mere Spoyl Desolation as their Predecessors did Munster and some parts of Germany whiles in their power But let Canne and his Anabaptistical Confederates remember what tragical ends their New King John with all his Princes Grandees Officers Prophets Followers came to in conclusion in Germany And what fatal ruine befell Jack Cade Iack Straw Wat Tyler Sharp and other levelling Companions who had the self-same Designs against our English Laws Lawyers Clergy Tithes Glebes as He and they have now animated thereto by the new-dipped Iesuites and other Romish Emissaries lately crept into their Anabaptistcal Fraternity to further this their Infernal Gunpowder-plot against our Church Religion Ministers Magistrates Government Laws and let them thereupon repent of desist from abominate this their Diabolical wicked Design lest they incur the self same punishments in conclusion by stirring up God and all the whole Nation against them as most accursed Rebels Traytors Instruments of Satan yea that very Antichrist and Whore of Rome they pretend they are blindly acting against whose designs in truth they are but accomplishing in the highest degree I must here observe and desire all others to take notice of three things First that in Cannes Voyce and in all other late Pamphlets Petitions of the Anabaptists wherein they seem to vent their most passionate zeal against Antichrist Babylon the Whore of Babylon their chief Instruments and Supporters I cannot find so much as one Clause or Syllable against Iesuites Popish Priests Papists Romish Emissaries or exciting the execution of any Laws or Statutes formerly made against them but the whole stream bent of them all is only against the Godly Ministers Ministry worship of the Church of England the Presbyterian Government and our present Church-worship the only Babylon Whore Antichrist they intend and fight against not the Pope and Church of Rome 2ly That they are so far from pleading against the Pope Popish Priests Iesuites and urging the execution of the good Oaths Laws made by late and former Protestant Parliaments gainst them and their Treasonable practices that they have frequently written petitioned for their Repeal Abolition as bloody Tyrannical Laws unlawfull Oaths and procured their Repeal or Suspension at least in their favour from some late and present Powers 3ly That when some consciencious pious Stationers late in their Beacons fired discovered to those then in Power The many sorts multitudes of Jesuites Popish Books printed in England within 3. years last past in defence of the Pope and Church of Rome all Popish Doctrines Ceremonies and reviling our Church Religion as Heretical desiring them to take it into their timely considerations to suppress this growing Mischief Design to corrupt the People and reduce them back to Popery ere they were aware Kiffin with other Anabaptists in the Army headed by Colonel Pride taking an Alarum thereat subscribed and printed a Book intituled The Beacons quenched penned they know best by whom not the Subscribers of it not yet inspired with the gift of all the Tongues therein contained pleading for a free Tolleration of such Popish Books printing dispersing amongst us of publick Disputes by those of that Religion traducing accusing the Presbyterians throughout that Pamphlet and those honest zealous Stationers in particular of no lâ—sse than a New Gunpowder-plot Mine Train then ready to be sprung to blow up those Colonel Pride and his Confederates first made and then stiled The Parliament of the Common-wealth of England and the Army too only for discovering thesâ— Popish Books and Trains to blow up our Religion Which Scandal as the Stationers then fully cleared by their satisfactory Reply to that impertinent Pamphlet so the Subscribers of it their Fellow-Souldiers