AN ESSAY Concerning the Divine Right OF TYTHES.

By the AƲTHOR of The Snake in the Grass.

LONDON: Printed for C. Brome, at the Gun, W. Keble­white at the Swan in St. Paul's Church yard; E. Pool, at the Half-Moon, and G. Strahan at the Golden-Ball in Cornhil. MDCC.

PREFACE.

THE Subject of Tythes is the Great DIANA of the Qua­kers. They have Bent their Whole Force against Tythe, as the likeliest Means to overthrow the Church. And herein they have Many Abettors. Upon whose Account, I Resolv'd to Consider of Tythe, in a Discourse by it self.

My Controversie with the Qua­kers has led me into Subjects of Different Natures, and Engag'd me among other Parties. As when they began to be Convinced con­cerning the Necessity and Bene­fit of the Sacraments of Baptism and The Lord's Supper: But stuck upon the Administrator to whom they should go for it: To satisfie them in this, forc'd me Directly upon the Cause of [Page ii] Episcopacy; This concerned o­ther Dissenters. And received a very Angry Answer from one who Stiles himself a Presbyterian. Wherein I cou'd find Nothing to Reply to but Passion and Personal Reflections, therefor I let it Sleep.

The like Fate I may meet with in this, That it will be Oppos'd by others than the Quakers. And indeed it is for the sake of others more than the Quakers that I write it. Of others who shou'd have more understanding, as not being Carry'd away with that Blind Enthusiasm which Pos­sesses the Quakers. But yet who suffer themselves to Swim down the Stream of a Popular Sacrilege.

Ther is nothing needful to these Men but to Rouse a little, to open their Eyes, and Consi­der. And not to follow a Mul­titude to do Evil.

I have not in the following Sheets quoted any of the Qua­ker-Books, or Repeated their poor Arguments, which they on­ly Pickt up and down the High­way, the Common Objections that were then Running about, and you will meet with every where; they are all Answer'd, tho not Nam'd in what follows.

But it is very observable, to what an Excess of Fury and Madness against all the Instituti­ons of God that Spirit of Delusi­on which Possess'd the Quakers did Hurry them. Even to Ac­count this Part of the Worship of God, the Offering of His Tythe, to be a Renouncing of CHRIST, a Denial of his having come in the Flesh, and a Mark of Anti­christ. As you may see in The Snake in the Grass Sect. XIX. [Page iv]And there sufficiently Answer'd. Together with their other De­signs they had in their Opposition to Tythes, on Purpose to Ruin and Destroy the Clergy.

Therefor leaving these Men, I turn to More Considerable Ad­versaries. And first I Name Milton, only for his Name, lest the Party should say, That I had not Consider'd his Performance against Tythes. Which has More Wit, but little more Argu­ment than the Quakers.

His Fancy was too Predomi­nant for his Judgment. His Ta­lent lay so much in Satyr that he hated Reasoning. Or rather, he got not leave to make use of it, while he wrote for Hire against his own Opinion. Which Ap­pears by what he wrote Ʋnbrib'd (which Mr. Toland has not Re­printed) [Page v]contrary to what he af­terwards had a Pension to set up. He sacrific'd a Noble Genius to the Vices of the Age. He has thrown away some of his Railery against Tythes, and the Church then underfoot. Which Tickl'd little Toland to that Degree, That tho he has Reprinted that Precious Piece against Tythe call'd Conside­rations touching the likeliest Means to Remove HIRELINGS, &c. among the Rest of Milton's SHAME, yet he has thrust Platches of it into that Life he wrote of Milton, the most Con­siderable (we must suppose) that he cou'd find, to be Worth this Repetition, as A Pulpit Divine, a LOLLARD indeed over his EL­BOW-CƲSHION. And his Sheep sit— as the Sheep in their PEWS at SMITHFIELD. And such [Page vi]like Contemptible WITTICISMS, Ʋnworthy an Author of any Name. And shew Mr. Toland's Judgment in Picking out these, to Adorn his Life, lest the Rea­der might have Over-look'd such Delicious Stroaks, in the Perusal of his Works!

But to Men of Sense, it seems ra­ther lik Playing of Booty, to Please those Fools and Knaves who Hir'd him to write against Hirelings.

Nothing else cou'd have made him Submit to set down (what he must know to be False, un­less we have a very Mean Opi­nion of his Knowledge) the Cry of the Ignorant QƲAKERS, That we made Use of The PO­PISH Arguments against Tythes (which Mr. Toland likewise Re­prints in the Quotations he Re­peats in his Life) Whereas all [Page vii]that have any skill in these Mat­ters do know, That the Popish Writers were the First and Great Corrupters of the Doctrine of Tythe (As is told Pag. 128, 129.) And that the Opposers, and not the Defenders of Tythe have borrow'd their Arguments. But Mr. Milton knew what wou'd Please; he Regarded not the Truth, but the Hire.

And knowing this, he was Resolv'd to Cry Whore first. Therefor he Charg'd the Clergy with the Name of Hirelings. Which if it be Meant of those who take any thing for their Preaching, it flies Directly in the face of our Blessed Saviour, who uses the same word concerning Preachers, saying that The Labou­rer is worthy of his Hire, Luk. x. 7. But if it be Meant (as it can [Page viii]bear no other Meaning) That they are the Culpable Hirelings who value the Hire more than the Work: That is to be known on­ly by Him who knows the Heart. And can be Guest at by us, on­ly from the Consequences.

And for St. Paul's Preaching Gratis to the Corinthians and Thessalonians, which is urg'd by the Quakers and Milton, it makes against them; for the Apostle Asserts his Right to have been Burthensome as the Apostles of Christ. 1 Thess. ii. 6. And says, I have Robbed other Churches taking Wages of them, to do you Service, 2 Cor xi. 8. And he gives the Reason ver. 12. To cut off occasion from them that De­sire occasion — Such are False Apostles, &c. who had Rais'd a Great Schism in the Church of [Page ix] Corinth, Alledging that the Apo­stles sought their own Gain by their Preaching: And Endea­vour'd to Make Disciples to themselves rather than to Christ. For which Cause he says he was glad that he had Baptized so few in Corinth (Whence the Quakers Argue against Baptism too). Lest (says he) any shou'd say, that I had Baptized in mine own Name. 1 Cor. i. 15. And asks them v. 13. Were ye Baptised in the Name of Paul? For the same Reason he wou'd take no Wages from the Church at Corinth, to stop the Mouths of these Schismatical Apostles. And says, he Boasts in it, 2 Cor. xi. 10. But where had been the Cause of Boasting, if he had only Refus'd to Exact what was None of his Due? He stands upon it to be his Due: And says, [Page x] So hath the Lord Ordained, that they who Preach the Gospel, shou'd Live of the Gospel. 1 Cor. ix. 14. But says he, I have used none of these things, that is, Amongst you. And therein he Glories. He says, Tho I Preach the Gospel, I have nothing to Glory of, for Necessity is laid upon Me, Yea Woe is unto Me if I Preach not the Gos­pel. But ther was no Necessity laid upon him to Abate of his Right, which Christ had given to all his Ministers, of taking Wages or a Maintenance from the People to whom they Preach. And he Abating of that, for Pru­dential Considerations, at that time, is far from a Precedent to all other Times and Places. For the same Apostle tells us that the other Apostles did not so, and that he did otherwise, at other Times and Places.

If these Quakers and others who Rail at Hirelings wou'd I­mitate the Apostle's Example here­in; And take Nothing them­selves for their Preaching, while they (as the Apostle) Assert the Right of Others to it, they might have some Pretence.

But when we see Geor. Fox from a Poor Journey-Man to a Shoemaker in Manchester, from his Leathern-Briches, and going on Foot, and often Bare-foot, Mount, by his Preaching-Trade, on Horse-back, with his Man carrying his Cloak before him, to Act the Gentle-Man, And leave 1000 l. behind him for Printing of his Books, which cry out against Hirelings! and say, Freely ye have Received, freely Give! And when we see a Man of Milton's Wit Chime in with such a Herd, [Page xii]and Help on the Cry against Hire­lings! We find How Easie it is for Folly and Knavery to Meet, and that they are Near of Kin, tho they bear Different Aspects.

Therefor since Milton has put himself upon a Level with the Quakers in this, I will let them go together. And take as little Notice of his Buffoonry, as of their Dulness against Tythes.

Ther is nothing worth Quo­ting in his Lampoon against the Hirelings. But what ther is of Argument in it, is fully Consi­der'd in what follows.

But ther is another who has gone about his business more like a Work-Man, and Attack'd Tythes, with great Subtilty and Learning, it is the Famous Mr. Selden, in what he calls The Hi­story [Page xiii]of Tythes. And pretends that it is Nothing else but a plain History, without any Design a­gainst the Divine Right or any other Settlement of Tythes. But then he Carries on his Mine un­der Ground, and gives such Ac­counts of them, as wou'd Effectu­ally overthrow them.

Therefor I have Consider'd this Book of Mr. Selden's with more Care, as supposing it to Contain the Utmost that can be said or Insinuated against the Divine Right of Tythes.

Whether I have done him Justice, or not, Let the Reader Judge.

I have one thing More to Advertise in this Place. By what is said p. 138. it may be thought as if I were of Opinion, that [Page xiv] Ananias and Sapphira had neither Vowed nor Promised the Price of their Lands. Though ther is a Caution put against this (if ob­serv'd) in the Wording of it, as it is said, they had not FOR­MALLY Vowed, or Promi­sed. Nor is that Averr'd Nei­ther, but as follows, for ought Appears, i. e. in the Text, where it is not so Expresly said. But I think it is Implied. For it is Plain by their Answers, that they sold their Lands, under the Pretence of Giving the Whole Price, as others did. How FOR­MALLY they had before Pro­mised or Vowed this, is not said in the Text. Nor was ther need of it, for supposing, as I do in the place above Quoted, That they had only Resolv'd it in the Thoughts of their own Mind, it [Page xv]was Sacrilege, after that, to Sub­tract from what was so Design'd and, by that, Dedicated to God, though none Knew it but God and Themselves.

Therefor I took this way, to Obviate the Cavils that might be Rais'd Concerning the For­mality of their Vow, or Dedica­tion of this Money; which we are Requir'd to Shew and Produce out of the Text. Nothing less will serve Some Men, upon Some Points! Though they will be very Loath to be Ty'd to it them­selves.

For Example; That the Sin for which Belshazzar was so Sud­denly and Miraculously Punished, was Excess in Drinking, of which ther is not one Word in the Text. But the Sin of Sacri­lege is there Plainly set down. [Page xvi] viz. His Profaning the Holy Ves­sels of the Temple. Yet in the Assemblies Annotations (An. 1646.) upon Dan. v. 2. They cou'd find no Sacrilege in this.

No, Nor in the Sin of Achan, Josh. vi. 17, 18, 19. and Chap. vii. This was put upon Covetous­ness. Though the Text says Plainly that it was for taking of what was Accursed, that is De­voted and Consecrated to God, and therefor Accursed to any who­soever shou'd Invade it.

