not one Altar breathed unto the Lord in 40 years Amos 5.26 Even Moses himself was buried in this sleep How the Passeover and other Feasts were celebrated appeareth not they are seldome mentioned and may seem therefore seldome kept One Passeover at the going out of Aegypt Exod. 12.11 Another in the wilderness of Sinai God then reviving that commandment Numb 9.1 c. After by Joshua at Gilgal beyond Jordan Jos 3.10 and from that day till the 18. year of Josias that is above 800. years all are passed over as obscure except one in the time of Solomon 2 Chron. 35.13 and 2 Kings 23.2 But I must not conceal that Moses omitteth the History of 36. years travail in the wildernesse reporting onely the punishment of him that gathered sticks on the Sabbath day Numb 15.32 and therefore in that time whether it were kept or not we can conclude nothing but it is plain that before Ezekias his days it was so utterly lost that when he came to renue it it seemed meerly a new thing 2 Chron. 29. and all this time also was both the Temple forlorn and shut up and all the holy rites almost extinguished till he renued them ib. For the point of Reformation the Levites were by Moses assigned to the Tabernacle the Priests to the Altar but both of them confusedly without distinction and yet so they continued till the time of David who to reform this confusion divided them into ranks allotted a part of the service to every rank and assigned to them of the ranks times of attendance and intermission 1 Chron. 23 24 25 26. cap. upon which it is said that Zacharias was of the course or rank of Abia and executed the Priests office as his course or turn came in order Luke 1.5 8. Some things also that were never commanded were brought into the old Law afterward and well accepted as the act of fasting and the habit thereof sackcloth and ashes The brazen Serpent was set up by Gods own commandement Numb 21.6 yet when the people burnt incense to it Ezekias brake it in pieces 2 Kings 18.4 without any commandement None might slay the burnt-offerings but the Priests but when they were too few and till more were sanctified the Levites did it 2 Chron. 29.34 Likewise in the New Testament the wheels of the Gospel were not by and by in their course The Apostles themselves are compelled to the same necessities First to admit many ceremonies abolished for if they struck at them all at once they drive all the Jews from the doctrine at once again if they imposed them upon the Gentiles the Gentiles repined at the burden to carry the matter therefore as even as they might they call a Councell and consulting upon it they write to the Gentiles that they purposed not to burden them but with these necessary things viz. to abstain from things offered unto idols and bloud and that that is strangled and from fornication Acts 15.29 by which the Gentiles could not complain of being burdened with ceremonies nor the Jews that their ceremonies were contemned In like sort Saint James and the Elders at Jerusalem seeing many thousand Jews to beleeve and yet to be zealous of the Law Act. 21.20 they not onely tolerated it for the present but perswaded Saint Paul comming thither to doe the like and further to make a shew also that himself observed the law whereupon as before he had circumcised Timothy in shew of keeping the law Acts 16.3 so now he also personateth a Nazarite Numb 6.8 he is purified and he is shaven as one already at Censhrea Act. 21.26 and 18.18 Thus the Apostles applied themselves to the necessity of the time the place and the persons thus Paul becommeth a Proteus a Jew to the Iews a Gentile to the Gentiles weak to the weak all to all and all this to gain all them to Christ 1 Cor 9.22 In the mean while many things required to the establishing of the Church must needs be omitted the main matters they uphold unto death but the secondary and remote dependances they refer to opportunity therefore they by and by pressed no man with keeping the Lords day and though themselves began by little and little to sanctifie it with breaking of bread and preaching Acts 20.9 1 Cor. 16.2 yet the first mention of it is above 22. years after the Passion of Christ in Acts 20.7 and I suppose it to be begun about that time because I finde that till that time the Apostles used the Iudaicall Sabbath but never after through all the New Testament and the reason why they then used it was for that the greatest Assemblies being on that day in the Temple and Synagogues of the Iews therefore they resorted thither there they preached the Gospel there they taught the people as if themselves had celebrated that Sabbath And as it was long ere they brought in the Lords day so in matters more remote and outward matters belonging to the body they were lesse curious therefore though they laboured hard in the Lords Vineyard yet they required no wages of any man And though Paul prescribed that Bishops should be good housekeepers yet few or none of them were owners of houses but rather as fugitives to escape persecution or as pilgrims to preach the Gospel If the law that was given in a solitary place to a people sequestred from all other and at union amongst themselves and having no publique nor potent adversary to hinder the course thereof if they I say could not preserve it in the originall integrity much more of necessity must the establishment of the Gospel be impeached and turned out of the course thereof it rising in the midst of the enemies in the flame of persecution and with the opposition of the greatest Potentates in every Region It must therefore have the greater need of sundry Reformations some of the first lineaments must be wiped out some altered some as occasion served must be added or amended the Iudaicall ceremonies that for many years together were