of the Army better versed by far in Mines and Fireworks to blow up Parliaments and nearer related to old Guy Faux a Low-Country Souldier by reason of their Military profession than these Stationers and Presbyterians they thus falsly slandered have since cleared before all the World to be a malicious Calumny of which themselves only are guilty and given just cause of Jealousie Fear to all Presbyterians old Protestants and Pâ—ritans to apprehend that they now really joyn their Forces and Heads together with those thus pleaded for to ruine our Church Religion Ministry under the Notion and Project of suppressing Tithes and of all future compulsory Maintenance for the Ministers of England whom they intend to starve and famish such is their Charity if they can but vote Tithes down before they provide any other Maintenance which Vote once passed the next will be to vote them both out of their Rectories Glebes Churches Ministry too as Cannes Voice and the Kentish Petition against Tithes root and branch sufficiently discover to all who are not wilfully blind enough to make all men now to look about them That the Dominican Franciscan and other Popish Fryerâ— were the first Broachers of this Opinion That Lâ—ymen were not bound to pay Tithes to their Ministers by any Divine law or right on purpose to draw the Tithes of Ministers and Curates to themselves and exempt whatever Lands or Things were given to them from payment of Tithes I have elsewhere evidenced out of Mr. Selden and others whereupon Johannes Sarisburiensis Bishop of Chartres thus censured them Miror ut fidelium pace loquar quodnam sit ut Decimas jura aliena usurpare non erubesâ—unt Inquient fortè Religiosi sumus Planè Decimas solvere Religionis pars est Adding that their Exemptions from payment of Tithes did derogare constitutioni Divinae derogate from Divine institution And Petrus Blesensis Archdeacon of Bath in his 82. Epistle inveighs very much against the privileges of the Cistercian Monks exemption from payment of Tithes as injuriosa immunitas contra Dei justiciam seeing Justiciae Divinae manifestè resistit qui Ministris Ecclesiae nititur jus Decimationis auferre Which these Friers not only persisted in by substracting their own Tithes from the Ministers by colour of these Exemptions but likewise the Tithes of their other Parishioners especially such who contemning
and Title to it by Conquest and professed they would spend their lives in the quarrel Ipsa enim mors dulcis erit dum enim in vindiâ—â—ndo Patres nostros in tuendo libertatem nostram in exâ—lâ—ando Regem nostrum perpessi fuerimus Wherefore Conquest now can certainly be no Just no Lawfull Plea Title for any of our Officers or Souldiers which this Greatest Conqueror and this Great Councel so long since damned as unjust and Irrational To which I shall annex the Resolution of our Noble King Henry the 2d and of all the Bishops Abbots Peers Earls Barons of England assembled in a Parliamentary General Councel of the Realm at Westminster An. 1126 to determine a Controversie between Alfonso King of Castile and Sancho King of Navarre concerning divers Castles and Territories in Spain won by War and Conquest by Sancho King of Navarre from Alfonso whiles he was a Pupil and Orphan which they both submitted to their final determination who having heard both parties unanimously resolved that these Castles and Lands should be restored to Alfonso by King Sancho with all their bounds and appurtenances quia per Bellum violenter injuste abstulisset because he had violently and unjustly taken them away by War which resolution was confirmed under the Kings Great Seal and sent unto these Kings Therefore Conquest alone can be no just no legal Saintlike Right Title to any Lands Possessions Powers violently unjustly gotten claimed