AN ESSAY TO Revive the Necessity OF THE Ancient Charity and Piety WHEREIN God's Right in our Estates and our Obligations to maintain his Service Religion and Charity is demonstrated and defended against the Pretences of Covetousness and Appropriation In Two Discourses Written to a Person of Honour and Vertue By George Burghope Rector of Little Gaddesden Com. Hertford and Chaplain to the Right Honourable JOHN Earl of Bridgwater Luke 16. 9. And I say unto you Make you friends c. LONDON Printed for Walter Kettilby at the Bishop's-Head in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1695. Imprimatur Humf. Hody R. in Ch. P. ac D. D. Johanni Div. Prov. Archiep. Cant. Ã Sac. Dom. Sept. 26. 1694. To the most Reverend Father in God THOMAS Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan and one of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy Council c. May it please Your Grace TO pardon the Presumption of one of the Clergy of Your late Diocess and of Your present Province in this Address one who had never the honour to see your Person but in your Episcopal Visitation where he observ'd with a mixture of Contentment and Admiration the Humility Condescention and Paternal Tenderness to your Clergy when you might have come with a Rod you chose to visit us in Love and the Spirit of Meekness by which you subdu'd every Heart to Obedience and commanded all our Acknowledgments But my Lord you have a more especial Title to these Papers from your Piety and Charity which are their Argument Of both which even then when you were but a private Presbyter in the Church you gave so large a Specimen in your own Parish and in dangerous Times that it remains as a lasting Monument and a sufficient Testimony of what you durst then and what you will do still for the Support of that Church of which you are deservedly now the Chief Member And we have all the reason in the World to congratulate your Advancement to the Archiepiscopal Throne as the Ancients use to call it not so much for your Happiness as our own And so much the more when we remember that we are under the Care of such a Leader who is an Example to us all in Word in Conversation in Charity in Faith and in Purity One who having regularly past through all the Degrees of the Clergy to the highest Place in the Church knows the Nature and Circumstances of all its Members and consequently will take all occasions to encourage the Inferior as well as Superior Parts of that August Body The poor Curates that do the whole Religious Duties sometimes of great Parishes for small Stipends and the poorest Vicars dis-spirited and dispossess'd of the ancient Demesns of their Churches and forc'd with their Families to live upon the Tythes of Mint Anise and Cummin c as well as the Reverend Dignitaries or others of larger Revenues And in a word when we remember that You are not only a prudent and careful Governor but a skilful Pilot who will omit no Diligence or Opportunities to Steer the late tossed Ship of our Church amongst so many Rocks and Waves private and publick Enemies into the Haven of Prosperity and Peace To which the Author in his present Circumstances can only contribute these his Papers and his Prayers who is My LORD Your Graces Most dutiful Son and Humble Servant Geo. Burghope From Little Gaddesden in the County of Hertf. March 12. 1695. A PREMONITION TO THE READER WHen the Author had been persuaded to make these Discourses publick he thought it necessary also to say something in defence of such Publication and maintain that even in these bad Times they are not unsuitable nor possibly unfruitful For the first Part it will make shift for it self and carry its own Apology even with the most Selfish and Covetous For those that will not be persuaded by it themselves will yet be willing that others should if it be but to spare their own Pockets for the more is done in that part of Charity which consists in relieving of the Poor the less is left to be done And seeing the Poor we must have always with us and they must be always maintain'd by us the Miser is eas'd and gratified by another's Bounty But then for the latter Part which is a Persuasive to Works of Piety the very Attempt seems to be ridiculous and the Author expects he shall be loudly laugh'd at as a silly Fellow that in such an Age as this is shou'd think to persuade Men to part with their beloved Mammon to such Uses And tho' he has considered the Objections of this Nature towards the latter end of the Discourse it self yet it well be proper here to prevent those that he hath not there spoken to sufficiently or not at all And those are these Three First The universal decay of Religion it self Secondly That of the particular Church yet by Law established Thirdly The general Aversion there is almost in all Men to Works of this Nature Of which in their order For the first We are told that Religion which he wou'd in this Discourse embellish and adorn by such Accessions is in it self sick and decaying and its very Foundations much weakned and