permitted in the cradle time of the Church must be taken away Paul that then suffered them now suppresseth them Col. 3. Gal. 3. ca. 4. c. 5. and the holy Ghost throughout all the Epistle to the Hebrews beateth them down for ever Thus as old branches be cut off so some new be ingraffed the Lords day the Feasts of Easter and Whitsontide not spoken of in the beginning are brought in at length Deacons are ordained presently after Christ Act. 6.2 but no Bishops in 20. years after nor were they then particularly ascribed every one to his limit but many together over one City as at Ephesus Act. 20.28 So women at first were admitted to be Deacons Conc. Laodicen c. 11. but time afterwards wore them out Christ commanded his Disciples that they should not goe from house to house but Paul saith I have taught you openly and from house to house Acts 20.20 To conclude all could
time I speak of Well It will be said that all this is nothing if the Word of God commandeth it not for every thing must be weighed and valued by the shekel of the Sanctuary Lev. 27.25 They may by the same reason take away our Churches for I finde not in all the Bible any Text wherein it is commanded that we should build us Churches Perkins dem Problem 9. neither did the Christians either in the Apostles time nor 100. yeares after build themselves Churches like these of ours but contented themselves at first to meet in houses which thereupon were called ades sacrae And to shew that they were commanded by the Levitical Law will not serve our turn for it will be said the Statute of repeal even the two words spoken by our Saviour upon the Crosse Consummatum est Iohn 19.30 clearly abrogated that Law but it is to be well examined how far this repeal extendeth for though the letter of it be taken away yet the spirituall sense thereof remaineth for Ierome saith Singulae paene syllabae c. spirant coelestia sacramenta Tom. 3. Paulino Epist that almost every syllable thereof breatheth forth an heavenly sacrament Saint Augustine saith the Christians doe keep it spiritually so that if tithe be not given in the tenth according to the Leviticall Institution yet the spirituall meaning of providing for the Clergy our Levites remaineth But with the precepts of the Leviticall and Ceremoniall Laws divers rules of the Morall Law are also mingled as the Laws against Witches Not to reap every corner of our field nor to gather our fruit clean not to keep the pledge that belongeth to the person of our brother Userers Oppressors c. the Laws that command us to lend to our brother without interest and to sanctifie the Sabbath for though the Institution of the Sabbath be changed yet the spirituall observation remaineth and that not onely in the manner of sanctifying it but as touching the time also even the seventh day Notwithstanding I find not that the Apostles commanded us to change it but because they did change it we take their practice to be as a Law unto us yet though they changed the time they altered not the number that is the seventh day I will then reason that God hath as good right to our goods of the world as to the days of our life and that a part of them belong unto him as well as the other And the action of Abraham and Jacob may as well be a precedent to us for the one in what proportion we are to render them as that of the Apostles in the other for both of them were out of the Law the one after it the other before it And why may not the limitation of the day appointed to the Lord for his Sabbath be altered and changed as well as the portion appointed to him for the tenth You will say the seventh day was not due to him by the law of nature for then Abraham and the Fathers should have kept it before the Law given but it held the fittest analogy to that naturall duty that we owe to the service of God and therefore when that portion of time was once particularly chosen by God for his service by reason himself had commanded it under the Law the Apostles after the Law was abolished retained it in the Gospel And so since the number of the tenth was both given to God before the Law and required by him in the time of the Law being also most consonant to all other respects great reason it is to hold it in the age of the Gospel Yet with this difference that in the old Law the Sabbath was the last part of the seven days and in the Gospel it is the first because our Saviour rose from the dead the first day of the week and not the seventh God is our Lord and we owe him both rent and service our service is appointed to bee due every seventh day our rent to be the tenth part of our encrease He dealeth not like the hard Landlords that will have their rent though their Tenants bee losers by their Land but he requireth nothing save out of their gain and but the tenth part thereof onely These two retributions of rendring him the seventh day of our life and the tenth part of our goods are a plain demonstration to us of our spirituall and temporall duty towards God Spiritually in keeping the Sabbath and temporally in payment of tithes that is in providing for his Ministery and them in necessity the one being the image of our faith the other of our works for seven is the number of spirituall sanctification ten the number of legall justification Therefore to pay all the nine parts was nothing if we failed in the tenth for the tenth is the number of perfection and therefore required above all other as the type of legall justification And as our faith is nothing without works so neither is the Sabbath without tithes for they that minister to us the spirituall blessings of the Sabbath must receive from us the temporall gratuities of Tithing CAP. XXVI That they are due by the Law of Nations THe Law of Nations is that which groundeth it self upon