by Wars by our Swordmen now after these two antient famous Parliamentary Resolutions in point even between foreign Conquering Princes much lesse then between those Native Englishmen who raised waged our Army and Officers to defend not conquer them in a meer intestine civil War 5ly William Duke of Normandy Edward the 3d Henry the 4th Edward the 4th and Henry the 7th though they all came to the Crown by the Sword and Conquest of their Competitors yet they never claimed the Crown nor Kingdom by Conquest but Title only nor esteemed the English Irish or Welch a conquered Nation nor altered our antient Government Laws Liberties Parliaments or Ministers Tithes and Maintenance but confirmed them as all our Histories manifest in their Lives and Statutes made by them in the beginning of their respective reigns attest I have formerly proved in the case of William commonly stiled the Conqueror who ratified all our Liberties Laws Customs Franchises presented to him upon Oath without the least alteration diminution or prevarication to the peoples Great content Yea King Henry the 4th as Placita Corone rot Parl. 1 H 4. n. 17. record did in the first Parliament held by him after his Conquest of Richard the 2d make this memorable Declaration to his people entred in that Roll. That he claimed the Realm and Crown of England with all their Members and Appurtenances as right heir thereto by Bloud by Descent and by the right God had given him through the ayd of his Parents and Friends for to recover the said Realm which Realm was upon the point to be undone for want of Government and abrogating of the Laws and Customs of the Realm And that it was not his will that any should think that he would by way of Conquest disinherit any one of his Heritage Franchise or other Right which he ought to have nor to out or deprive any man of that he had or should have by the good Laws or Customes of the Realm all which he confirmed by a special Act before 1 H. 4. c. 1. but only those who were against his good purpose and the common profit of the Realm and were guilty of all the evil come upon the Realm and were adjudged guilty thereof in that Parliament as Sir William Le Scroop Sir Henry Green and Sir John Bassy whose Lands only he would have by Conquest as forfeited by their Treasons Whereupon the Commons thanked the King and praysed God that he had sent them such a King and Governour Upon all which Considerations and the Resolution of learned Grotius with others quoted by him That by the very Laws of War even those who are conquered by foreign Enemies ought to enjoy by permission of the Conquerors their own Laws Liberties Magistrates Religion and a share in their Government much more in such a Civil War as ours where the Souldiers Generals can pretend no Conquest over those who raised waged them for their just defence against Conquest and Invasion of their Laws Liberties Government Magistrates Rights Privileges I hope those vaporing Officers Souldiers who have formerly cried up pleaded practised this pretended Title of Conquest amongst us and used many of their former Masters Raisers and the whole Nation more like to conquered enslaved People than their fellow Christian Brethren and Freeborn Englishmen who have paid them so well for all those Services they imployed them in will henceforth totally renounce this their false usurped Injurious Plea Title and no more persist under pretext thereof to deprive our Ministers Church Peers Parliaments Nation of their very Native Freedomes Liberties Franchises Rights Laws Government Lands Possessions which they were purposely commissioned waged and by all Sacred all Civil Obligations Trusts Oaths Vowes Protestations perpetually engaged to defend against the least violation or Innovation without their free and full consents