therefore it wou'd be more serviceable to endeavour to secure them than adorn its Frontispiece And indeed if we consider the many Apostates from its Doctrines and Government and the more from the Practice of those Duties it enjoyns we shall have but a melancholy Prospect of the present State of Religion Custom and the Charity of the Church hath indeed brought us into its Bosom in our Infancy and we still retain the Name of Christianity as most Creditable and in Fashion but the generality proceed but little further The Baptismal Vow is undertaken as it ought but by few and those that are Confirm'd are look'd upon with an odd Aspect by the Vulgar and thought more than ordinary Scrupulous The Worship of God is generally neglected by some and superficially performed by others and Men think they have little Obligation to it beyond Decency Custom and Example Most of these nominal Christians live in a wilful Neglect or rather Contempt of those dear Pledges of our Salvation in the Lord's-Supper and some abstain from it as they pretend out of a preposterous fear of Damnation There is an universal Indifferency as to our Duty and a Coldness and Unconcernedness as to our future State Religion has little or no Power over the Souls of Mankind to oblige them to part with the least unlawful Pleasure for God's sake tho' the praise of Men and other secular Advantages sometimes may And no wonder when the very Being of their Maker is impiously questioned by some and Providence that supports them daily by others Deism is breaking in upon reveal'd Religion and if that can prevail Atheism will follow after So that the Author's Effort may be like his that would beautifie a falling House or dress up a
that of the Diocess besides other Legacies and Mortuaries Their Conveyances were made to God and such a Church and that by the surest ways and under the severest Curses in case of Alienations imaginable by which they thought to ensure and perpetuate their several Pieties beyond the Power of Sacrilegious Alienations They gave to God because they thought no Man durst rob him not remembring that the Israelites were Mal. 3. 6. long ago charg'd with that Crime They hedg'd about their Donations with Denunciations of Hell and Damnation to those that shou'd be so bold as to pervert them to other Uses But all in vain There is nothing durable in this World The wild Boar out of the Wood first threw down the Hedges and so the little Foxes of the Hills were let in to devour the Grapes An Atheistical Covetousness is able to overthrow all Fences and when the Fear of God is departed from a Place nothing can secure the Gifts of Piety or Property but humane Laws and they too were drawn into the Conspiracy And yet even this cou'd not be done quickly and directly nor had Iniquity the forehead to invade God's Possessions but under the disguise of Zeal and Religion which was thus effected §. VIII How the Revenues of the Church came to be alienated There hath been in the Church very anciently some severe melancholy Christians who separated themselves from the World and its Temptations and Follies to serve God in Solitude and Wildernesses and some in Times of Persecution were forc'd to it such were the Eremits and Anchorites These afterward were reduc'd to Companies and Societies under several Rules and Orders and were called Monks and Friars These in time engross'd to themselves all the Credit of Christianity and were call'd by way of Eminency the Religious Their Rules were severe their Diet very poor their Hours of Devotion long often and exact their Discipline most mortifying and their Holiness so great that their very Habit in those Times of Superstition was thought effectual to save the Sinner that was buried in it By this means the ordinary Secular Clergy as they were call'd for distinction sake were slighted and the Pastors of Parishes that had care of Souls were disrespected and a severer Religion than Christ ordain'd was prest upon Men as necessary And hence the Patrons of Livings which usually were the first Endowers of the Churches and their Heirs the Bishops of Diocesses and Popes of Rome ran altogether upon building of Monasteries and Religious Houses and endowing of them and to this purpose fell to appropriating the Tythes of most of the considerable Parish-Churches and left some little Gleanings the small Tythe the halt blind and lame to the Church for the continuance of the Service of God there which was now counted but cold and dull in respect of the more ardent and lasting Devotion of the Regular and the maintenance of the Vicars By that Name was the Parish-Priest call'd who was left to perform the Service and he was to live of these and the Offerings of the People which were then considerable The rest of the Church-Revenues which consisted in the great Tythes were carried all away to these Fraternities And then for to supply the want of Hospitality some Feathers were left a Church-House some small Gift at Easter or such like were continued for ever In a word the Zeal towards