thereof as well in Matters concerning the Corporation as in electing of Officers and Management of their Revenues and impose Penalties on Offenders against the said Laws and recover the same to the use of the said Corporation And therein it is appointed that the persons thereby Constituted to be the first President Vice-President Treasurers and first Assistants should continue in their respective places until the second Thursday in November 1679. And from thenceforth until there should be a new Choice made of persons to succeed them And that on every second Thursday in November for ever or oftner if there be occasion there should be a General Assembly of the said Governors and the Major part of the Members then present might chuse a President Vice-President three Treasurers and Forty two Assistants who should continue for the Year following And that in case of the death of any of the said Officers within the Year others might be chosen at a General Assembly into their places And that such General Assembly might Elect such other person or persons to be Members and Governors of the said Corporation as they or the greater part of them shall think fit Provided That the President Vice-President and Treasurers above-named should before they enter upon their Places take their Oaths before the Lord Chancellor faithfully to execute their Respective Trusts And that all other the Members of the said Corporation before they act as Assistants and all succeeding Presidents Vice-Presidents Treasures Assistants and all other their inferior Officers should take the like Oath before the Persons by the said Charter impowr'd to administer the same And that the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Lord High-Chancellor of England Lord Archbishop of York or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England Lord High-Treasurer Lord Bishop of London Lord Almoner and the Lord Mayor of London for the time being should be the Visitors of the said Corporation and settle all differences about the Government thereof and touching the disposition of their Revenues HAving thus publish'd this great favour of his late Majesty here are next set down the Forms of Subscriptions and also how any Legacy in Money or Houses and Land may be given by WILL to the said Corporation I _____ of _____ do promise to pay to the Governors of the Charity for Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergy-men the Sum of _____ Sterling on or before the _____ Witness my Hand I _____ of _____ do promise to pay to the Governors of the Charity for Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergy-men the Sum of _____ Sterling at the two usual Feast days of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Michael the Archangel by equal Portions during _____ The first payment to be made at the next of the Feast Days above mentioned that shall happen after the Date hereof Witness my Hand This may be inserted among LEGACIES in a WILL. ITem I give and bequeath unto the Governors of the Charity for Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergymen the Sum of _____ Pounds to be paid to one of the Treasurers For devising HOVSES or LANDS ITem I give and devise unto the Governors of the Charity for Relief of poor Widows and Children of Clergymen and their Successors for ever all that my Messuage _____ and Lands Situate and being in _____ IT is thought fit and requisite to give notice That the Governors of this Charity by the assistance of many worthy persons who have bountifully contributed thereunto and whose names are Registred as Benefactors Have not only made some Purchases as a Yearly Bond but also distributed considerable Sums amongst poor Widows and Children of Clergymen And also several poor Children are Yearly placed forth Apprentices by the Direction and Encouragement of the Stewards It is therefore much hoped That considerable Subscriptions will still be made Gifts and Legacies bequeathed in all parts of this Kingdom Such a certain Method and Security being Established for the due Administration of this Charity so that nothing can be diverted to any other use All Persons who shall please to promote this Charity or have any thing to communicate concerning the same may direct Letters as occasion shall require to Mr. Thomas Tyllot the Register of the Corporation at Doctors Commons LONDON FINIS THE CONTENTS THE Design of this Treatise Page 2 That Divines may Discourse of Last Wills and Testaments and how Page 3 Directions concerning Last Wills and Testaments Ib. I. Make your Will in your Health Ib. For 1. If you defer it to your Sick-Bed you may possibly never make it at all Page 4 Or 2. It is then most commonly imperfect and Defective Page 7 3. Disturbing to the Dying Testator Page 12 II. Make a Christian Will. Page 15 III. Make a Prudent Will Page 19 Express this Prudence 1. In the form of Words and Phrases in which the Will is Drawn and Composed Ib. 2. In the Subject-matter of the Will the Distribution of an Estate whether Real or Personal 20 IV. Make a Just Will Page 24 The nature of Restitution Page 26 The Reason of it Page 30 V. Make a Charitable Will Page 33 It is the Duty of the Clergy earnestly to move Sick and Dying Persons to be liberal to the Poor Ib. Charity commanded by St. Paul Page 35 By St. James Page 40 By St. John Page 41 By our B. Saviour Page 43 And in the Law and the Prophets Page 47 Motives to Charity 1. Charity to the Poor makes us like unto God Page 51 2. It is an Act of Justice Page 53 3. 