Neither cou'd they find any Sacrilege in the Sin of Ananias; only Covetuousness there too, and Vanity, Lying, or any thing but Sacrilege.

These two Instances, of A­chan in the Beginning of the Jewish Church, and of Ananias in the Beginning of the Christi­an, [Page xvii]are set in the Front, That All Might take Notice of God's High Indignation against this Sin of Sacrilege.

And it is to be Notic'd too, how Close Men that are Re­solv'd can Shut their Eyes!

Ther is not only no Sacrilege in these Instances! But ther is not Now any such Sin as Sacri­lege! Or Some Men are not Ca­pable of Committing it! A poor Rogue may be Whipt for Stealing a Cushion or an Hour-Glass out of a Church, rather for Example sake, than that ther is any Great Matter in it, besides the Humor of Pilfering, which, in time, may lead them into our Houses! But ther are others, who can Seize upon CHƲRCHES, and Convert them to COMMON use. And yet, None Dare call [Page xviii]it Sacrilege, or Any Fault at all. For it is None, if it be not Sa­crilege. And I wou'd gladly be Inform'd, What that Sin of Sa­crilege is, if this be not it?

I can see no Remedy, but that we Must even Drop this Sin, as to some Particular Persons, Times, and Places. And the More Sins we Drop, we leave the Less be­hind! And so may come to be Good in time!

CONTENTS.

PREFACE.
  • Concerning THE Quakers Excess against Tythes. Page iii.
  • Concerning Milton against Tythes. Page iv.
  • Concerning Selden his History of Tythes. Page xii.
  • Concerning Dropping the Sin of Sacrilege. Page xv.
BOOK.
  • Introduction. Page 1.
  • Sect. I. Of Trust in God. Page 4.
  • Sect. II. Judgments upon Distrust. Page 20.
  • Sect. III. Of Trust in Riches. Page 23.
  • Sect. IV. That Some Part of our Substance is Due to GOD, as an Act of Worship. Page 27.
  • Sect. V. Of the Determinate Quantum of a Tenth. Page 32.
  • Ʋnder the Law. Page 34.
  • Sect. VI. Before the Law in Abram. Page 36.
  • [Page]In Jacob. Page 50.
  • Sect. VII. That this was the Universal Noti­on and Tradition of the Gentile World. Page 52.
  • Sect. VIII. The Original of Tythe. Page 84.
  • Sect. IX. An Answer to the Objection, That Tythes are not Commanded in the Go­spel. Page 105.
  • Sect. X. An Answer to the Objection, That no Tythes were Paid in the days of the Apostles, and first Ages of Christianity. Page 115.
  • The Church of Rome first Corrupt­ed the Doctrine of Tythe. Page 127.
  • Sect. XI. The Tythes in England are Dedi­cated by Particular Vows. Page 130.
  • Sect. XII. The Benefit of Paying our Tythe. Page 155.
  • Sect. XIII. Remarkable Judgments for not Paying of our Tythe. Page 161.
  • Sect. XIV. Of what things Tythe is to be Pay'd. Page 176.
  • Sect. XV. The difference betwixt the Tythe to the Poor, And the Tythe of Worship. Page 180.
  • Sect. XVI. When Tythes are to be Pay'd. Page 183.
  • Sect. XVII. Of what Part of our Goods Tythe is to be Pay'd. Page 187.
  • [Page]Sect. XVIII. Who they are that ought to Pay Tythe. Page 189.
  • Sect. XIX. If Tythes may be Commuted or Redeem'd. Page 193.
  • Sect. XX. To Whom Tythes are to be Pay'd. Page 198.
  • Sect. XXI. In what Manner Tythes ought to be Offer'd. Page 202.
  • Sect. XXII. How Priests are to Pay their Tythe. Page 214.
  • Sect. XXIII. A Remedy Proposed, How the Impropriate Tythes, &c. may be Restored. Page 217.
    • Without Loss to the Impropria­tors.
    • And to the great Benefit of the Nation.
  • Wherein, of Maintaining the Poor. And taking off the Charge of the Poor-Rates throughout England. Page 218.
  • Six other Great Advantages to the Na­tion Propos'd by this Method. Page 227.
  • The Objection Answer'd, That this wou'd make the Clergy too Rich. Page 230.
  • Wherein, of the Monastick-Life. Page 233.
  • Of the Coelibacy of the Clergy. Page 237.
  • [Page]And their bearing Secular Employ­ments. Page 240.
  • CONCLUSION. Page 248.
  • A Form of Prayer and Thansgiving upon the Offering of our Tythe to the Priest. With a Blessing to be Pronounced by the Priest upon us, o [...] by the Bishop upon a Priest that Of­fers to Him. Page 254.

AN ESSAY Concerning the Divine Right OF TYTHES.

INTRODƲCTION.

ST. Clemens Romanus writing to the Corinthians about the Schism which had Unhappily broken out in their Church, spent most of his Epistle to them in Guarding them against the Sins of Pride and Contention, as the Apostle Paul had done in both his Epistles to them; knowing that these were the Roots [Page 2]whence their Schism grew, and All Schisms do Grow. And that if they cou'd once Return from their Pride, into the Frame of a Meek and truly Humble Spirit, their Schism wou'd soon Wither and Decay. This is the most Effectual Method, to strike at the Root of a Disease; without this ther can be no thorow Cure.

This is the Method I have Chose, in the Subject I have Undertaken: To make my Entrance with some Considerations concerning that Trust and Dependence which we ought to have in God: The Want of which is the Root of all Covetousness, which is therefore call'd Idolatry, because i [...] transfers our Trust from God to Mam­mon. And Covetousness is so the Roo [...] of Sacrilege, that, as no Man wou'd Rob God for Nought; so can non [...] Return from his Sacrilege, till he i [...] Cur'd of that Covetousness which cau­sed it: And Covetousness cannot b [...] Cur'd, while we are Possess'd with that Dis-trust of God, which natu­rally leads to Covetousness, and is th [...] Cause of it. And while we remain in that Frame, no Arguments can Pre­vail, [Page 3]or Charms have Power over such an Adder as is Deaf to every thing but Gain.

Therefore I have begun at the Root. And let no Reader think this Subject of Trust in God (because it is so Common) unworthy of his Con­sideration; for None upon Earth have it, as they ought to have: And we are to Encrease in it; and that must be by often Meditation upon it, which, by the Grace of God, (with­out which we can do nothing) is the most Effectual Means to Strength­en our selves in it. However, it is Necessary to the Business I am now upon. And to offend those, as little as may be, who may think it a Need­less Preparative, I have been very Short upon it; and afforded them ra­ther Hints and Heads of Medita­tion, than a Discourse suited to the Import of the Subject.

SECT. I. Of Trust in God.

WHen God Created Man, He Instituted a Worship which He commanded Man to Pay to Him as his Creator; not that He wanted any thing from Man, but for the Happiness of Man: Because the Su­pream Happiness of Man does consist in the Knowledge and Enjoyment o [...] God.

And the Greatest Misery Man can fall into, is, to forsake God, and seek for Happiness any where else: Be­cause, so, he must seek it where it i [...] not to be found.

The Great Worship of God, is our Trust and Dependence upon Him as the Sovereign Disposer of all thing in Heaven, and on Earth.

But this must be Express'd, not on­ly with our Lips, but in our Actions.

And if we did Really Believe it, w [...] would be as ready to Trust to it, where Life or Estate were concern'd, as in the smallest Matters.

But because many may think they have it, when they have it not:

And that this Trust and absolute Dependence upon God, is apt, in our Weak Minds, to Decay, and Die; unless it be stirr'd up, and kept alive by frequent Instances, and fresh Ex­periments of God's Power and Pro­tection over us:

For Want of which, (and by the Loosness of our Lives) Men are brought to look only, or chiefly, to Second Causes, and to Trust in them:

Therefore God, in his All-wise Dispensations, has Requir'd from us, continual Proofs of our Dependence upon Him, even as to our Subsistence, and the very Necessaries of our Life.

I. Thus He commanded Abram to Quit his Country, and his Father's House, all his Relations and Acquain­tance, and to travel into a strange Country,Acts vij. 5. where He gave him none In­heritance, no not so much as to set his foot on, but to Depend wholly upon His Providence to support him. And so he liv'd, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Twelve Patriarchs, Heb. xj. 13. as Strangers and Pilgrims upon the Earth.

II. He Led the Children of Israel through a Waste and Barren Wilder­ness, where, for 40 Years together, He fed them with Manna from Hea­ven, and brought Water out of the Flinty Rock,Deut. viij. 3. That He might make them know that Man doth not live by Bread only, (by the Means of Second or Natural Causes) but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of the Lord, doth Man live: i.e. God can sup­port by what Means and Methods He pleases; and Second Means have no Vir­tue but what they Receive from Him. Not only no Virtue, as to their Qua­lities, and Operations; But even, as to their Quantity, and Encrease: Thus they who,Exod. xvj. 18. out of Covetousness, or Distrust of God, gather'd more Man­na than was commanded them, yet found Nothing over: And they who, not out of Presumption, gather'd less, yet had no Lack.

And to keep their Dependence con­tinually upon God, no more Manna was given than for one Day at once; and Command was given to Gather no more than the Proportion allot­ted for one Day, which was the Full [Page 7]of an Omer: And that none of it shou'd be left until the next Day. And when some, out of good Hus­bandry (as they thought) kept of it till the next Day, it did not Pro­fit them, for it bred Worms, and Stank. So will our Endeavours Profit us, if God withdraws His Blessing.

The like Absolute Dependence did Christ Require in His Apostles, when He Commanded them to Provide nei­ther Gold nor Silver for their Journey. Matth. x. 9. And has Instructed us, as the Israelites in their Daily Manna, to Pray for no more at once than the Bread of one Day: Give us This Day, our Daily Bread; or for our Bread Day by Day: And to Trust God for the Morrow.

III. When the Israelites were settl'd in Canaan, (besides His many Extra­ordinary, and Miraculous Protections over them,) He Establish'd, in their stated Oeconomy, several Immediate De­pendencies upon Him, without any Trust to Natural Causes: And that not for Once or Twice, as if only for a Trial; but to Continue Daily, and Yearly, to signifie their Absolute and Eternal Dependence upon Him, and Him only.

I.Exod. xxiv. 23, 24.Thus Three Times every Year all the Men in the whole Nation were Commanded to leave all their Fron­tiers Unguarded, and to come up to Jerusalem, to attend the solemn Feasts there. Here the Objection rises Natu­rally, That they being often, almost always in War with all their Neigh­bour-Nations; And these Nations knowing the Times of these their Feasts, when all their Country was left Destitute of Men, except Jerusa­lem, whither they All went, their Enemies shou'd watch these Times, and make Inroads upon the Country, which no Men were left to Defend.

But, for a Security from this, God Commands them to Depend wholly upon His Promise, (v. 24. above-quoted,) in these Words, Neither shall any Man Desire thy Land, when thou shalt go up to appear before the Lord thy God, thrice in the Year. Here God not only Promises that none shall Invade their Land, but that no Man should so much as Desire it, at those Times, though all the rest of the Year they were at open Wars with them.