such manifest rules of reason as all the Nations of the world perceive them to be just and do therefore admit them as effectually by the instinct of nature as if they had been concluded of by an universall Parliament Therefore in truth this is no other but that which the Philosophers call the law of Nature Oratours the law of Reason Divines the Morall law and Civilians the Law of Nations As far then as Tithe is due by one of these so far likewise it is due by all the rest and consequently the reasons that prove it in the one doe in like manner prove it in all the other I will not therefore insist here upon arguments but remit you to that hath been formerly said touching the law of Nature and demonstrate unto you by the practice of all Nations what the resolution of the world hath been herein through all ages So ancient it is among the Heathens that good Divines are of opinion that Abraham took example thereof from the Heathen but others with more reason conceive it to be practised even by the children of Adam as well as sacrificing and the offering of first-fruits as by the opinion of Hugo Cardinalis I have shewed in another place Besides I find not any mention of Tithe paid by the Gentiles before the time of Dionysius commonly called Bacchus who having conquered the Indians sent a Present of the spoil Magno Jovi as Ovid witnesseth and this was about 600. after that Abraham tithed to Melchisedek Cyrus having collected a great sum of mony amongst his captives caused it to be divided delivered the tithe thereof to the Praetors to be consecrated to Apollo and Diana of Ephesus as he had vowed Xenophon in
and same St. 1. An account of his larger work of Tithes St. 2 3. 23. His two Tomes of English Lawes and Councels St. 3. His practice according to his writing St. 20. A brief account of his life studies and employments Bp. 5. His Book De non temerandis Ecclesils vindicated Ap. 1. Why printed in Scotland Sc. 1. Divers Gentlemen moved by the reading of his Books some to part with Impropriations St. 21. Others not to buy them St. 24 Sportulae among the Romans what and their severall sorts Sp. 18. Sportula Presbyteria in the primitive Church what Sp. 19. Sportula menstrua Sp. 89 Statute of the Dissolution of Monasteries Sp. 169 c. How it was made to book in Parsonages Ep. 4 Stipends and Pensions for Ministers bow inconvenient St. 18 c. Sp. 55 56. R. 5.12 Synagoga put both for the persons and the place Ap. 9 T TEmplars See Hospitalers Ten The mysteries and excellencies of this number Sp. 69 113 c. How it representeth the nature of God Sp. 69 and beareth his inscription Sp. 71. It signifieth Gods Law Sp. 73. 113 Tenth part of fruits due unto God as well as the Seventh of time St. 15. Sp. 111. Why the Tenth Sp. 67-76 Tenths paid by the Clergy St. 12. See Tithes Teoda Sp. 67 Time what part thereof due unto God Sp. 1â—9 Tithes The etymology of the word Sp. 67. The definition of the thing ibid. Payment of Tithes how antient Sp. 114. R. 6 They are more antient then the Law of Moses Sp. 139. R. 2â— They were paid to the Levites after the atteration of their service as well as before Sp. 37. Their antiquity in the Christian Church Sp. 31.86.88 c. R. 22. Tithes paid by all without question for three thousand years together Sp. 110. Tithes frequently paid by Heathens Sp. 114-127 To To give Tithes a generall custome among the Grecians Sp. 123. in use also among barbarous Nations Sp. 124. Both learned it from Gods people Sp. 126 Both oftentimes outgo Gods people in practice of it ibid. Some beasts seem to pay Tithe Sp. 127. How doe these examples shame and condemn such Christians as neglect this duty Sp. 128. Abraham's and Jaeob's precedent as strong for Tithes as the Apostles for the Lords day Sp. 111. The Sabbath was more ceremoniall then Tithes Sp. 148. Why no setled Lawes for them in the Primitive times St. 8. Sp. 29. They were not paid to the Levites while in travel and unsetled Sp. 52. Neither was it expedient or possible the Apostle should have received them Sp. 52 c. How they were anciently disposed Sp. 89-92 151. Christian Tithes far short of the Leviticall St. 9 c. By what right Tithes are due to God St. 93. Tithes of two sorts Morall Leviticall Sp. 93. They are due by the law of Nature Sp. 94-103 of Scripture Sp. c. R. 2.17 of Nations Sp. 113. by a precedent right Sp. 140. They are due here by Laws of severall Kings of England Sp. 129-135 and by donation and vows of our Ancestors Sp. 135 136. Decrees of Councels for the payment of them Sp. 89. They are not a whit left lawfull to us because used in the Church of Rome Sp. 84. That Tithes are not merely Leviticall proved by five arguments Sp. 139. They have nothing ceremoniall or typicall in them Sp. 140. R. 23. Our manner of Tithing differeth from that of the Leviticall Law Sp. 140. The end of Tithes is morall namely Piety Justice Gratitude against all which the with-holders of Tithes grievously offend Sp. 141. In what respect Tithes are Leviticall and Judiciall Sp. 142 c. The employment of Tithes was in part ceremoniall and temporall but the payment and receiving of them is morall and unalterable Sp. 149. The Tithe which our Ministers receive is neither Jewish nor Popish R. 15 16. but that which they pay to the King or State is R. 16 17. Foure severall opinions about the tenure of Tithes R. 23. Reasons why they should be paid Sp. 92. R. 2 c. God accepteth the Tithe as if it were the whole Sp. 73. Paying of Tithes rewarded with plenty Sp. 114.117 118. detaining of them with vengeance Sp. 120.123 c. Fearfull curses denounced against the detainers of them Sp. 91 134 c. They are incomparably the best and fittest provision for Ministers Sc. 17 c. R. 4 c. They are to be paid to the Minister whether good or bad Sp. 32. 