in a due and lawfull Parliament freely elected by them not forcibly obtruded on them without their choise or privity Yea I trust they will be so just so righteous towards me so great a Sufferer by under them only for discharging my Conscience and bounden duty towards my God our Church and Native Country of England as no waies to be angry with me or Injurious towards me for this my New Gospel Plea interwoven with a Legal and Rational for the Lawfulness and Continuance of the antient setled Maintenance and Tithes of the Ministers of the Gospel and the good old Fundamental Laws and Liberties of the Nation which their present busie Endeavours to abolish alter subvert beyond yea against their Trusts Commissions Callings have necessitated me now to publish to the world to preserve our Church State Ministry from new Combustions and Impendent ruine but rather sound a Retreat from these their Heady Proceedings which I fear the Jesuites with their Confederates the Anabaptists have engaged them so deeply in to work as well their own as the publick speedy ruine both of our Church Religion State Ministry Nation and excite them to use the self-same deportment words to me who have no private design nor interest of my own or other mens in this my voluntary undertaking but only the publique Safety and Weal as enraged David did once to Abigail when she diverted him from his rash bloody resolution to destroy Nabal and his family for a Churlish Answer returned to him for his Kindness 1 Sam. 25. 32 33. Now blessed be the Lord God of Israel which sent thee this day to meet me and blessed be thy advice and blessed be thou which
â— c. 1â— â—ect 5 6 7. â—â— Annotata a Capgrave in Prologo ad vitas Sanctorum Spelmanni Concil in Epist Dâ—d p. â—33 a Antiqu. Eccles Brit. in the life of Câ—aâ—mer Fox Speed Hall Grimston in â— 8. Statut. Rastal Manas seâ—as Rome b Mr. Cambdens Britania Spelman and others a Pilgrimage 〈…〉 133. b Fox Acts Monuments and others in his Life and the Statutes in his Reign c 2 E. 6. c. 13. d Speed How Baker Cambden in her life and the printed Statutes in her reign Antiqu. Eccles Brit. in the life of Mathew Parker Godwins Catalogue of Bishops in her time a Ezech. 22 30. b M. Seldens History of Tithes ch 8. a Hist Anglia Tiguâ—â— 158â— p. 52 53 246 247 c. b See â—ir Edward Cooks Preface to his 2. Instit on Magna Charta c See Matth. 〈◊〉 Hist Angl. p 421 505 506 621 624. 838 839. The Statutes at large An. 25 â— 1. after Confirmatio Chaâ—â—â—um N. B. a Epist 82. â—â— Bochellus Decret Eccles Gal. p. 966. Bibl. Patrum Tom. 12. pars 2. p. 7 667 67. a Cooks a Report The Bishop of Winchesters case b Fredericus Lindebrogus Codex Legum Antiqu p. 703. a Rerum Vngaricatum Scriptores Bonfinius Nicholas Isthuansis in vita sancti Stephani Sancti Stephani Regis Decretum secundum c. 52. Status Regni Hungariae p. 19â— â— Cor. 6. 8. a â—ee page 56 58 59 65 68 75 79 83 84 85 89 90 241 243 268 297 298 584. b Ioan. Leo. Geographical Description of Africa l. 3. c Pilgrimage l. 6. c. 10. p. 614. d Microcosm p. 710. 711. 712. a Ps 105. 14 15. a As appears by their late Petitions and Iohn Cannes Voyce a Exact Collection p. 59. c. â— I say 29. 16. a Matth. 22. 23 24. Luke 11. 42. c. 18. 12. b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mr. Seldens Review p. 453. c Eccles Hist l. 4. c. 26. l. 6. c. 41 42. l. 7. c. 12. Fox Acts and Monuments vol. 1. a Apologet. c. 39. b Ambrose Office l. 1. c. 41. Fox Acts and Monuments vol. 1. p. 92 9â— c Pr. Stepâ— Hym. 2. a Operum p. 278. b Matth. 24. 