And pursuant to this Promise, it is miraculously observable in their Hi­stories, that they were never invaded, in any of these Times, while they Perform'd this Command.

II. Take another Instance. Every Seventh Year was to be a Sabbath; they were neither to Plow nor Sow,Levit. xxv. 5, 11. neither Reap that which Groweth of it self. And the Objection is put, v. 20. And if ye shall say, What shall we Eat the Seventh Year? Behold we shall not sow, nor gather in our Increase. And the Answer is given in the next Verses; Then I will Command my Blessing upon you in the Sixth Year, and it shall bring forth Fruit for Three Years; and ye shall sow the Eighth Year, and Eat yet of old Fruit, until the Ninth Year; until her Fruits come in, ye shall Eat of the old Store.

And to this they were to Trust their very Lives, they were to Starve if it fail'd.

But if they shou'd Trust entirely to these Promises of God, then God as­sures them of His Blessing for it, (v. 18, and 19.) both to Protect their Land from their Enemies, and to [Page 10]Feed them to the full in it: Wherefore ye shall do my Statutes, and keep my Judgments, and do them; and ye shall Dwell in the Land in Safety: And the Land shall yield her Fruit, and ye shall Eat your fill, and Dwell therein in Safety.

But, on the other hand, if they wou'd not Trust absolutely to God, then God threatens them that the Second Causes shall not help them, wherein they Trusted; But that He can Command all the Courses of Nature, and to their Punishment, if they Dis­obey, as well as to their Benefit, if they Trust in God.

If they shou'd Refuse or Neglect to keep the Sabbatical Year, then God threatens them that He wou'd Banish them out of the Land, and that the Land shou'd enjoy her Sabbaths, that is, Rest from being Plow'd or Sow'd, when they were out of it, since they Durst not Trust so far in God, as to let her have that Rest He command­ed, while they were in it. Thus God spake to them;Levit. xxvj. 34, 35. Then shall the Land Enjoy her Sabbaths, as long as it lieth Desolate, and ye be in your Enemy's [Page 11]Land; even then shall the Land Rest, and Enjoy her Sabbaths: As long as it lieth Desolate, it shall Rest; because it did not Rest in your Sabbaths, when ye Dwelt upon it. And again, Ver. 43. The Land also shall be left of them, and shall Enjoy her Sabbaths, while she lieth Desolate without them: And they shall accept of the Punishment of their Ini­quity; because, even because they De­spis'd my Judgments, and because their Soul abhorred my Statutes.

Now it is very observable how Ex­actly this Threatning (or Prophecy) was fulfill'd upon the Jews.

They had Neglected to Observe the Sabbatical Year; for 490 Years, in which time ther are 70 Sabbatical or Seventh Years; and the Captivity in Babylon was, by God, Determin'd to that Exact Number of 70 Years, on Purpose to fulfil this His Threatning; as it is written,2 Chron. xxxvj. 21. To fulfil the Word of the Lord, by the Mouth of Jeremiah, (by whom God had after Threaten'd the same) until the Land had Enjoy'd her Sabbaths; for as long as she lay De­solate, she kept Sabbath, to fulfil Three­score and Ten Years.

III. Another Great Instance of their Dependence upon God, was, their Years of Jubile and Release.

(1.) In the Year of Jubile, which was every 50th Year, all Sales of Lands were Determin'd, and the Land Reverted to the Seller. And the Rea­son is given,Levit. xxv. 23. The Land shall not be sold for ever: For the Land is Mine, (says God,) for ye are Strangers and Sojourners with Me.

We are but Tenants at Will, and are to look upon Nothing, in this World, as our Inheritance: God only is the Proprietor, and hath given us but an Ʋsufructuary Tenure, to Live upon His Land, but not to think it our own.

(2.) But the Year of Release was yet a Greater Trial of their Depen­dence upon God. This was every Se­venth Year: And in this Year all Per­sonal Debts were Discharg'd; and all the Hebrew Bond-Men were set at Li­berty. Not only set at Liberty, but, it is Commanded,Deut. xv. 13, &c. And when thou send­est him out Free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away Empty: Thou shalt furnish him Liberally out of thy Flock, [Page 13]and out of thy Floor, and out of thy Wine-Press: Of that wherewith the Lord thy God hath Blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him— And, It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away Free from thee, for the Lord thy God shall Bless thee in all that thou doest.

The like Reason is given for the Release of Debts; which is Requir'd, Ver. 1, and 2. At the end of every Se­ven Years thou shalt make a Release: And this is the manner of the Release; Every Creditor that Lendeth ought unto his Neighbour, shall Release it, he shall not Exact it of his Neighbour, or of his Brother, because it is called the Lord's Release. Now from Reading of this Law, the Thought Naturally arises, That it would be ill Borrowing of Money the Sixth Year. But that is obviated, Ver. 9, &c. where it is again Commanded in these Words: Beware that ther be not a Thought in thy wic­ked Heart, saying, The Seventh Year, the Year of Release, is at hand; and thine Eye be Evil against thy Poor Bro­ther, and thou givest him Nought, and he Cry unto the Lord against thee, and [Page 14]it be Sin unto thee: Thou shalt surely Give him, and thine Heart shall not be Grieved when thou givest unto him; Because that for this Thing the Lord thy God shall Bless thee in all thy Works, and in all that thou puttest thine Hand unto: For the Poor shall never cease out of the Land; therefore I Command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine Hand wide unto thy Brother, to thy Poor, and to thy Needy in the Land. And, Ver. 8. Thou shalt open thine Hand wide unto him, and shalt surely Lend him suffi­cient for his Need, in that which he wanteth.

(3.) And no Ʋse was to be taken for any Money so Lent, nor any Pledge taken for it; or if taken, to be Restor'd before the Going down of the Sun.

If the Man be Poor, Deut. xxiv. 12, 13. thou shalt not sleep with his Pledge; in any Case thou shalt Deliver him the Pledge again, when the Sun goeth down.

If thy Brother be waxen Poor, Levit. xxv. 35, &c. 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: Take thou no Ʋsury of [Page 15]him, or Increase— Thou shalt not give him thy Money upon Ʋsury, nor lend him thy Victuals for Increase.

And the Sanction given to this Law, is, (Ver. 36.) Fear thy God. They were to trust absolutely in God, in His Blessing upon their Labours; and therefore to Fear lest they should, through any Act of Covetousness, ar­gue the least Distrust in Him, or to think that such Acts of High Charity, and Trust in God, and His Blessing upon their Obedience to His Com­mands, wou'd not yield them Grea­ter Increase than their Ʋsury, or a­ny Humane Methods cou'd be De­vised.

IV. As God Requir'd our absolute Dependence upon Him, as to Neces­saries of Life, and Protection from our Enemies, in the Instances before told; so, to shew further, that it was not our own Endeavours to which we ow'd our Preservation, He Reserv'd to Himself Great Portions of our Time, to be Abstracted from all World­ly Business, and Employ'd wholly in His Immediate Service, and Worship.

  • 1. The Stated Hours of Prayer, three [Page 16]times every Day, (Dan. vj. 10. Psal. lv. 17.) The more Devout Extended it to Seven Times a Day, (Psal. cxix. 164.) Then ther was a Morning and Evening-Sacrifice every Day.
  • 2. The WEEKLY Sabbath, or every Seventh DAY.
  • 3. The Feast of WEEKS, after Seven Weeks, or Sabbaths, (Levit. xxiij. 15. Deut. xvj. 9.)
  • 4. The Feast of every Seventh MONTH, which lasted for Seven Days together, (Le­vit. xxiij. 34, 36.)
  • 5. Every Seventh YEAR, (before spoke of.)
  • 6. The Jubile, after Seven of the Sabbatical Years, i. e. after 49 Years.

Here we have a Sabbath of Seven HOƲRS, DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS, YEARS, and of seven times Seven Years. All these Multiplications o [...] Sabbaths.

And besides all these, ther were many other Feasts, (Levit. xxiij.) both Anniversary, and Occasional, which I stay not to Enumerate, be­cause I Hasten to my Design'd Scope, that of Tythes.

As God requir'd a Weekly Seventh Part of our Time, besides many other Monthly and Yearly Feasts and Fasts: [Page 17]so has He, for the same Reason, (to teach us to Trust and Depend upon Him for All that we have or expect,) Requir'd from us (as will be shewn) a Constant Tenth Part of our Substance, as a Yearly Tribute; besides many o­ther Offerings, Sacrifices, Charities to the Poor, and Occasional Expences, which He did oblige us to, in His Service; for a Constant and daily Ex­ercise of our Faith in Him: With­out which, it wou'd Decay, and at last Die; as a Body without Daily Food.

It is said,Rom. i. 17. that the Just do Live by Faith: And that they Grow from Faith to Faith. Which supposes a Daily Increase, and Daily Nourish­ment.

Men cannot Live long upon one Meal, though never so Plentiful. And a Man is not said to Live upon a Dainty, which he but seldom Tastes. What a Man Lives upon, is his Dai­ly Food. And the Just cou'd not be said to Live by Faith, if they Exerted only now and then some one Heroi­cal Act of Faith; as Abraham's Sacri­ficing his Son, and the like.

Nay, they cou'd not shew such Ex­traordinary Strength of Faith, upon some Particular Occasions, if they did not Daily Feed upon it, and Improve it. Such Gigantick Faith Grows not all at once: And the Spiritual, as well as Bodily Activity, is not Improv'd without Constant Exercise: That is it which makes Perfect, in Thoughts as well as Actions, in Faith, in Love, in Every thing. A Giant refresh'd with Wine, shews Miracles of Strength: But one Draught of Wine gave him not that Strength, only stirr'd it up. So, upon some Great Emergencies, our Faith is stirr'd up, like Sampson, to Rouse it self.

But we must learn to Fight, before we come to the Battel. If we have not a Habit of Faith, we can never Exert Great Acts: And Habits cannot be Acquir'd, without often Repeat­ed Acts. To this End were Tythes and Sabbaths Instituted, to use u [...] to Frequent and Daily Acts of Faith: And till we are well us'd to these, we can never Rise to Higher. Therefore we see how Necessary it is to Us, to Improve these small Acts of our Faith, [Page 19]and Trust in God: For without Grea­ter, we shall hardly arrive at Heaven.