this sort of life was so great from the time of the Conquest for about 150 Years that the State was in danger to be swallowed up of the Church and most of the Land of England as well as the Revenues of the Church turn'd all over to the Propriety of Monasteries so that they were forc'd to make the Statute of Mortmain in the Reign of Henry the Third to prevent it §. IX The Pretences and Methods of the same The Pretences for these Alienations were plausible which were the advancing the Service of God in a more Religious sort of way and the Salvation of Souls The Tythes seem'd to be still within the Church tho' alienated from the first Place they were annext to And the Portion which was still left was thought sufficient together with the Offerings and other Obventions to maintain a single Person to officiate in the said Church for such were the Clergy of those Times And yet this was a great Evil and the cause of greater as you shall hear presently For Time that depraves all things made at last the very Monasteries and Religious Orders publick Nuisances Those holy Brothers and Sisters degenerated wholly from their Primitive strictness and became abominable for Pride Idleness and Luxury They were dissolv'd in Ease Riches and Abundance The cry of their Sins fill'd the Earth and reach'd Heaven and importun'd a final Dissolution which accordingly came upon them in the fifteenth Century and the Reign of Henry VIII their final Suppressor God nor Man cou'd endure their Wickedness no longer but a pretended Visitation prov'd their Desolution Some as asham'd of themselves were persuaded to give up their Seals and Charters others were trick'd out of them through Promises of Preferment or Fears of Punishment and those that were obstinate were dissolv'd by Act of Parliament And thus a multitude of goodly Buildings became ruinous Heaps and a Place for wild Beasts and unclean Birds A Work perhaps not altogether so bad as it is represented if they had promoted the high Pleasure of God and Works of Piety and Charity with the Riches they found there as they pretended and the Acts of Parliament for their Dissolution seem to intend If also in their Dissolution each of their Acquests had return'd to their first Principle the Lay-Gifts to them of the Laity and the Church-Possessions to the several Churches from whence they had been taken But that King and his Favourites the Instruments of his Covetousness and Oppression divided the Spoils amongst them which tho' so infinite soon wasted away and came to nothing and left the first Alienators as poor and as hungry as ever Their Families are most of them dissolv'd as the Religious Houses were and like them become a Heap and a Ruine Thus the Tythes of so many Churches became lost to all Purposes of Religion and were amongst the other Spoils carried away captive to serve Luxury and Pleasure Whence they must now never return again but like the ten Tribes be lost for evermore Behold Sir the Effects of three contrary Principles Devotion Superstition and Covetousness Devotion built us up Churches which stand still as its Monuments nor hath biting Time been able to devour them She endow'd as well as built them and settled Persons there to perform Divine Service to the Glory of God and the Good of Mankind Superstition wou'd needs be meddling too till she had found ways to transferr them from the several Houses of God to those commonly call'd Houses of Religion and this under pretence of serving God more perfectly But Covetousness discovered the Sham
returning back some of the Churches ancient Demesns or dedicating some Equivalent under such Conditions and Limitations that might oblige the Minister to frequency and fervency of Duty over and above what the Law can compel him to upon peril and loss of such Endowments and so become new Founders of Religion and Restorers of God's Glory And if this may be done then whether they are not bound in Conscience to do it These are weighty Considerations which nearly concern all Impropriators especially of what Degree soever they be and I pray God to set it home to their Hearts that they may make some sort of Satisfaction for the Sacrilege of the first Alienators and that the Curse of the wrong'd Donors may never reach them §. XXI To those that have no Children to provide for Third Let me next address my self to certain Persons of Estate and Quality in this Nation who are qualified and as it were mark'd out for such a Work Such are they to whom God never gave any Children the necessary Provision for whom we make our continual Plea for our selfishness or from whom he hath taken most or all and so consequently the Charge appropriated to them Men that have plentiful Estates but want Heirs of their Bodies and so are forc'd to seek for them amongst the other Branches of their Family or adopt some one of their Name amongst those that are no Relations and oftentimes bestow all upon one that wants it not or that shall waste all when they are dead and wish them so while living Fond Men that refuse