60. The enemies of Tithes are enemies to the Ministery it self R. 3. Take away Tithes and look for nothing but ignorance and baseness Sc. 2.3 R. 3.26 Tithes paid by the Levites Sp. 73.77 to what end Sp. 78. The Clergy now Bishops King all ought to pay Tithes Sp. 78 79. Tithes are to be paid out of every thing Sp. 123 130 131. not onely out of the fruits of the ground Sp. 79. but out of the wages of servants Sp. 80. and the spoils of Souldiers and the gains of Merchants and Tradesmen Sp. 81. How Tithes became appropriate See Appropriations The perverse humour of many against Tithes St. 2.8.25 notwithstanding they be due both by Divine Laws and humane St. 4 c. The boundless liberty of the Anabaptists in Germany began at Tithes R. 3. Kentish Petitioners exceptions against Tithes answered R. 7. c. What answer the Parliament gave them R. 15. What made the Anabaptists in London contest so boldly against Tithes R. 19 20. How the dispute about Tithes between B.C. I. R. was disappointed R. 19-21 Animadversions on The Countrey 's plea against Tithes R. 21 c. Not Tithes but Covetousness the cause of Simony R. 13. Arguments shewing that it is unlikely the Parliament will take away Tithes R. 2 c. The plea of Divine right can be no waies preiudicial to Tithes R. 18. whether they be of divine right or no the State may lawfully impose them and the people pay them R. 27 Tituli Sp. 10 St. Roger Townsend St. 21 Traditions of antient Fathers much to be regarded Sp. 86 Treasury of the Temple its parts Sp. 36.78 Turks pay Tithes Sp. 127. U V VIcarages Sp. 152. well augmented by some Colledges in Oxford St. 23.26 by Bishop Morton and Bishop Wright St. 24. by Dr. Fell St. 26. by St. Henry Spelman St. 20. by Viscount Slego St. 26 by the present Parliament St. 24 Vnlawfull things admitted and lawfull omitted Sp. 46 c. Vows lawfully made by Parents descend upon their children Sp. 135. Though arbitrary to make yet are they necessary to keep Sp. 136. Bp. 3 4. W WEstminster-Church subject to none but the King Sp. 179 180 Whitsuntide See Pentecost X XEnophon's example of paying Tithes and endowing a Temple Sp. 121 X signifieth both the name of Christ and the number of Ten Sp. 71 76 A Catalogue of the Authors cited in these Treatises A Chilles Statius Aelianus Agobardus Alexander ab Alexandre Ambrosius Antonius de Dominis Aristophanes Aristoteles Arnobius
him and that is as before we have shewed in the same steppes that the rules and maximes of his owne law have prescribed viz. First that we shall doe unto him Homage that is true and faithfull service For it is written Him onely shalt thou serve Secondly that we shall be faithfull unto him as becommeth true tenents that is not to adhere to his enemies the world the flesh and the devill as conspiring with them or suffering them to subtract or encroach upon any part of that which belongeth to God our Lord paramount Thirdly that we shall pay duely unto him all rights and duties that belong unto his Seignory for it is written Give unto God that that is Gods And againe Give the Lord the honour due unto his name c. Psal 29.1 For all which we must be accomptants at the great Audit and there lies a speciall writ of Praecipe in that case Redde rationem villicationis tuae Give an accompt how thou hast carried thy selfe in this thy businesse that is this his service committed to thee But omitting to handle the first and second of these great Reservations I have undertaken the last viz. de reddendis Dei Deo of ren dring that unto God that is Gods And in this I humbly beseech his blessed hand to be with me and guide me for whose onely sake and honour I have adventured to leave the shore I crept by in my former booke and now as with full sailes to launch forth into the deepe upon so dangerous and uncertaine adventure Amen Of TITHES CAP. I. What things be due unto God THat that is to be rendred unto God for his honour out of temporall things granted by him unto man are by his word declared to be some particular portions of the same things The things granted unto man be of three sorts viz. First the time measured out unto him for this life Secondly the place allotted to him for his habitation Thirdly the benefits and blessings assigned to him for his sustenance Out of every of these God must have his honorary part as by way of reservation and retribution in right of his seignory Let us then see what those parts are and how they grow due unto him Touching the first which is the Time of our life he hath out thereof reserved to himselfe the seaventh part for it is written six dayes shalt thou labour and doe all that thou hast to doe but the seaventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God What other time soever we imploy privately and particularly in his worship this must generally be performed and kept both by our selves and our very cattle for if every creature groane with us Rom. 8.22 it is also just that they rejoyce with us sometime But though God be much wronged in this kind as well as in other his rights yet since it is confessed of all parts to be due unto him by the expresse Canon of his word I will not medle with it any farther only I desire that the abusing of it were severely punished or at least in such sort as the Lawes have appointed CAP. II. The second kind of tribute that we are to render unto God i. a portion of our Land THe second thing that God hath given unto man is a place for his residence and that is the earth in generall and to every nation and family a part thereof in particular The earth hath he given to the children of men Psal 115.16 But as he reserved a portion of the time of our life for the celebration of his honour so hath he also reserved a portion out of the place of our residence For in Ezek. 45. he commandeth the children of Israel