And, for this Reason, all this that I have said, by way of Introduction, has not been Unnecessary, nor Foreign to the Subject in hand; for when I con­sider that the Chief Argument against Tythes is thinking them too much to Give to God, and proceeds from a Dif­fidence in Him, and a Trusting to Se­cond Means, for our Wealth and Pro­sperity; it was necessary to Prepare the Way, by shewing how Great a De­pendence God has all along Requi­red from Us, upon Himself; and that our Wealth and Health, and all even Worldly Prosperity, is more to be at­tain'd by our Observance of His Com­mands, than by our own Endeavours or Craft: For that it is only His Bles­sing which maketh Increase, and giv­eth Success to whatever Second Means. All which was wonderfully Exempli­fy'd to Us, in the Insensible Multi­plication of a Few Loaves and Fishes, by the Blessing of our Saviour, to Feed many Thousands. And it is such a Blessing of God upon our Honest En­deavours, which gives us Increase; [Page 20]and that in every thing, in all and every Circumstance of our Lives, though we Perceive it not, but think foolishly, that all is the Effect of our own Industry and Wit: And we sa­crifice to our Net, (as the Prophet speaks, Habbak. i. 16.) to those Second Means, by which our Portion is Fat, and our Meat Plenteous.

And this Disease and Blindness is so Rooted in Mankind, that ther is nothing in the World so hard to o­vercome, though nothing be so Ne­cessary.

I say, Whoever considers this, will think that this Preparative was not without Cause; and will Excuse me to Enforce this yet somewhat further, but very Briefly.

SECT. II. Judgments upon Distrust.

I Will therefore only add a few Instances of God's Judgments upon our Distrust of Him, in those [Page 21]Things which He has Commanded Us.

1. He grievously Punish'd the Israe­lites Murmuring for want of Water, even when they were ready to Perish for Thirst, in a waste Wilderness, where, without a Miracle, ther was none to be had. And their several other Pro­vocations in Distrusting His Power, though in their Greatest Extremities: Of which ther is an Admirable Re­capitulation in Psal. lxxviij. where, Ver. 41. the Heighth of their Sin is summ'd up in LIMITING the Ho­ly One of Israel; Stinting His Power, as if any thing were too hard for Him; and not Trusting wholly and ab­solutely to it, in all and every Case, wherein He has Commanded it, how Desparate and Impossible soever it shou'd appear.

And this Sin is brought down to us, and this very Example propos'd to us, 1 Cor. x. 10. And all these Pas­sages of the Israelites shewn to belong to us, and to have happen'd unto them, for Examples to us; and that they were written for our Admonition, upon whom the Ends of the World are come, Ver. 11.

2. Now this Sin of which I speak, was a Fearfulness and Mistrust in the Power or Promises of God; of which you may Read the full Account, in Numbers, Chap. xiij. and xiv. Ten of the Twelve Spies, who were sent to search out the Land of Canaan, were Discourag'd because of the Mighty Giants which they saw there, and the Strength of their High-Wall'd Towns. And upon their Report, the People also lost their Courage, and were afraid to go up against them. Which so Provok'd the Lord, that He struck these Ten Spies Dead upon the Spot; and Pronounc'd so Heavy a Curse upon the whole Congregation, that He kept them 39 Years after in the Wilderness, till all that whole Ge­neration were Dead, (except only the Two Courageous and Believing Spies,) and their Children He brought into the Land. Nay, He had Destroy'd them, Children and all, and Rais'd of Moses a Greater Nation than they, had not Moses strongly Interceded for them. And it is observable that Mo­ses Fasted and Pray'd as long (that is, 40 Days) to Attone for this Sin, as [Page 23]for the Idolatry of the Golden-Calf, (Deut. ix. 25.) to shew that this Sin of Distrust in God, is as Heinous as that of Idolatry it self; and, no doubt, is the Reason that Covetousness is cal­led Idolatry: Ephes. v. 5. Colos. iij. 5. For the Covetous Man is he that Trusts in his Riches; and Trust being the Highest Act of Wor­ship, consequently, we make that our God, wherein we Trust.

SECT. III. Of Trust in Riches.

1. HOW hard is it, not to Trust in Riches! And it is very ea­sily known when we do so: For while we have that wherein we Trust, our Heart is at Rest, and we Fear not. But when we want that wherein our Trust is, we Faint, and are Discoura­ged. Now, Who is not Discourag'd, and Fears Want, when he has no Mo­ney? And, Whose Heart is not lifted up, and thinks himself secure, when he has Money enough? Who is not [Page 24]apt to sing the Rich Man's Requiem, Thou hast much Goods laid up for many Years; Luk. xij. 19. take thine Ease, Eat, Drink, and be Merry? This made our Sa­viour Pronounce it as Impossible for those who Trust in Riches to enter in-the Kingdom of God,Mar. x. 24. as for a Camel to go through the Eye of a Needle. Indeed, it is impossible for any who Trust in their Riches, and look from them for Peace Health and Happi­ness, so much as to Understand, or have the least Notion of the King­dom, that is, the Power and Govern­ment of God over All things: Because that whoever had a Just and True Apprehension of the Sovereign Power of the Almighty, must see that all Se­cond Causes were so Absolutely in His Hands, as that they had no Force or Virtue at all but what He gave them; And therefore, that ther was no Trust or Dependence at all upon any of them, or all together; but upon their High and Irresistible DISPO­SER alone.

Alone: For if they receive All their Virtue from Him, it is His Power A­lone, not His and Theirs together: [Page 25]And He will not Give His Glory to An­other. Isa. xlij. 8. He must have All our Heart, or None: Therefore he said,Matt. vj. 24. Ye can­not serve God and Mummon. He is a Jealous God, and will admit of no Rivals.

2. But this is for our Good, not that He wants our Poor Service; for if we bring any thing else to Rival Him in our Hearts, it is our own Mi­sery; and if we place our Love and Dependence upon any thing else than God, we are sure to be Disappointed, because nothing else can afford any Satisfaction, not only against His Will, but there is nothing that has any De­sirable or Profitable Quality, but what it receiv'd from God, not only at first, when He Made it, but every Minute that He Conserves it; without which, it would immediately fall into its first Nothing. So that not only he who seeks to be Happy against God's Will, in a Direct Manner, by Sinning Pre­sumptuously, and, as it were, Entring the Lists against Him, Plundering, and Stealing▪ and Killing, to get Riches, is greatly mistaken when he thinks that the Riches which he has so ac­quir'd, [Page 26]and wherein he takes Delight, have, in themselves, any Virtue or Beauty: But God gives it them, and gives them to him for his Greater Pu­nishment, and the Greatest of all Judg­ments, to give us leave to stray from God, and set up our Rest in what must Fail us, and leave us Miserable for ever. I say, this is not only th [...] Case of those Open and Professe [...] Sinners, before spoke of, who Pro­voke God to His Face; but likewise of all the Covetous, Psal. x. iij. whom God abhor­reth. Of all who Trust in their Riche [...] and Depend not absolutely and solely upon God for their Daily Bread, fo [...] all the Necessaries and Comforts of Life and for every thing else, as well i [...] Relation to This World, as That whic [...] is to come.

Of all the Principalities in Hel [...] ther is none like Mammon, who Da [...] Rival GOD to His Face; ther i [...] none who has Rebell'd with th [...] Success; and Made such Havock o [...] the Souls of Men.

Therefore God has, from the Be­ginning, Guarded us, with Greate [...] Caution, against this Devil. He has [Page 27]commanded him to be Sacrific'd upon His Altar, and made that a Part of the Worship of GOD.

SECT. IV. That some Part of our Substance is Due to God, as an Act of Worship.

1. WE are not only to Worship God with our Lips, and give Him Praises with our Tongue, Prov. iij. 9. which is but an Inferiour and Contem­plative Worship; But He has Requir'd that we shou'd Pay Him an Active Honour, that is, Worship Him,Ecclus. xxxv. 8. with our Substance.

This is a Necessary Part of that Glory which we must give to God; and as much Preferable to Verbal Praises, as Deeds are more than Words. The Psalmist Describes this Plainly, Psal. xcvj. 8. Give unto the Lord the Glory due unto His Name, or, The Glory of His Name, as our Margin reads it. What is that Glory? [Page 28]The next Words shew it; Bring as Offering, and come into His Courts.

Hence that Command is so oft Re­peated,Exo. xxiij. 15. Ch. xxxiv. 20. Deut. xvj. 16, 17. That None shou'd appear Empty before the Lord.

When we Approach to Worship GOD, we must Sacrifice more or less of our Mammon before Him; to shew that we Depend upon God for our whole Subsistence, and that Mammon is not that God: But we offer him up as a Sacrifice to another God, to a Greater than he.

I will not offer unto the Lord my God (said David) of that which doth Cost me Nothing. 2 Sam. xxiv. 24.

But I will not Labour this Point further, because I suppose that I shall have none to oppose me.

For All Christians do Grant, that some Part of our Substance is Due to God. Nay, this is a Notion where­in All Mankind do agree, and have done, at All Times, since the Be­ginning of the World. No Na­tion was ever so Barbarous, that did not Sacrifice to some God or other. And though the Outward Typical BLOODY Sacrifices have ceas'd [Page 29]among Christians, since Christ, the True and only Propitiatory Sacrifice, offer'd His own Blood for Us upon the Cross; yet, I hope, ther is not any Christian to be found, who thinks that we are therefore Releas'd from the Command of Honouring the Lord with our Substance, and Disposing of some Part of our Money, though not in Beasts for Sacrifice, yet in the Service of God, which never did Consist wholly in the Sacrifice of Beasts. Ther are, and ever were, other Parts of His Worship; and from which we are not Releas'd: For, as Irenaeus proves, (Advers. Haeres. l. 4. c. 34.) Ther are Offerings and Sacrifices un­der the Gospel, as well as under the Law, that the Command is not Abo­lish'd; only the Species of some are Chang'd.

It being therefore Granted, That some Part of our Substance is Due to God, let us proceed to Enquire what that Part is; or whether God has left us wholly at loose, to give what Part we Please, and in what Manner we think fit.

2. This being a Part of God's Worship, it cannot be Paid, after our Fancies, but as God has Appointed it.

To Give Alms to a Poor Man, i [...] an Act of Charity, and Command­ed by God; But it is not a Dired Act of Worship or Devotion. Every Good Act we do, whether of Mercy or Justice, or any other Morality is, and may be Constru'd Consequen­tially to be a Worship of God, as be­ing done in Obedience to His Com­mand: And thus every Act of ou [...] Life may be counted an Act of Wor­ship, because Whether we Eat or Drin [...] or whatever we do, 1 Cor. x. 31. we are Command­ed to do All to the Glory of God. Bu [...] all these Acts have ever been Distin­guish'd from the Acts of Direct WOR­SHIP, which are to be Regulate [...] strictly, according to the Positive Com­mand of God, in Scripture; from which we must not Depart, either [...] the Right Hand, Deut. v. 32. or to the Left; nei­ther to Add to it, Ch. xij. 32. or Diminish from it.

But in General Actions of Morality we are left to the General Guidano [...] of our own Reason, according to the General Directions of the Scripture, [Page 31]and the Ordinary Assistances of the Holy Spirit; and to the Performance of which, General Promises are an­nexed.

But in the more Direct Acts of Worship, which are All Commanded by Revelation, we are Limited Pre­cisely to what is so Revealed; and ther are Particular and Peculiar Pro­mises annexed to the Performance, and a more than ORDINARY As­sistance and Participation of the Holy Spirit of God.