God for their Heir and his Service to bestow their Estates upon even then when they can hold it no longer What might not such a Man do Why he might buy Heaven with Earth and a Crown of Glory with this worldly Trash He might purchase an everlasting Habitation with the Mammon of Vnrighteousness even then when he must use it no longer He might raise to himself an everlasting Monument and a Name more durable than that engraven in Brass or Marble And yet lose all those precious Advantages and throw away all he hath upon some Kinsman afar off or some Nieces Husband or some Body less deserving tho' nearer in Relation one who shall use it to the Satisfaction of his Lusts and Appetites and the dishonour of himself and his Maker Doth not such a Man seem to be design'd by Heaven to promote the Honour of his Maker his way is prepar'd all Obstacles are remov'd and himself adapted to so great and glorious a Work And shall a vain Name a pompous Retinue a great Table and a company of debauch'd Servants eat him up living And some politick Relation sweep all away when he dies and so defeat himself of the Product of all the Good that he might do or Example that he might give to others Or doth such a Man expect that God shou'd give him a plainer Indication of his Will than to take away all Objections and enable him to do some considerable Good He acts with Man by such Methods as are consistent with his freedom of Will he gives us opportunities and then leaves us to make our Election I wou'd not here nor any where else be misunderstood I think the Principles upon which these Discourses are built will make no Man unkind to his Relations or himself but this is all I say That if every Man that is Childless or otherwise enabled wou'd but leave God a Legacy worthy of him when he dies and lay up the Tenths of his increase while he liv'd for his Use it wou'd soon make every Living a Competency and every Church a House of Praise §. XXII 4. To the Bishops Dignitaries and others of the Clergy Fourthly Nor must I pass by my Lords the Bishops the Dignitaries and other the richer Part of the Clergy but humbly represent to them the Repairing of the House of God the proping up of a declining Church and that Service that must uphold them They are fed nourished and sometimes advanc'd by the Devotion of others to God's Altar To that many owe their Living and the Riches that they have gotten and 't is all the reason in the World that their Relations shou'd not sweep away all but that something shou'd be return'd back again to increase that Treasury from whence they have received all The Policy of the Church of Rome forbids the Marriage of their Clergy and if I am not mistaken makes the Church their Heir Our Church obliges us to neither Not to the first because contrary to the Holy Scriptures and Reason not to the latter because 't is contrary to Nature for Men to pass by their own Children and leave them Beggars But tho' the Church obliges to neither yet she cannot but commend both or either to those to whom this Gift is given Happy is that Man that is therefore unmarried that he may care for the things of the Lord whilst he lives and provide for them when he dies But woe is me Can there be any such Men amongst us whose desires of Pluralities and Riches are insatiable who take no other Care but to shear their Flocks and gather the good Things of the Altar and lay them up in store as if against an approaching Famine That leave the Cares of their Flocks to their poor Curates whose Faces they grind amongst the rest and will not allow them to live tho' they bear the Burthen of the Day That leave them the Care of great Parishes to attend the daily Service and themselves live at Ease reap all the Profit and allow them not the twentieth Part I am asham'd to say that there is such a Man For next to the Sot the Sensualist the Drunkard and the Debauch'd the covetous and cruel Clergy-man is the most unseemly and unbecoming Object and the very Contradiction of his Calling And let me humbly propose one thing Would every Bishop once in his whole Life do some eminent Work of Piety it wou'd not only be Exemplary to stir up others but wou'd have been considerable by this time and if every rich Clergy-man who has either no Children or whose Charge is moderately provided for wou'd but return to the Church some Part of those Alms that he hath receiv'd at her Hands and 't is all the reason in the World it shou'd be so it wou'd be the like And as for those of this Order that are utterly uncapable to add any thing but their Prayers to so good a Work I shall entreat them that they do not hinder it I mean that by the strictness of their Lives and the conscientious Discharge of their Duty they wou'd walk worthy of such a Blessing encourage Piety and Charity and shew that that which remains still to the Church is not perverted or thrown away upon it § XXIII 5. To all in general Lastly Let me apply my self to all Men in general that they wou'd take that Account of their Stewardship that they must make