'T is the most proper expression of our Gratitude to God 4. 'T is an Act of Prudence and of great Advantage to our Selves I. With Respect to this Life 1. To Preserve 2. Increase 3. Sanctify an Estate Page 62 c. II. Charity shall be rewarded in the Life to come Pleas and Pretences to excuse the neglect of Charitable Distributions Plea I. Pressing of Charity is Popish Answ Page 78 Plea II. The Laws have provided for the Poor Answ Page 80 Plea III. My Estate is but small Answ Page 82 Plea IV. I have Wife and Children to provide for Debts to be paid Answ Page 83 Plea V. There are so many Objects of Charity I may give away all my Estate Answ Page 87 Plea VI. I will remember the Poor when I Die Answ Page 91 Plea VII Charity is often abused Gifts and Legacies are Perverted Answ Page 95 Poor Widows and Children of Clergymen most humbly recommended Page 97 An Abstract of the Charter for Relief of Poor Widows and Children of Clergy-men Ib. Catalogue of some Books printed for B. Aylmer A Conference with an Anabaptist Being a Defence of Infant-Baptism In 8 vo price 12 d. A Theological Discourse of Last Wills and Testaments In 8 vo price 12 d. A Short Exposition of the Preliminary Questions and Answers of the Church-Catechism Being an Introduction to a Defence of Infant-Baptism Price 2 d. Directions in order to the Suppressing of Debauchery and Prophaneness 2 d. A Discourse against Blasphemy Being A Conference with M. S. Concerning 1. The Rudeness of Atheistical Discourse 2. The Certainty and Eternity of Hell Torments 3. The Truth and Authority of the Holy Scriptures 2 d. A Discourse against 1. Drunkenness 2. Swearing and Cursing 2 d. These are the price of each of these small books single but for the encouragement of those that are so charitably inclined to give away some quantities of them they may have them at ten shillings a hundred At Brab Aylmer 's in Cornhill These above all Writ by the Reverend William Assheton D. D. Certain Propositions by which the Doctrine of the H. Trinity is so explained according to the Ancient Fathers as to speak it not Contradictory to Natural Reason Together with a Defence of them in Answer to the Objections of a Socinian Writer in his newly printed Considerations on the Explications of the Doctrine of the Trinity Occasioned by these Propositions among other Discourses in a Letter to that Author A Second Defence of the Propositions By which the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity is so Explained according to the Ancient Fathers as to speak it not Contradictory to Natural Reason In Answer to a Socinian Manuscript In a Letter to a Friend Together with a Third Defence of those Propositions in Answer to the Newly published Reflections contained in a Pamphlet Entituled A Letter to the Reverend Clergy of Both Universities Both by Edward Lord Bishop of Glocester Lately Printed the Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New With Annotations and Parallel Scriptures To which is annexed the Harmony of the Gospels As also the Reduction of the Jewish Weights Coins and Measures to our English Standards And a Table of the Promises in Scripture By Samuel Clark Minister of the Gospel Printed in Folio of a very fair Letter and good Paper the like never before in one Volume The Four Last Things viz. Death Judgment Heaven and Hell practically Consider'd and Applied in several Discourses By William Bates D. D.
say unto them Depart in peace be you warmed and filled notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body what doth it profit Even so faith if it hath not works is dead being alone Jam. 2. 14 15 16 17. As if he had said Unless according to your capacity you are ready to do good and relieve those that are in want all your pretences to Religion are vain and hypocritical And this most important Truth which the Rich men of this World are so unwilling to believe is further confirmed by St. John The design of whose Epistles is to exhort us to the love of God and our Brother The latter of which as he largely shews us is the surest Mark and Evidence of the former If a man say I love God and hateth his Brother he is a liar For he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen 1 Joh. 4. 20. No man hath seen God at any time God is a Spirit and invisible and we do not converse with God as we do with one another How then can we pretend to this love of God or assure our selves that we have this Divine Grace Now St. John takes care to satisfy us in this matter v. 21. He who loveth God let him love his Brother also i. e. He who pretends to love God let him prove his love to God by the love of his Brother But how shall we evidence this love of God by our love to our Brother Of this the Apostle gives us a plain and convincing Proof cap. 3. v. 17. Whoso hath this Worlds good and seeth his Brother have need and shutteth up his Bowels of compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him i. e. He who relieveth not his poor Brother when it is in his power he neither loveth God nor his Brother And he that loveth not his Brother abideth in death v. 14. And because this may be censured as a very harsh and uncharitable Sentence the Apostle thus confirms it in the following verse v. 15. Whosoever hateth his brother is a Murderer and ye know that no Murderer hath eternal life abiding in him With such powerful Motives as these the Apostles of our Lord did recommend this most necessary Duty of Charity And as this was the Doctrine of the Apostles so also of our Blessed Lord himself Give Alms of such things as you have and behold all things are clean unto you Luk. 11. 