Therefore, what Part of our Sub­stance God has Reserv'd as a Part of His Worship, is not to be Reckon'd among Bare Acts of Charity; but must be Offer'd in such Manner and Method as He has Commanded.

This being Premised, we will now see whether any Determinate Quan­tum of our Estates has been Reserv'd by God, as Sacred, to Himself.

SECT. V. Of the Determinate Number of a Tenth, under the Law.

THE Cabalists make many My­steries in this Number. It is the Completion of all Single Numbers, and the first Number of Increase; by which all Nations do Multiply: And therefore ther seems to be even some Natural Aptitude in this Number, be­yond that of any other; which for­ces all Mankind, without Concerting, to Multiply by it. And being thus, in many Respects, the most Perfect of Numbers; the First and Last of Num­bers, comprehending all Single Num­bers, and Multiplying them in Infini­tum; it seems the most Fit and Pro­per Number, wherein to Pay our Tri­bute to God, who is the First and the Last, and Multiplies all we have un­to us; by this acknowledging, that All we Enjoy, and all our Increase is His, and comes from Him.

Ther are Cabalisms upon this Num­ber; as to the Decalogue, compre­hending [Page 33]all Duty; and the Ten Candle­sticks in the Temple, (1 Kings vij. 49.) representing the Ten Severities and Mercies (as they reckon them) of God; and the Holy Seed is called a Tenth, Isa. vj. 13. They tell us, that ther is a Mytholology, not only in the Quantum or Number of the Tythe, but in the Manner of its Payment; viz. The People were to Pay the Tenth to the Levites; and the Levites, the Tenth of their Tenth to the High-Priest. They say that the People do represent the Corporeal Part of Man; the Le­vites, the Animal; and the High-Priest, the Spiritual, which is the Highest: And that as the People fed the Levites, by Paying their Tythe to them; and the Levites, in the same manner, fed the High-Priest; so, in Man, the Corporeal Part feeds the Ani­mal, and the Animal feeds the Spiri­ [...]ual. But I leave these Allusions; and whatever Truth ther may be in [...]hem, yet I lay no Stress of my pre­sent Argument upon them. I Enquire not now after Tythes, upon account of the Reasons, either Natural or Cabal­ [...]istical, for the Fitness of that Num­ber [Page 34]above any other. But I desire to follow Matter of Fact, and see what God has Appointed; for if that can be found out, it Determines our Obe­dience, more Positively and Certainly than a Thousand Conjectures or Con­trivances of our own.

Let me only observe, that Ten be­ing the utmost Number, it is the leas [...] Proportion that cou'd be Reserv'd▪ for Nine wou'd be a Greater Propor­tion of our Goods, and Eight a Greate [...] than that, &c.

But now, to follow the Clew o [...] Matter of Fact, by which I intend to Determine this Cause of Tythe; It is in the first place, very Evident, Tha [...] a Tenth Part of all Increase was Re­serv'd, as such, under the Law; An [...] that it was to be offer'd to the Priests not only as a Maintenance to them but as an Offering unto the Lord, i [...] the same Nature as other Offerings an [...] Sacrifices: Num. xviij. 24. The Tythes of the Childre [...] of Israel, which they offer as an Heav [...] Offering unto the Lord.

All the Tythe of the Land, Lev. xxvij. 30. whether [...] the Seed of the Land, or of the Fruit [...] the Trees, is the Lord's; it is Holy un­to the Lord.

Thither shall ye bring your Burnt-Of­ferings, Deut. xij. 6. and your Sacrifices, and your Tythes, and Heave-Offerings of your Hands, and your Vows, and your Free-Will-Offerings, and the Firstlings of your Herds, and of your Flocks.

Here the Tythes are reckon'd in the same Rank with the Sacrifices and other Offerings, and Vows, as Holy unto the Lord: As they are again, Deut. xxvj. 13. where they are called, The Hallowed Things. And hence the Substraction of Tythes is called a Rob­bing of God; and that equally with the Substracting of the other Offerings of the Lord.

Will a Man Rob God? Mal. iij. 8, 9. Yet ye have Robbed Me: But ye say, Wherein have we Robbed Thee? In Tythes, and Of­ferings. Ye are Cursed with a Curse; for ye have Robbed me, even this whole Nation.

SECT. VI. A Tenth Requir'd before the Law; shewn in Abram, and Jacob.

BUT now it Remains to be known whether this was a Particular In­stitution only to the Jews, under the Law? Or whether it had a more An­cient Rise? And how Ancient?

That it was before the Law, it is Evident from the Example of Abram, Gen. xiv. 20. who Paid Tythes to Melchisedec; and of Jacob, Ch. xxviij. 22. who Vow'd his Tythes to God.

I. But ther are Objections against these two Instances: 1. As to Melchi­sedec. It is said,Abram. That the Tenth Part which Abram gave to Melchise­dec, was not any thing that was Due to Melchisedec, nor given to him under the Notion of Tythe, nor to him as he was a Priest, but that it was only a Voluntary Boon, or Gra­tuity, which Abram gave to him; and that it might have been an Eighth, a Ninth, a Twelfth, a Fifteenth, or any other Part Abram had Pleas'd.

Answ. All this Pretence is over­thrown by what is said in the vij Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, where, Ver. 4. the Apostle argues the Greatness of Melchisedec above A­bram, from Abram's Paying of Tythes to him. Now Consider (saith the Text) how Great this Man was, unto whom even the Patriarch Abram gave the Tenth of the Spoils. But if it had been only a Gratuity or Free Gift from Abram, it wou'd have argu'd the Greatness of Abram above Melchi­sedec; for the Giver is Greater than the Receiver.

But when any thing is paid as a Tribute, or a Rent Due, it argues the Greatness of the Receiver above that of the Payer. And therefore, unless Abram paid his Tythe to Melchise­dec as a Tribute Due to him, the A­postle's Argument is so far from being Conclusive, that it operates quite Contrary to that Inference which the Apostle made from it, and Proves the Greatness of Abram above Mel­chisedec; whereas the Apostle, in this Verse, and Ver. 7. puts it with­out all Contradiction, that Abram was [Page 38]the Less, and Melchisedec the Greater and the Better.

And this was not a Personal Com­parison betwixt them; but the Pre­ference given to Melchisedec was in respect of his Character, because he was a Priest, whose Office it was to Bless, in the Name of the Lord. Thence St. Paul argues, That without all Contradiction, the Less is Blessed of the Better.

Again, Ver. 9. The Apostle argues the Preference of the Melchisedecal Priesthood before that of Levi, be­cause Levi, in his Father Abram, paid Tythes to Melchisedec.

Here, 1. it is Establish'd, that those who RECEIVE Tythes, are Great­er, and of Higher Dignity, than those who PAY the Tythes to them.

2. It is hence made Manifest, That the Tythe which Abram paid to Mel­chisedec, was Paid in the true No­tion of Tythe, as Tythe, and a Tri­bute which was Due to Melchisedec, as he was Priest of the Most High God. For if it had not been Paid as Tythe, how cou'd Levi have been said to have Paid Tythes in Abram?

And the Word is observable, v. 6. [...], that is, Melchisedec Ty­thed Abram; i. e. Put him under Tythe, or Exacted it from him, as his Due. The Vulgar Translates it, Decimas sumpsit ab Abram: He Took Tythes from Abram.

3. And because it was Part of the Priest's Office to Receive The Lord's Tythe, a Receiver of Tythe and a Priest are Terms Synonimous. Thus, in this same Chapter, Heb. vij. it is said, v. 8. Here Men that Die Receive Tythe; (that is, Under the Law, the Priests were Mortal, and therefore ther was a Necessity of their succeeding one an­other;) But there, (that is, in the Case of Christ, Typify'd by Melchi­sedec) He (i.e. Christ) Receiveth them (Tythes) of whom it is witnes­sed that he Liveth, i. e. Liveth for Ever, and so is not to be succeeded by any other High-Priest. And He Ever Liveth, to Receive our Tythe for Ever; that is, for Ever to be our High-Priest; for a Priest, and a Receiver of Tythe, are here made to be the same. He (Christ) Receiv­eth them (the Tythes;) that is, in the [Page 40]Language of this Text, He (Christ) is our Priest.

And in Repeating the same thing over again, Ver. 23. the Word Priests is put for those who are call'd Re­ceivers of Tythe in the 8th Verse; for, speaking of the Mortality of the High-Priests of the Tribe of Levi, it is ex­press'd thus in the 8th Verse, Here Men that Die Receive Tythes: And, Ver. 23. it is thus worded, They were many Priests, because they were not suf­fer'd to Continue by reason of Death▪ And then when, in the Comparison, the Eternity of the Priesthood of Christ is set forth, it is said, Ver. 24. Because He continueth Ever, He hath an Ʋn-Changeable Priesthood: Which is Ex­pressed, Ver. 8. by saying, That He Ever Liveth to Receive Tythes: Which is the same as being a Priest, as the Text runs, But there He (Christ) Re­ceiveth them, (Tythes) of whom it is witnessed that He Liveth.

So that as a Sacrificer and a Priest are the same, because none have a Right to Sacrifice but the Priests, a Receiver of Tythes is as Synonimous to a Priest, for the same Reason, be­cause [Page 41]none other but the Priests only, have any Right or Title to Receive the Tythes of God: For, as before­said, Tythes are Part of the Offerings to God, Part of his Worship, and therefore to be Paid, as such, into the Hands of his Priests only, as all other of His Offerings and Sacrifices were.

This shews the Folly of those who wou'd have these Tythes paid to Mel­chisedec as King, and not as Priest; Because he is call'd King of Salem, as well as Priest of the Most High God.

Answ. 1. The Argument of the A­postle, Heb. vij. runs wholly upon his Priesthood: And Drawing a Parallel betwixt his Priesthood, and that of Aaron. And shews that our Saviour was a Priest of his Order, which was a Superiour Priesthood to the Leviti­cal. He does not say that Christ was a King, but a Priest after the Order of Melchisedec.

And how did Levi, in Abram, pay Tythes to the King of Salem? Did this make all the Posterity of Abram, the whole Nation of the JEWS, Subjects, or Tributaries to a Foreign King? And why is it said, That Levi [Page 42]paid Tythes, more than any other of the Posterity of Abram?

It is Plain, That a Comparison was here made betwixt the two Priest­hoods; that of Melchisedec, and that of Levi. And Levi's Paying Tythes to Melchisedec, is brought as an Ar­gument that the Priesthood of Melchi­sedec was Superiour: For, Without all Contradiction, (says the Apostle) the Less is Blessed of the Better. And thence infers, that Melchisedec was Greater than Abram, whom he Bles­sed: Which cou'd not be, if he Bles­sed him only as a King; that is, Wish­ed well to him, or Pray'd for him; for that an Inferiour may do to his Supe­riour: But to Bless in the Name of God, and by Virtue of his Office, be­longs to Priests, and not to Kings. And of such Blessing the Apostle here Speaks, and Argues from it: Which is no Argument, nor Sense, if it be not thus Understood.