and in them all the nations of the world that when they come to inhabite the land he giveth them they must divide it into three parts one for the people another for the King but the first for God himselfe God must have Enetiam partem as the Lawyers terme it the part of the eldest or first borne for the tribe of the Levi that is his Priests and Ministers are called to be the first borne of his people Therefore he saith When ye shall divide the Land for inheritance ye shall offer an oblation to the Lord an holy portion of the Land Ezek. 45. And by and by he declareth how it shall be imployed one part to the building of the house of God and the other part for the Priests and Ministers to dwell on And this is no Leviticall precept but an institution of the Law of nature and in performance of the duty that he was tyed unto by this Law Jacob when he was poore and had not wherewithall to build God an house yet he sanctified a portion of ground when God had blessed him to that purpose by erecting a stone and pouring oyle on the head thereof calling the place Bethel that is the house of God and vowing to build it when God should blesse and make him able to doe it Gen. 28.22 which as Josephus testifieth Antiq. lib. 1. cap. 27. he afterwards performed And as God commanded the whole Nation of the Israelites in generall that in laying out the chiefe City they should first assigne a place unto God for his Temple Priests So likewise he commanded every Tribe thereof in particular that after they had their portion in the division of the Land they should likewise out of the same assigne unto the Levites Cities to dwell in with a circuite or suburbs of a thousand cubits round about to keepe their cattell in Command the children of Israel that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possessions Cities to dwell in yee shall also give unto the Levites the suburbs of the Cities round about so they shall have the Cities to dwell in and the suburbs shall be for their cattell and for their substance and for their beasts And the suburbs of the City which ye shall give unto the Levites from the wall outward shall be a thousand cubits round about Numb 35.2 3 4. In execution of this Commandement every Tribe of Israel allotted certaine Cities to the Levites out of their portion according to the quantity thereof as appeareth Jos 21.41 The whole Land of promise according as St. Hierom layeth it out in his Epistle to Dardanus Tom. 3.68 containeth in length from Dan to Bersabe scarce 160. miles and in breadth from Joppa to Bethlem 46. miles A small portion of ground for a Kingdome so famous and so small indeed as St. Hierom there saith that he is ashamed to tell the breadth of it lest it should give occasion to the heathen to blaspheme or deride it yet out of this small territory not so much as the principality of Wales with the Marches fourty eight walled Cities more then are in all England as I take it were assigned onely for their Clergy to dwell upon their maintenance and revenues being otherwise provided generally through the whole
then on the other and at length they fell into their innumerable superstitions and idolatries yet as they concurred with us in these fundamentall points of Christian confession touching the nature of God so did they likewise in the fundamentall course of serving and worshipping him as by prayer to crave blessings by hymnes to celebrate his praise by oblations to shew their thankfulnesse to him by sacrifice to make atonement with him for their sins and trespasses by honouring and maintaining his servants Priests Ministers to expresse the honour love and reverence they bear unto himself Some are of opinion that they learned much of this from the children of God So Ambrose alledgeth that Plato did of Jeremy the Prophet meeting him in Aegypt but it appeareth that Jeremy lived before Plato almost 300. years yet it is doubtlesse that with their bloud and linage they deducted many particular rites and ceremonies from Noah and his Nephews but these notions I speak of rise out of the very law of nature written in their hearts by the finger of God as S. Augustine witnesseth saying Quis scribit in cordibus hominum naturalem legem nisi ipse Deus who writeth the law of nature in the hearts of men but God himself Instit l. 1. C. 3. and Calvin agreeth that the knowledge of God is naturally planted in the mindes of all men Do we not see at this day the very barbarous and almost savage Indians agree in effect most of them aforesaid touching the nature of God and the course of worshipping him also yea in the five ways we spake of viz. by prayer by songs by offerings by sacrifice and by honouring and maintaining his Priests and servants who taught them this if not the very law of nature Me thinks I hear some answer me the Devill and I must answer them that it is true the Devil taught them to pervert these notions but it is God that wrote them originally in their heart though the Devil hath choaked and corrupted them But say that the Heathen learned these of the children of God Calv. Iast l. 1. c. 4. whence did the children of God learn it themselves before the Law was given who taught Cain and Abel to offer their first-fruits to sacrifice Abraham and Jacob to give tithes of all that they had Lactantius saith that the law of nature taught to give offerings to God and the practice of all the Nations of the world in all ages and in all religions confirmeth it As soon as Christ was born the wise men that came afar off out of the East brought offerings unto him as directed onely by the law of nature for they were Gentiles and none used to visit the Temple of God but with some presents not that God is delighted with such things but that their affections by the fruits of their devotion