41. Sell that ye have and give Alms provide your selves bags which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not where no thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth Luk. 12. 33. And I say unto you Make to your selves friends of the Mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations Luk. 16. 9. Love ye your Enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and your reward shall be great and ye shall be the Children of the Highest for he is kind to the unthankful and to the evil Be ye therefore merciful as your Father also is merciful Luk. 6. 35 36. But in no part of the Gospel is this Duty of Charity so effectually recommended as in Matth. 25. v. 31. c. The words contain the Process of the Great and Final Judgment punctually described by our Saviour and our Judge They are of infinite concernment to us all And therefore I shall transcribe them at large And the rather because in its proper Place I shall make some Remarks and Observations upon them When the Son of man shall come in his Glory and all the holy Angels with him then shall he sit upon the throne of his Glory And before him shall be gathered all nations and he shall separate them one from another as a Shepherd divideth his Sheep from the Goats And he shall set the Sheep on his right hand but the Goats on the left Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand Come ye blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world For I was an hungred and ye gave me meat I was thirsty and ye gave me drink I was a stranger and ye took me in Naked and ye cloathed me I was sick and ye visited me I was in prison and ye came unto me Then shall the righteous answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred and fed thee or thirsty and gave thee drink When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in or naked and cloathed thee Or when saw we thee sick or in Prison and came unto thee And the King shall answer and say unto them Verily I say unto you In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels For I was an hungred and ye gave me no meat I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink I was a stranger and ye took me not in naked and ye cloathed me not sick and in prison and ye visited me not Then shall they also answer him saying Lord when saw we thee an hungred or athirst or a stranger or naked or sick or in Prison and did not Minister unto thee Then shall he answer them saying Verily I say unto you In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these ye did it not to me And these shall go into everlasting Punishment But the Righteous into life eternal From these words of our B. Saviour 't is pertinent to observe That though as appears from other Places of Scripture we must be judged for what we have done in the Body i. e. for all the good or evil that we have done in this World yet our Saviour in describing the Process of the Last Judgment makes no mention of any thing but Acts of Charity From whence you may be admonished how necessary it is to do all the good you can whilst you live and to improve all those Talents with which you are intrusted particularly your wealth to the highest advantage And as a further Confirmation of this necessary Duty I must not omit to observe That Charity to the Poor is not only commanded in the Gospel but also in the Law and the Prophets If thy Brother be waxen poor and fallen in decay with thee then thou shalt relieve him yea though he be a stranger or a sojourner that he may live with thee Lev. 25. 35. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy Brethren within any of thy Gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee thou shalt not harden thy heart nor shut thy hand from thy poor Brother Thou shalt surely give him and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him because that for this thing
methodical to enquire What kind of Entertainment are you then to expect What Preparations have you made for your Reception there In your Progress or Journey you give notice of your approach to such or such a place and send your Harbingers before to make Provision for you that so you may be received with Decency and according to your Quality Let us now examine Whether you are as wise for the Life to come as you are for this We are all Strangers in this World and have here no continuing City But as Pilgrims and Sojourners are Travelling to a better Countrey Now those who Travel into Foreign Parts do either send some Effects before them or else do carry along with them Bills of Credit which they take up in the Coin or Commodities of those Countries as they have occasion Indeed in this World Money answereth all things But there is something else which answereth all things in the next viz. Alms and Charitable Distributions These are our Exchange for the other World and the Bills and Effects we are to send before us These in the Traders Language are such Bills as will certainly be accepted Or in Scripture Phrase shall be recompensed at the Resurrection of the Just By thus giving Alms you provide your selves Bags which wax not old a treasure in the heavens that faileth not where no Thief approacheth neither moth corrupteth Luk. 12. 