It is true, That orginally the Priest­hood was join'd with the Regal Power, and Kings were Priests, as Melchise­dec here. And we have many Later Instances in other Nations, of the [Page 43]same. Whence Arose that Mistake in some, That Tythes were paid to Kings, as Kings; not considering that this was a Tribute paid to them as Priests. And if Kings have Preserv'd a Tenth to themselves, out of Lands they Gave to their Subjects, as any other Land­lord may do; Or if Kings Exacted a Tenth, by way of Tax, or such a Tax was given to them; yet this is not the Tythe of God, concerning which we now Speak; for that, being a Sa­crifice, was to be Given only into the Hands of the Priests, it being Part of our Worship of God. And such was the Tythe paid by Abram to Mel­chisedec; For how did he owe him that Tribute, as King of Salem? Or how was that an Expression of Abram's Thankfulness to God, for the Great Victory he then Obtain'd? Which Paying the Tythe of the Spoils to God, by the Hands of His Priest, was: And the Blessing of God, pro­nounc'd by the Mouth of His Priest, was His Acceptance of it, and Assu­rance of His Favour to Abram.

II. Mr. Seldon endeavours to Ener­vate this Example of Abram, History of Tythes, c. 1. n. 1. by Cri­ticising [Page 44]upon the Word [...], Ver. 4 which is Translated Spoils. And thence wou'd infer, That Abram gave to Mel­chisedec only the Tythe of the Spoils which he had taken.

Answ. If this Criticism were just it proves nothing but that Spoils ta­ken in War, are Tythable, as well a [...] any Profits gain'd by our Labours, i [...] Peace.

For the Reason will hold stronge [...] for the Tything of the Increase of ou [...] Fields, and other Fruits of Peace [...] And they were more Generally Paid and more Expresly Reserv'd, than th [...] Tythes of the Spoils of War. Though the Tythe of Spoils were Paid, and a [...] knowledg'd as Due to God, even b [...] the Heathens themselves, as shall b [...] shewn in its Place.

Therefore this Criticism of Mr. Sel­den's, instead of an Objection, doe [...] more strongly Enforce the Obligation of Tythes, and Extends them farther than if the Word [...] were suf­fer'd to mean, what it truly does, the First-Fruits, the Choicest and Best Parts▪ It signifies Literally, the Tops of Heaps; which being Generally the Best and [Page 45] Choicest Part of the Heaps were ta­ken for the First-Fruits, or Tenths Due to God, of whatever Sort; and not only the Tenth of Spoils. For Sui­das tells us, That it means the Tenth of the Product of the Field, and of Merchandise, as well as of Spoils. The Etymology, or Common Accepta­tion of the Word in the Greek Au­thors, having no relation at all to Spoils, but much rather to the Ga­thering in of the Harvest, where the Sheaves and Corn are put in Heaps, and the Tythe taken from the Top, or Best of the Heaps: Or (as Sui­das gives another Etymology of the Word) to the Heaps of Merchants Goods, upon the Sea-Shore, when they are Imported, out of which the Tythe was taken, as of the Product of the Fields. But, in no Accep­tation of the Word [...], has it any sort of Relation to Spoils, more than to any other Tythable Things; nor indeed, so much: It is apply'd to Spoils only in a Secondary and Borrow'd Sense; but, in the Primary and most Ʋsual Acceptation of the Word, it is understood of Tythes. [Page 46]But of Spoils, Mr. Selden confesses that elsewhere (than in this Text) is rarely occurs in this Sense.

Nor can it be Restrain'd only to the Tythe of Spoils in this Chapter Heb. vij. For it is said, Ver. 2. That Abram gave to Melchisedec a Ten [...] Part, [...], of All: And this is be­fore any Mention was made of the Tythe of the Spoils, only in the Gene­ral Description of Melchisedec and Abram. That of the Spoils comes i [...] afterwards, as a Particular Instance Ver. 4. and cannot, by any Necessity of Construction; Limit the [...] of All things in the 2d Verse of which it is said that Abram gave the Tythe to Melchisedec. Though, if it did it wou'd (as before has been said) only Prove that Tythes were Due out of Spoils; but not that they were not Due out of other things. And the Universal Custom of Pay­ing Tythes out of other things, as well among the Gentiles as the Jews, (which will be shewn) is sufficient­ly Convincing, that nothing which can be Inferr'd from the Text above-quoted, can Limit the Payment of [Page 47] Tythes only to that of Spoils taken in War.

Mr. Selden himself confesses, That [...] signifieth also First-Fruits, or the Chiefest Parts, Sacred to the Gods among the Gentiles (says he) and [...] hath, in that Sense, been turn'd here, by de Praecipuis, in the Vulgar. Thus he.

Here is a great Authority which he does not answer; That the Payment of Tythes mention'd in this Text, can­not be Limited to that of Spoils on­ly: For, in the Vulgar, there is no Mention at all made of Spoils; but the Word [...], which the English renders Spoils, is more Literally Trans­lated de Praecipuis, i. e. of the Chief, or Principal. In which Sense, the Text runs thus; That Abram gave to Melchisedec the Tythe of the Chief and Principal Things, or out of the Chief and Principal Parts. And Mr. Sel­den confesses, that the Greek Word [...] does very well bear this In­terpretation. Only he makes this Objection against the Sense of the Text, as render'd by the Vulgar; Can it be thought (says he) that he gave [Page 48]Tythes of the Best Parts only? How stands that with Giving Tythes of All? Very well; i. e. By Giving Tythes of All, out of the Best Parts; which was the Custom: And it was thought a Neglect of God, to Pay His Tythe out of the Worst Parts, and not out of the very Best. And Mr. Selden owns, that the Syriack and Arabick Transla­tions of Heb. vij. 2. are Expresly so; i. e. That Abram gave Melchisedec the Tythe, not only of the Spoils, but of All that he had. And that this was the Ordinary Gloss of Solomon Jarchi, upon these Words in Gen. xiv. 20. Against all which he opposes, That Josephus, and the Targum of Jonathan Ben-Ʋziel, say, that Abram gave to Melchisedec the Tythe of the Spoils.

But this is no Contradiction to the other: For if he gave him Tythes of All that he had, he gave the Tythe of the Spoils likewise.

III. Mr. Selden (c. 1. n. 2.) squints an Objection against Abram and Ja­cob's Paying Tythe, as supposing them to be Priests. He supposes Melchise­dec to have been Sem, and conse­quently an Elder, and a Superiour Priest [Page 49]to Abram. But perhaps he thought it Inconsistent for one Priest to pay Tythe to another Priest, though of a Supe­riour Order: And hence wou'd not have it thought that Abram paid Tythe, though he gave a Tenth Part; i. e. that he did not give it under the Notion of Tythe, or a Tribute Due to Melchisedec, as his Superiour.

But the Superiority of Melchisedec above Abram is largely Argu'd, Heb. vij. And under the Law,Num. xviij. 26. the Levites were to Pay a Tenth of their Tythe to the High-Priest. And, if, in this Sense, Abram (upon Mr. Selden's Supposi­tion) pay'd Tythe to Melchisedec, [...]hen [...], Heb. vij. 4. is Literally the Tenth of the Tythe; for [...], as before observ'd, signifies Tythe: And so rarely does it signifie Spoils, that except in this Text (if it [...]e so meant there) Mr. Selden can [...]nd but one Instance, amongst the Greek Authors, where it is taken for Spoils; at least, this must be Grant­ed, that Spoils is but a strain'd and [...]ery unusual Signification of the Word. And Abram, supposing him [...] Priest, paying Tythe to Melchisedec, [Page 50]argues the Superiority of the Priesthood of Melchisedec; after which Order of Priesthood, and not after the Or­der either of Abraham or Aaron, ou [...] Lord Christ was Consecrated. And this will Infer all that the Apostle a [...] ­gues, from Abram's Payment of Tythe to Melchisedec, Heb. vij. as much a [...] if Abram were then a Lay-Man.

And he might then be a Lay-Man though he were a Priest afterwards For he was then only Abram; it w [...] before the Covenant God made with him, and the Alteration thereupon of his Name into Abraham, Gen. xv [...] whereby he was constituted The F [...] ­ther of the Many Nations of the Faith­ful to come. But these Things con­cern not our Present Enquiry: The [...] ­fore let us Proceed.

IV. The Second Instance abov [...] mention'd for Tythes, Gen. xxviij 22. is that of J [...] ­cob: Against which it is Objecte [...] That this was only a Vow.

Answ. It was a Vow; Jacob. But not the [...] ­fore only a Vow. Men often, a [...] most commonly Vow that which [...] their Duty to do, without Respect [...] the Vow: As, to Vow to serve G [...] [Page 51]more faithfully than we have done before. Thus, in this same Vow of Jacob's, he Vows that The Lord shall be his God. Will any say that The Lord was not his God before?

And indeed, this of Dedicating the Tythe to God, was no more than a further Declaration that the Lord was his God: Because Offering of Tythe was a Part of the Worship of God. And therefore Jacob did, by this, De­clare that The Lord only should be his God, because he would Offer his Tythe only unto Him.

It was the Custom of the Nations among the Heathen, to Offer their Tythes to the God whom they Ador'd: And therefore, some Offer'd their Tythes to One, and some to Another of their False Gods. But Jacob here Vows to The only True God, That He only shall be his God; and that he will Offer his Tythes to none other God, but to Him alone.

For to whom we Dedicate the Tythe, we acknowledge to have Receiv'd the other Nine Parts from him; of which, the Offering of the Tenth is [...] solemn Acknowledgment.

And the Vowing or Dedicating them, though Due before, was Customary with the Jews, as well as the Hea­then; for so it is commanded, Ecclus [...] xxxv. 9. Dedicate thy Tythes with Glad­ness. And none will say, that they were not Due among the Jews, eve [...] before their Dedication of them.

SECT. VII. That the Gentiles did Pay Tythe [...] to their Gods.

I. THE Great Opposer of Tythe [...] the Learned Mr. Selden cannot Deny this: But in his Histo [...] of Tythes, cap. 3. he Endeavours t [...] Lessen this as much as he can, b [...] offering some of his Conjectures

  • 1. That they were Pay'd only by Par­ticular Vows.
  • 2. Not by any Law En­joining them.
  • 3. Not Generally
  • 4. Not Yearly.
  • 5. Only to some Parti­cular God; as, among the Romans, to Hercules, &c.
  • 6. Only of some Par­ticular Things, not of all our Increase of every sort.

In every one of which Particulars, he has been sufficiently Confuted by several Learned Answers which have been made to that Book of his. Dr. Comber, last of all, has Collected these, and added to them. And put that Matter (I think) past a Reply.

But I intend not to trouble the Rea­der with a Repetition of any of these: Because what Mr. Selden himself al­lows is abundantly sufficient to my Present Purpose. And indeed to Con­fute himself in every one of these Heads, to which I have reduc'd all his Pretences whereby he Endea­vours to invalidate the Practice of the Gentiles from being a Testimony to the Divine Right of Tythes.