were made manifest It seemeth this law of nature is tearmed by Moses the Law of God for he saith I declare the Ordinances of God and his Laws Exod. 18.16 when as yet the Law was not given and before ca. 15.26 If Israel will hearken to his Commandements and keep his Ordinances c. 19.5 the Church and service of God maintained and those that were in need and necessity orphanes widows strangers and the poor people provided for and relieved for these are Gods care and are to him as the dearest kinde of his children and though younger brothers as touching the worldly inheritance yet those on whom he thinketh the fat Calf well bestowed Donum saith Lactantius est integritas animi the gifts we give unto God are a testimony of our frank and open heart towards him An offering of a free heart saith David will I give unto thee out of his abundance we have received all things and out of ours let us render some CAP. XXIII Tithes in the time of Nature first considered in the time of Paradise I Would not be so curious as to seek the institution of tithes in Paradise yet no man will deny but that Paradise was a modell of the Church and that God had his honourary rights in all the three kindes he now requireth them at our hands namely a portion of time place and of the fruits of the fruits as the tree of knowledge of the place as the midst of the Garden the time as the cool of the day which signifieth the time of rest and so the Lords day as more particularly wee shall shew by and by Touching the fruit it was the portion that God reserved from Adam when he gave him all the rest and that portion also that justly and properly belongeth to God knowledge And therefore this part particularly was assigned by God unto his Priests as the sacred keepers of this his sacred Treasure and therefore no other man might invade this his right and inheritance Knowledge saith Malachi belongeth to the Priest Touching place what should be assigned to the chiefest but the chiefest and what is the best and chiefest but the midst for medium and therefore the place here where Gods portion is assigned him is the midst of the Garden and therefore into this place doth Adam flye as into Sanctuary and to the horns of the Altar when he had offended for it is said that Adam hid himself in the midst of the Garden So Calvin which is the trees in the midst of the Garden And touching the time it is by all expositors upon the matter applied to the time of rest for either they expound the cool of the day to be the evening as Oncalus or the morning as Calvin and take it in either of these senses it may aptly discover the Judaicall Sabbath in the first sense or the Christians Sabbath in the latter And as these are the times when we are to make our publick reckonings confessions and prayers unto God and thereupon to receive sentence of curse or absolution so at this time presently God calleth Adam and Eve and the Serpent that is the whole congregation of Paradise to a publique reckoning confession and account and like the great Ordinary and Bishop of his Church denounceth against them the curse that their sins had demerited If occasion required I could shew many other particulars wherein Paradise exemplified the very Church of Christ Again these rights of honour are likewise prefigured unto us in other examples under the age of Nature the time I mean before the floud for we have therein three great examples of all these his three rights First in the creation of the earth he reserved a particular place for himself as the place of his own resort and pleasure Paradise which was the very locall place of his Church and therefore out thereof he threw man being accursed as a prophane and excommunicate person And as touching his portion of time he figuratively shewed the seventh part of our age to belong unto him as in respect of his Sabbath when he took Enoch being the seventh from Adam
these times come farre short in their duties and may bee upbraided with these examples Which are here more largely insisted on to shew the impiety of many men in these last days who are more inexcusable then ever any people were because we have the rules and practice of all ages set before us for our direction as before the Law of Moses in Abraham and Jacob and likewise under the Law during the Priesthood of Aaron and since under the Gospel abundant light to guide us besides all the Records Histories and Monuments of Gods judgements in former times to instruct us All which saith the Apostle 1 Cor. 10. are written and recorded for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come If we therefore offend now we are greater sinners then any former people as sinning against conscience knowledge and examples of all ages and like to the servant that knew his Masters will but did it not who therefore must be beaten with many stripes CAP. XXVII That they are due by the Law of the Land AS they are due by the law of Nature and of Nations by the Law of God and of the Church so are they likewise due by the very Temporall Laws of the Land as well ancient as later therefore Edward the elder and Guthrun Saxon and Danish Kings punished the not payment of Tithes by their temporall Constitutions Lambard 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 54. Tom. 1. Concil Britan. pag. 392. King Athelstan about the year of our Lord 924. not onely decreed them to be paid by himself his Bishops Aldermen and Officers but maintaineth that his Law by the example of Jacob saying Decimas meas hostiam pacificam offeram tibi and by other effectuall Authorities providing precisely that his owne Tithes should diligently be paid and appointing a time certain for doing thereof viz. the feast of the decollation of S. John Baptist 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pa. 