12. Object 2. Answ a See my Legal Vindication against illegal Taxes and Humble Remonstrance against Ship-mony Object 3. Answ a Hierom. super Ezech. l. 14. ad cap. 44. Josephus Antiqu Jud. l. 4. c. 8. Chrysostom Hom. 4. in Ephes Serm. 103. Sir James Semple Sacriledge Sacredly handled Joseph Scaliger Diatâ— de Decimis Mr. Seldens History of Tithes and Review c. 2. Purchas Pilgrimage l. 2. c. 7. Richard Mountague Diatribae on Mr. Seldens History of Tithes c. a. Dr. Tillesley and Mr. Nettles Ibidem Dr. Sclaters Ministers portion p. 17. a P. 299 304 306 312 314 315 316 317 331 333 336 337 341 345 346 371. and elsewhere Dr. Tillesley his Animadversions on Mr. Selden c. 11 12 13. Littleton chap. 6. Frankalmoign and Cooks Institutes thereon Petrus Damianus l. 2. Epist 14. Vt copiosiora in pauperes alimenta perâ—iciant dantur in Monasteriis Eremitis DECIMAE Quorumcumque proventuum c. a See Mr. Seldens History of Tithes c. 7. sect 4. p. 165 166 c b Innocent 3. Epist Decret l. 1. p. 203. l. 2. p. 410. Extrav Tit. De Decimis c. 3. Ex multis a Ad Extr. Ti de Parach c. ult Mr. Seldens History of Tithes p. 166 168. b Doctrinal Fidei Tom. 1. l. 2. Artic. 3. c. 64 65. a Epist 240. Object 4. b 7 E. 3. f. 5. 44 E. 3. f. 5. 10 H. 7. f. 18. 7. 6 Dyer 84. 8. Cook 2 Report f. 44. b. c Voyce p. 13. d Surius Concil Tom. 3. p. 751. a See Rastals Abridgement Title Tithes and the Ordinances for Tithes Lindwood provinc Constit l. 3. Tit. De Decimis Mr. Seldens History of Tithes ch 8. b See Mr. Seldens History of Tithes p. 320 322 338 346 350. c Hoveden Annal. pars posterior p. 828. Lindwood Provinc Constit l. 3. Tit. De Decimis d 1 Thess 4. 11. a Hist Angl. p. 4. b History of Tithes ch 7. p. 147 148. a Hist l. 16 17. Dr. Usher Annales Eccles Veteris Testam p. 516 525. b Voyce from the Temple Epist Ded. p. 23. If they were razed to the Ground IT WOVLD DO WELL. c Psal 137. 7 8. a As is evident by comparing it with I say 56. 6 7 8. c. 61. 1 to 11. c. 66. 18 to 24. Jer. 33. 15 to the end Proposition 4. a The Kentish Petition against Tithes John Canne Voyce from the Temple and others b Mal. 3. 8 9. a Matthew Westm â—lorentius Wigorniensis An. 983. Sec my Humble Remonstrance against ship-money p. 19 20 21. b Spelman Concil 610. a Cooks ad Report The Bishop of winchesters case Summa Angelica Tit. Decima a For which there is suffient Allowance given in case of mere Heath and Baren grounds by the Stat. or 2 E. 6. c. 13. b See Augustine Serm. 219. Mal. 3. 8 9 10 11. a Cottoni â—osthuma p. 174 179. The Acts of Resumption 6 H. 3. 5 9. 10 E. 2. 1. 2 R 2. 6. 6 H. 4 1. 2 H. 5. 28 29. 33 H. 6. 2. 1 H. 7 4 â— 12 â— 4. a Britan. p. 161 162. Purchas Pilgrimage p. 133. a 1 Tim. 3. 2. b Sermo 219. Tom. 10. c Causa 16. qu. 7. d Decret Eccles Gall. l. 6. Tâ—â— 3. c. 19. â—â—â— a Suidas in Leone b A thing formerly proposed by them in their Agreement of the People presented to the Commons House Jan. 20. â— 649. p. 24. a Deut. 12. 17 18. Neh. 13. 12 19. 2 Chro. 31. 5 6 7 8 9. Purchase Pilgrimage l. 2. c. 7. p. 130 1â—1 a This Objection I finde recited in the Council of Lingon Anno 1404. there Answered Bochellus Decret Eccles Gall. p. 968. Object a See the Levelers New Printed paper intituled Englands Fundamentall Laws and Liberties claimed c. and many Petitions of late b See all Acts for Tonnage Poundage and Impositions Mr. Hackwels argument against Impositions Cooks 2. Instit p. 58 59 to 64. b Mal. 3. 9 10 11 12. See Augustine Sermo 219. a Gul. Malmesbuâ—iensis De Gestis Regum Angl. l. 1. c. 4. â—uocus Chron. in Carolo Simplici Cent. Magd. 8. c. 7. 9. Dr. Til lesly in his Animad versions on Mr. seldens History of Tithes p. 64 to 69. b Tom. 3. p. 648. c Review p. 466. a Extravag De Decimis c. 10. Joannes Sarisbur De Nugis Curialium l. 7. c. 21. Mr. Seldens History of Tithes c. 6. p. 120 121. b Cannes 2d voyce from the Temple p. 24 c. c 1 Pet. 2. 5 9. d Rev. 1. 5. a Gal. 6. 16. 1 Cor. 15. 1 2 3. b Gen. 14. 20. Hebr. 7. 2 4 c. c 1 Chron. 26. 26 27 28. a Herodotus l. 5. c. 25. Valerius Maximus l. 5. c. 3. Diodorus An. 4. Olymp. 98. Dr. Vsher Annales