For However they paid their Tythe,

  • 1. Whether of Every thing, or only of Some sorts of their Encrease?
  • 2. Whe­ther to one or to more of their Gods?
  • 3. Whether Annually, or Occasionally?
  • 4. Whether Generally, or only the Devouter sort?
  • 5. Whether thereunto Requir'd by their Municipal Laws, or not? Or,
  • 6. Whether with, or with­out a Particular Vow?

Yet this re­mains uncontroverted, upon either [Page 54]side of these Questions, That the No­tion of Tythes, as being due unto some God or other, was receiv'd a­mong the Gentiles, and that, time out of Mind; which is all the Use [...] have, at Present, to make of thi [...] Custom, or Tradition of the Gentiles▪ And of which I will shew the For [...] in summing up the Evidence.

In the mean time, let me enlarg [...] so far as to shew the Reader how f [...] Selden himself do's yield the Cause i [...] all these Captious Questions which h [...] puts in Prejudice to the Divine Rig [...] of Tythes.

II. But first I must obviate a Mista [...] which may arise from the Use of th [...] word [...] First-fruits. For th [...] in the Levitical sense of the word, [...] is distinguished from the Tythes, b [...] ­cause ther were Particular First-fru [...] distinct from the Tythe, Reserv'd [...] the Levitical Law, yet in the Prof [...] Writings, First-fruits and Tenths a [...] Generally understood to mean t [...] same thing: Because, as Mr. Seld [...] confesses (c. 3. n. 3.) the First-frui [...] were paid in the Proportion of [...] Tenth Part. And the Tenths we [...] [Page 55]paid out of the First-fruits, or Choicest of the Whole. Whence these Terms of First-fruits and Tythes became sy­nonimous.

And tho not Always, yet Often they are taken to mean the same thing, even in the Sacred Writings. And the Reason is this; Ther were Two sorts of First-fruits under the Law; of which the one was the Tenth, and the other was not. The first sort we find Levit. xxiij. 9, &c. where it is commanded, that at the Reaping of their Fields, they should bring a Sheaf or Handful of the first of the Harvest unto the Priest, to be offered before the Lord; and before this was done, they were Prohibited so much as to taste even of the Green Ears, Ver. 14.

These are called The First of the First-frruts, Exod. xxxiv. 26. But when the Full Harvest was brought in, then the Tenth Part of the whole was taken out of the First or Choicest Parts. And before this Tenth was offer'd, it was not Lawful for the Ow­ner to Convert any of the Nine Parts to his own use. And therefore these Tenths were the First-fruits of the [Page 56]Harvest. First offer'd to God before any of the Remainder cou'd be dis­pos'd of; and which likewise consist­ed of the First or Principal Parts of the Harvest. Thus the Tenths were always First-fruits: But the First-fruits were not always Tenths. Tho this Second sort of First-fruits wer [...] always Tenths. The Praemessum o [...] Praemetium of the Romans before Har­vest; and their Flori-festum after Har­vest, both dedicated to Ceres, do re­semble these two sorts of First-fruits.

But the first of the First-fruits wer [...] not paid out of all those things which were Tythable; and, in those Case [...] the word First-fruits did express only the Tenth. Thus the Tenth of th [...] Tenth which the Levites were to pay to the High-Priest, is call'd by the Name of First-fruits; and the Mean­ing of that Name is explain'd in the Vulgar Translation of Numb. xviij. 26 Primitias offerte Domino, id est, Deci­mam partem: i. e. Offer to the Lord your First-fruits, that is the Tenth part. And this Tenth is call'd First-fruits in the Greek, [...], Ver. 29. and 30. In both which last Verses our English [Page 57]renders it the Best, and likewise the Vulgar, Optima & Electa. And the LXX mean the same by [...] First-fruits; for they being commanded to be given of the very Best: hence the word First-fruits became likewise a Term for the Best and Choicest things.

And that the Heathen had the same Notion of Tythes and First-fruits be­ing the same, Mr. Selden do's not con­ceal, but gives Authority for it,History of Tythes, c. 3. n. 3. and shews that their Offerings to their Gods were call'd [...], that is, First-fruits in Tenths. A Multi­tude of Authorities for this might be given; but it will not be Deny'd; and I hasten.

III. This being thus settl'd, I pro­ceed to shew How far Mr. Selden has allow'd the General Notion of the Gentiles (and not only of Particular Men or some Nations) that the Tythe was due unto their Gods.

In his Hist. of Tythes c. 3. he con­fesses it to be the Custom of the Gen­tiles, Tythes, a General Custom of the Gen­tiles. to offer the Tythe to their Gods. And gives several Instances for Ex­ample, of the Arabians and Phaenici­ans, in Asia, among whom Melchi­sedec [Page 58]was both a King and a Priest; the Carthaginians and Egyptians in Africa; and the Grecians and Romans in Europe. And Chap. 10. n. 1. he brings it as far West as England, and shews it to have been the Custom Here, even amongst those who had not yet received Christianity: as of King Cedwalla, about the Year 686. before he was a Christian, and others.

Pliny, in his Natural History, l. 12. c. 14. witnesses of the Arabians, who paid Tythe to their God Sabis. And c. 19. of the Ethiopians, who paid their Tythe to their God Assabinus. And this they observ'd so strictly That it was not Lawful for the Mer­chants to Buy or Sell any of their Goods, till the Priests had first take [...] out the Tenth for their Gods.

Plutarch, in the Life of Camill [...], tells not only how Religiously the Romans observ'd the Payment of their Tythes to their Gods; but like­wise that the same Regard was had to them among the Liparians. For when, after Camillus's Conquest of the City of Veies, the Augurs had made Report that the Gods were greatly [Page 59]offended (tho for what they knew not) which they found by the Marks and Observations they made of their Sacrifices. And Camillus having In­form'd the Senate, That in the Sack­ing of Veies the Soldiers had taken the Spoil, without giving the Tenth to the Gods: And whereas the Sol­diers had, most of them, spent or dispos'd of what they had taken, the Senate order'd every Man to give in upon Oath, what he had got of the Booty, and to Pay a Tenth of it, or the Value, if it was spent, to the Gods. And besides this, a Cup of Gold of eight Talents, to be sent to the Temple of Apollo at Delphos, as a Tres­pass-Offering. Towards which the Women brought in their Jewels and Gold of their own Free-will so rea­dily, that the Senate, in Honour to them, gave them a Privilege, which before had been deny'd them, of ha­ving Orations in their Praise made at their Funerals; which formerly had been allow'd only to Great and Emi­nent Men.

And they Appointed three of the first Quality in Rome to carry this Pre­sent, [Page 60]with the Tythes, in a Triumphant Manner, to Delphos.

In the Way, they were taken, and made Prize by the Liparians. But when brought to their City, and the Governor understanding that so Great a Booty was Tythes due to the Gods, he not only Restor'd it all, and sent them away with it; but gave them a Convoy of his own Ships to secure them in their Voyage, tho he was then at War with them.

The Greeks had the same Notion of the Divine Right of Tythes. Which Xenophon tells us, and gives a Remark­able Instance of it (de Exped. Cyr. l. 5.) That the Grecian Army whom he con­ducted in that Memorable Retreat, af­ter the Death of Cyrus, Reserv'd a Tenth of the Money they got upon their March, by the Sale of Captives (notwithstanding their Great Distress) to be offer'd to Apollo and Diana. But Xenophon Reserv'd the Tythe of his Share, to be offer'd at Delphi and Ephesus. With this he built a Temple to Diana, and bought Lands where­with to Endow it; of which he paid the Tythe to her. And near the Temple [Page 61]set up a Pillar, with this Inscription, GROƲND SACRED TO DIANA. WHOSOEVER POSSESSETH IT, LET HIM PAY THE TYTHE OF HIS YEARLY ENCREASE: AND OƲT OF THE REMAINDER MAINTAIN THE TEMPLE. IF HE NEGLECT THIS, THE GOD­GESS WILL REQƲIRE IT.

Many more Instances might be brought out of the Greek and Latin Stories. But ther is no need. For Mr. Selden owns it, not only as to these, but the Gentiles in General, as before quoted c. 1. n. 1. where he says, that the First-fruits and Chiefest parts were Sacred to the Gods among the Gentiles. See what has been said N. II. of First-fruits and Tenths being the same. And that their Offerings to their Gods were call'd [...] First-fruits in Tenths; which shews that the usual Quantum of their Offerings was a Tenth; otherwise their Offerings cou'd not have got the Name of that Pro­portion more than of any other. But Mr. Selden do's acknowledge this in the place above-quoted, c. 3. n. 3. That the Offerings were so call'd, be­cause [Page 62]they were either the Tenth, or given as in lien of so much. Therefor the Tenth was the Quantum which they thought was Due to the Gods. Mr. Selden, in his Review of Chap. 3. But for the Gentiles (says he) it is true, they were very devout in giving of their yearly Increase to the Honour of their Deities, according to the AT­TIQƲE Law [...], that is, TO HONOƲR THE GODS WITH THEIR FRƲITS. Which is almost Literally Prov. iij. 9. Honour the Lord with thy Substance, and with the First-fruits of all thine Increase. That these First-fruits were Tenths, is said alrea­dy. And this shews that it was a Prin­ciple of the Gentiles, as well as of the Jews.

Selden's Objections.IV. Mr. Selden wou'd lessen the Authority of this, by giving Instan­ces where several among the Gentiles did Dedicate their Tythe to their Gods by a Particular Vow. 1. That Tythes were only by Arbitra­ry Vows. And wou'd in­fer from thence, that Tythes were no otherwise thought Due to the Gods by the Gentiles, than as Particular Persons had oblig'd themselves by Vow; which wou'd oblige them to [Page 63]any other Proportion, if they had Vow'd it.

But, 1. How came the Tenth to be the Common and Receiv'd Proporti­on which was Vowed to the Gods? And how came that so Universal a Tradition among the so far Distant Nations of the Gentiles? But of this I will make further Use hereafter.

2. It always was, and is Customary to Vow those things chiefly to which we are Antecedently oblig'd. See be­fore. Sect. vj. n. 4. p. 50.

3. Mr. Selden himself gives many Instances, which cannot be Restrain'd only to the Case of Vows. Nor can what I have above-quoted out of him be Limited to Vows, or meant of them, with any sort of Pretence. As that the First-fruits were Sacred to the Gods, among the Gentiles. And the Attique Law to Honour God with our Fruits. But Vows are voluntary, and not Impos'd by Law. He quotes out of Herodot. History of Tythes, c. 3. n. 3▪ an Instance which shews the Opinion of the Gentiles of the Sacredness of Tythes. Which was so great, as to Restrain the Soldiers of Cyrus, in the heat of Victory, from [Page 64]flying upon the Spoil of the Lydians; only for being told, that the Tythe of the City must necessarily be first paid to Jupiter. How necessarily, if only by Vow? did the Soldiers VOW it, in the Heat of Battle? He tells, Ibid. n. 1. That the Oracle directed the Pelasgi to give the Tenth of their Gain out of Sea-Merchandize to Apollo. This was not upon the Obligation of a Vow. And n. 3. That ther was an Inscription at Delphi. [...], That we should hang up our Tythes and First-fruits to God. This was not to oblige Men to Vow their Tythes; for Vows are Free. And in the same place he tells, that the Offerings to Apollo were called Tythes, because they were the Tenth, or in lieu of the Tenth. Now all Of­ferings are not by Vow: and therefor if Tythes has only been by Vow, they cou'd not have Included other Offer­ings, which were not by Vow. When I say, Not by Vow, I do not mean, that the Tythes might not be Vowed; for that was Customary (as has been said) but that the Original Obligation did not arise from the Vow; which [Page 65]was only meant as a farther Tye to what was our Duty before. Thus he mentions n. 2. Caesius a Merchant, who vowed his Tenths every Year.