57. Tom. 1. Concil p. 402. King Edmund about the year 940. in a solemn Parliament as well of the Laity as Spiritualty ordained that every man upon pain of his christendome and being accursed should pay them truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 73. Tom. 1. Concil pag. 420. King Edgar in a great Parliament about the yeare 959. confirmed the payment of Tithes assigning certain times when every thing should be paid viz. the Tithe of all young things before Whitsontide of the fruits of the earth by the harvest aequinoctiall i. about the 12. Septemb. and of seed by Martimas and this to be done under the pain mentioned in the Book of the Lawes of the Land whereby it appeareth that the Laws of the Land had anciently provided for the payment hereof though the Book remaineth not to us at this day as well as the Laws of the Church And he further enacted that the Sheriffe as well as the Bishop and Priest should compell every man to pay their Tithes and should set it forth and deliver it if they would not leaving to the party offending onely the 9th part and that the other eight parts should be divided four to the Lord and four to the Bishop and that no man should herein be spared were hee the Kings Officer or any Gentleman whatsoever 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pag. 77. Tom. 1. Concil pa. 444. King Canutus about the yeare 1016. made the like Law with some little enlargement as appeareth in his Laws Tom. Con. pag. 44. ca. 8. and as Malmesbury testifieth strictly observed all the Laws of the ancient Kings de gestis Regum Angl. lib. 2. p. 55. And he wrote also about the 15. year of his reign from beyond the seas a long letter to all the Bishops and Nobility of England conjuring them by the faith that they ought both to himself and to God that they caused these Lawes touching Tithes and Rights of the Church to be duly executed and the Tithes to be paid as abovesaid Malmsb. p. 74. But King Edward the Confessor about the year 1042 made all certain namely that Tithe was due unto God and should be paid the tenth sheafe the tenth foal the tenth calf the tenth cheese where cheese was made or the tenth days milk where there was no cheese made the tenth lamb the tenth fleece the tenth part of butter the tenth pigge and that they that had but a calfe or two should pay for every of them a penny And to this price is the Parson generally holden at this day when ten of our pennies are scarcely worth one of that time He also ordained that Tithe should be paid of bees woods meadows waters mils parks warrens fishings coppises orchards and negotiations and out of all things saith the Law that the Lord giveth For the Sheriffe and Bishops were in those days the Kings Justices in every County and all matters were heard and decided before them Note the tenth is to be rendred unto him that giveth the nine parts with the tenth and bindeth the Sheriffe as well as the Bishop to see this executed And all these were granted saith the Book by the King Barons and Commonalty as appeareth in those his Laws cap. 8. and Hoveden Annal. part poster pag. 602. Long after the learned Author had written this he published the first Tome of our English Councels wherein not onely these Laws mentioned are recited but also many other Laws and Constitutions concerning Tithes by other Kings and Parliaments of that age It would have been an easie matter to have inserted them at large here being there set down in order of time successively but because I am unwilling to add any thing or alter in the text of his discourse and that the Tome of the Councels is obvious to every mans perusall I will onely adde some brief references to them as also to M. Selden in the eight chap. of his History who hath recited them all and some more then are here mentioned From both these learned Lawyers the studious Reader may be abundantly satisfied especially when the second Tome of the Synods shall be extant there will be full testimony of our own Laws to confirm this truth for 500. years after the Conquest as these are for 500. years before it When Gregory the great sent Augustine about the year 600. Chr. assisted with 40. Preachers to publish the Gospel to our forefathers in England it is testified by the Laws of Edward the Confessor among other things that he preached and commanded Tithes to be paid Haec beatus Augustinus praedicavit docuit haec concessa sunt à Rege Baronibus populo sed postea instinctu diaboli multi eam detinuerunt c. and all this was confirmed by the King and his Barons and the people Tom. 1. Concil Brit. pag. 619. § 8 9. Egbert Archbishop of York brother to Eadbert King of Northumberland published Canons about the yeare 750. which did binde all the Northern parts and Scotland in those days wherein he directeth all Ministers to
have them as the religious persons had them that is as spirituall Livings and consequently subject to the jurisdiction of the Bishops before had over them and then are they no otherwise in the hands of the Laity for testimony whereof they also carry at this day the badges and livery of their Lords and Masters of the Clergy for as Joseph was taxed in his own City so are they yet ranked amongst other spirituall Livings and as members of that body doe still pay their Synodals and Proxies to the Bishops and Archdeacons and if Tithes bee withholden from the Approprietary he still sueth for them as spirituall things in the Spirituall Court All which are by Gods Providence left upon them as marks of the Tribe they belong unto that when the Jubile commeth if ever it please God to send it they may thereby be distinguished and brought back again to their own Tribe § 2 That no man properly is capable of an Appropriation but spirituall men Spirituall