33. By this faithful usage of the Mammon of unrighteousness you make your selves friends that when ye fail when you Die and leave your Earthly Wealth will receive you will cause you to be received into everlasting Habitations For when the Dead shall be raised to express my self in the moving Rhetorick of a Learned Prelate and all the inumerable Myriads that ever were born shall stand before the dreadful Tribunal then shall those that have been relieved by the merciful man appear as so many Intercessors for him As if they should say Lord this is the Man that refreshed our Bowels when we were pinched with Hunger that came in seasonably to support us when we were ready to perish that delivered us from the hand of our cruel Oppressor that had pity on our Children and gave them good Education when they were left poor distressed fatherless Infants V. Bishop Chichester 's Profitable Charity p. 20. O! what reviving Raptures will it then raise to hear their Saviour and their Judge to make this Reply In as much as ye did it to the least of these my Brethren ye have done it unto me Come therefore ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world This is the Blessed Reward of a well Regulated Charity And God grant that by doing Good by being rich in good Works by being ready to distribute and willing to Communicate to the necessities of Others you may lay up in store for your selves a good foundation against the time to come and may lay hold on Eternal Life I much hope that you are now fully convinced of the necessity of this Duty The Precepts of Charity are so plain and so often repeated in the H. Scriptures so pressingly inforced by such just and reasonable Considerations that the most tenacious Wretch must needs be convinced in his Judgment that it is both his Interest and his Duty To be Charitable and do Good But notwithstanding all this or whatever else can be said on this Subject if either the Suggestions of Satan who envies the happiness of Mankind or the clamours of disatisfied Relations who like Vultures wait for their Prey I say if either of these can divert the Covetous Miser from doing Good they will not fail to furnish him with such Pleas and Excuses as these PLEA I. This pressing of Charity is a Popish Trick How many brave Estates have been ruined by the wheedling Arts of these Canting Priests What stately Lordships have been bequeathed to the Superstitious uses of Obits and Masses for the Dead And being rid of this Trumpery must the Clergy of the Reformation be still practising upon us Shall not our Friends Dispose of their Estates and make their Wills as they please but these Men in Black must pretend to Direct and bring in their Items for the Poor and the Church ANSWER To the great Honour of the Reformation we can boldly declare that Charity is no Popish Trick for if a just Account of such Endowments were published to the World as 't is hoped in due time it may it would undeniably appear That as to the best parts of Publick Charity viz. founding Schools and Hospitals c. more hath been done by Protestants since the Days of Edw. 6. than by Papists from the Conquest to the Reformation But why must Charity be branded as Popish Indeed formerly Popish was a frightful Word and of large extent in these Nations The Reformed Service of our Church hath been condemned as Popish Bishops and their Lands have been Voted Popish for whilst Naboth hath a Vineyard he shall not be innocent and whatever else hath displeased hath been nicknamed Popish But the Cheat is long since detected and the Generality of our People are now better instructed for they plainly understand That what Papists formerly did out of a mistaken Zeal and Superstitious Principles Protestants may now perform in a due and regular manner and so the Objection is vanished and the Protestant Clergy may still do their Duty in pressing Charity without the harsh and unjust Censure of being Popishly affected PLEA II. The Laws of the Land have taken care of the Poor and if duly executed would competently provide for them To what purpose therefore do you Exhort us to be Charitable to the Poor when we are forced upon Complaint to relieve them whether we will or no ANSWER 1. If these Laws are not Executed as many times they are not the Poor will still want relief and may starve with the Law on their side 2. There are many Cases of Charity for which the Laws have not provided Men of generous Spirits will even sink in their misery and endure the utmost extremity before they will make known their Wants to their insulting Neighbours or be relieved by a Parish These are proper Objects for the Charity of Wealthy Men who besides the Payment of their Parish Rates should be constantly doing Good in such instances as these For true Christian Charity is of a large extent beyond the Obligation of humane Laws and therefore when at the great and dreadful Day it shall be demanded of those Rich and Wealthy Men Whether they have fed the hungry and cloathed the naked c. it will be a very imperfect and uncomfortable Answer only to Reply That they paid their Rates to the Poor PLEA III. My Estate as yet is but small when I am as rich as other Men I may then think of Distributing and being Charitable to the Poor ANSWER How small is your Estate Perhaps you are not worth Fifty Thousand