things and spirituall men are correlatives and cannot in reason be divorced therefore was no man capable of Appropriations but spirituall persons before the laws of dissolution which first violated this holy marriage and like Abimelech Gen. 20.2 took the wife from the husband and made Lay men which before were the children of the Church now become spirituall Fathers The act of Appropriation is nothing but to make a body corporate or politique spirituall that hath succession perpetuall Incumbents in a Rectory or no more upon the matter then to entail the incumbency to one certain succession of spirituall men Therefore as a Patron saith my Lord Dyer Chief Justice and Plowden 496. must present a spirituall person to a Church and not a temporall so by the same reason an Appropriation must be made unto a spirituall person and not temporall for saith he the one hath cure of souls as well as the other and they differ in nothing but in this the one is Parson for his life and the other and his successours Parsons shall be for ever and for this in the beginning saith he were the Appropriations made to Abbots Priors Deans Prebends and such like as might in their own person minister the Sacraments and Sacramentals and to none other And for the same reason at the first it was holden that they could not grant their estates to any other no more then the Incumbent of a Parsonage presentative who though he may lease his Glebe and Tithes yet can he not grant his Incumbency to any other but must resign it and then the Patron and Bishop must make the new Incumbent And so the Incumbency which is a spirituall office cannot be granted nor by the same reason could the perpetuall Incumbent which is the Approprietary at the first grant his estate which contained the Incumbency and the Rectory which is the revenue of the Incumbent Therefore when the Order of the Templars to whom divers appropriate Parsonages were belonging was dissolved and their possessions granted to the Prior of S. John of Jerusalem in England Justice Herle in 3 Ed. 3. said that if the Templars had granted their estate in the Appropriations to the Hospitalers that is to them of S. Johns of Jerusalem the Hospitalers should not have it for it was granted onely to the Templars and they could not make an Appropriation thereof over unto others Therefore to make good the estate of the Prior and Hospitalers it was shewed there that by the grant of the Pope King and Parliament the Prior had the estate of the Templars And so by Herle an Appropriation cannot be transferred to another and with good reason saith the book for it hath in it a perpetuall Incumbency which is a spirituall function appropriate to a certain person spirituall and cannot be removed from them in whom it was first setled by any act of theirs Herle there also said that That which was appropropriate unto the Templars was disappropriate by the dissolution of their Order fo 497. B. So that as death is the dissolution of every ordinary Incumbent so the dissolution of a religious Order Monastery or Corporation is the death thereof and by that death according to this opinion of Justice Herle the Church appropriate that belonged thereunto is again become presentable as it was before the Appropriation whereunto my Lord Dyer and Manwood doe also agree Dier Plowd 497. Manwood ib. 501. l. 2. and therefore by the dissolution of religious houses all Appropriations had been presentable like other Churches if the Statute of dissolution had not given them to the King and by as good reason might the same Law-makers have given him the other also for any thing that I perceive to the contrary Yet let us see in what manner they are given unto the King for though I cannot examine the matter according unto the rules of Law being not so happy which I lament as to attain that profession yet under correction I will be so bold as to offer some points thereof to further consideration as first what is granted to the King secondly the manner how it is granted thirdly the ends why And herein I humbly beseech my Masters of the Law to censure me favourably for I take it by protestation that I doe it not as asserendo docere sed disserendo quaerere legitima illa vera that Littleton speaketh of § 3 What was granted to the King 1. The Statute saith That the King shall have all such Monasteries Priories and other such religious Houses of Monks c. as were not above 200l a year And the Sites and Circuits thereof and all Manours Granges Meases Lands c. Tithes Pensions Churches Chappels Advowsons Patronages Annuities Rights Conditions and other Hereditaments appertaining or belonging to every such Monastery 2. In as large and ample manner as the Governours of those and such other religious Houses have or ought to have the same in the right of their Houses 3. To have and to hold c. to his Majesty his Heirs and Assigns to doe and use therewith his and their own wils to the pleasure of God and to the honour and profit of this Realm The words have divers significations and therefore make the sense the more obscure Monasteries Priories and religious Houses are 1. Sometimes taken personally for the Heads and Members of the House that is for the men of the House as Church for the Congregation City for Citizens 2. Sometime they are taken locally for the soil of the House and in this sense one while extensively to all the Territory thereof another while restrictively to the site and building onely 3. They are taken civilly or locally for the whole rights of the House the lands the rents the possessions and inheritances whatsoever In which of these senses the Parliament hath given them to the King and whether in all of them or not it is not manifest but I conceive the words must be taken in the last sense which as the