Omnibus hic annis, votorum more suorum.

And this was, because they were Due every Year. Of which more hereafter. N. 3. he shews that Juno had the Tythe of all Goods Confiscate among the Athenians; which therefor were call'd [...]. And that she gave to Priapus, a Genius of War, the Tythe of the Spoils that Mars shou'd gain in his Victories. Was this a VOW from Juno? And were Goods Confis­cate, VOWS? Diodorus Siculus (Hist. l. 5.) tells that the Carthaginians be­ing in Great Straits, did believe that that Judgment had fallen upon them, for having neglected, for some time, to pay the Tythe of All their Profits to Hercules, as they had us'd to do. Now, if Tythes were only Voluntary, and only by Vow, how came a Tem­porary Forbearance of them, to be thought so Great a Sin? For we are not Bound to Vow at all, much less [Page 66] Always. Porphyr. de Abstin. l. 2. §. 8. p. 56. tells from Hesiod how the Gods Destroy'd an Irreligious People called Thoes, because they did not Pay their First-fruits as they ought. Now to suppose that they Vow'd it, and did not Pay it, is Arbitrary and Ground­less: and therefor it remains evi­dent that they thought the Tythe Due to their Gods, antecedent to any Vow.

Mr. Selden, in the Chapter before-quoted, N. 5. relates an ARABIAN Law, wherein every Merchant was bound to give the TENTH of his Frankincense to their God SABIS, which his Priests Received: Neither might any Sale be made of it, till that was Paid. Thus he. And it cannot be said that this was only by Vow. The like is to be said of the Attique Law, which Mr. Selden likewise mentions, and I have before Quoted, [...]. But I have over-prov'd this Point. And what I have said will, in effect, satis­fie the 2d of the Objections which I have collected out of Mr. Selden a­gainst Tythes. Which is,

2d Obj. That Tythes were not Paid by an Law, a­mong the Gentiles.V. That Tythes were only volun­tary among the Gentiles, but not En­join'd by any Law.

  • 1. I have just now mention'd some Laws which Mr. Selden himself has Produc'd, enjoining of Tythes, and that with such a Penalty, as that the Owner had not Liberty to Sell or Dispose of any of his Goods, till the Tythe was first taken out of them for the Gods. And when the Tythe was paid, then the Remainder was thought Sanctify'd to the Use of the Owner; But till then, it was esteemed the Greatest Profanation and Impiety to [...]ouch any thing of it; the whole be­ [...]ng Reputed as Sacred to the Gods, [...]ill, by the Offering of the Tenth, the Rest were Releas'd to the Use of the Owners. And this Notion was so General, as to occasion that Prover­ [...]ial Description of a Wicked Person, [...]. i. e. to eat of that which [...]ad not been sanctified by the Gods [...]aving had their Part first taken out [...]f it.
  • 2. But supposing ther had been no Municipal Laws enjoining of Tythes, [...]he Argument will come the stronger [Page 68]to my Purpose; which is, to shew this to have been a Receiv'd Tradi­tion among the Gentiles. From whom they had it, is to be enquir'd after­wards. But if they thought the Tyther so sacred to the Gods, that they made Conscience of Paying them, without the Compulsion of any Temporal Law, this shews the Notion which they had of Tythes to be from an Higher Ori­ginal than any Municipal Laws; and that they thought them to be Du [...] Jure Divino.

3d Obj. That Tythes were not Paid Gene­rally.VI. The Third Objection is, That though Tythes were Paid, and that ve­ry frequently, which Mr. Selden can­not Deny; yet he wou'd have you believe that they were not Paid Ʋni­versally: and so wou'd bring the No­tion of them no higher than the Cu­stom of this or that Particular Tow [...] or People.

And truly, if from the Neglect of Paying them, an Argument can be brought against the Use of them, i [...] will lie as severely against the Jew [...] and Christians, as against the Heathen [...] For the Jews had so far neglected th [...] Payment of their Tythe, that not on­ly [Page 69]some Particular Persons, or a Few of them,Mal. iij. 9. but the Whole Nation was Cursed for it. And amongst those who call themselves Christians, ther are many, too many, who have lost the whole Notion of them, as any Due or Tribute to God; and there­for seize on them, and think them Disposable by Human Laws, as any other Goods or Chattels.

Insomuch that ther Remains great­er footsteps of the Divine Right of Tythes among the Gentiles, than is to be found at this day in many Parts of Christendom.

But how Ʋniversal wou'd Mr. Sel­den have the Tradition of Tythes a­mong the Gentiles? He has own'd it (as shewn above) in the Grecians and Romans (each of whom were once almost the whole of the then known World) in the Carthaginians and Phoenicians before them; among the Egyptians, Arabians, Ethiopians, and Gentiles of Britain, the Remotest and most Barbarous Part esteem'd of the World then. How much farther wou'd he have had this Tradition carry'd?

But though it was in all these Na­tions of the World, yet he wou'd have it, that it was but with a Few in these Nations. And from this only Reason, that I can imagine, That you shou'd suppose, notwithstanding ther are many Authorities in History of the General Custom and Laws for Tythes, yet that they were Paid by no more than those who happen'd to be Named in History for Payment of their Tythe; though that be told only Occasionally, to Illustrate other Occurrences. As if I shou'd make a [...] Argument, that none ever pay'd Tyth [...] in England, no, nor Rent, whose Names are not in History for Paying of such Rent or Tythe.

How, otherwise, can Mr. Selden get off even from that degree of Ʋni­versality, which himself is forc'd to allow, while he endeavours to Lesse [...] it all he can? It was so Customary that he confesses,Hist. of Tythes, c. 3. n. 1. the Tythes of Her­cules, among the Romans, was a Pro­verb to express vast Riches: then they were not a Few who offer'd Tythe to him.Ibid. n. 3. And among the Grecians, Apos [...] was call'd [...], i. e. Crown'd with [Page 71]Tythes, because of the Great Quanti­ties of Tythes which were offer'd unto him. And ther were Publick Inscri­ptions at Delphi, sacred to him, com­manding or exhorting to bring their Tythes thither, i. e. rather than to another God. For they were at li­berty to offer to what God they pleas'd.

Nay, this Custom was so very Gene­ral, that to Tythe [...] was us'd to mean the Consecrating of any thing to God. And, for the same Reason a­mong the Romans, the Best and Choi­cest Parts were call'd Edecumata, Ibid. n. 1. and Decumanum meant the Greatest and Fairest; as Fluctus Decumanus, Scuta Decumana, Decima unda, &c. because the Tythes were paid of the Best and Choicest Parts.

But Mr. Selden cannot Deny the Custom (N. 1.) where after giving particular Instances, he says, Thus in Italy the Custom was to Pay and Vow Tythes to their Deities, and continu'd in use till the later times of the Em­pire. And (N. 4.) That the Greci­ans ƲSED to Tythe their Spoils of War to the Gods. [...]. [Page 72] It was a Greek Custom to Consecrate the Tythe of their Abundance or Encrease, to the Gods. And Mos erat Herculi Deciman profanari, among the Romans. It was the Custom to Dedicate Tythes to Her­cules.

Mr. Selden having told all this, gives such an Answer, as cou'd not have been expected from him. It was a Custom (says he) Some time. This is such a Jest, as they call a Bull. If it was but Some time, it was not a Cu­stom: for, it is only the Often doing of a thing that makes it a Custom. But that may be a Custom to a Few Men, which is not so to Many Men. And was it Mr. Selden's Meaning, that it was only a Custom with a Few Men? No: he yields in the same place, that Many Men did so (says he) the Ex­amples before taken out of Story make that plain. So that this is Gain'd un­deniably, That it was a Custom; and that of Many Men, in Many Nations of the Gentiles. Which will be suf­ficient to the Purpose for which I have Produc'd it. Therefor I pro­ceed no further in it, at this time; [Page 73]but Refer the Reader, who Desires a more thorough Disquisition of this Point, to the Answers before menti­oned to Mr. Selden's Hist. of Tythes. Where he will find Authorities abun­dant and undoubted, of the Ʋniver­sality of this Custom among the Gen­tiles. But Mr. Selden himself having afforded sufficient for the Use I have to make of it; I chuse to Insist upon the Concessions of this Great Enemy of Tythes, that no Reader may have any suspence as to the Authorities Produc'd. And now I proceed to the 4th Objection.

VII. Mr. Selden finding he cou'd not Resist, 4th Obj. That Tythes were not paid Year­ly. though he Gainsay'd the Ʋniversal Practice of the Gentiles in offering their Tythe to their Gods, seeks to weaken this Authority by Insinuating upon his Readers, that they were not paid Yearly, only now and then, as People pleas'd to Fancy. c. 3. n. 1.

But he gives no Reason or Autho­rity for this. For indeed ther was none to be given. Nor can I imagine what (besides Prejudice) cou'd have prompted him to say this (for I can­not [Page 74]think he did believe it) unless it be that several are found who have vowed TENTHS to the Gods upon Particular Emergencies, the Gaining of a Victory; a Prosperous Return to Merchants by Sea; or the like.

But this Proves no more against Annual Tythe, than a Tenant's ma­king a Present to his Landlord, over for some Particular Fa­vour done him, is a Proof that h [...] Paid no Yearly Rent.

Or, as before has been said, a Man may Vow the Tenth which he Owes, as well as a Second or a Third Tent [...] which is merely Voluntary.

But what Reason cou'd Mr. Selden have given, or any on his Behalf why Tythes shou'd be Due one Year and not another?

The Notion which all the World ever had of Tythes, was, as a Tribut [...] or Acknowledgment to God, for wh [...] he had Bestow'd upon us; and to Pro­cure his further Blessings upon us. [...] know no other Notion that any Ma [...] can have in offering of his Tythes to God.

But this Reason holds as well for one Year as another. And to say that this was only to be for one Year, is foolishly Precarious.

Besides, Mr. Selden himself do's abundantly confute this Rash Asserti­on of his own, in what I have before Quoted out of his Review of the 3d Chapter, where he says, That the Gentiles were very Devout in giving of their YEARLY Increase to the Honour of their Deities. And that their Tha­lysia, which was their Feast immedi­ately after Harvest, in Honour of Ce­res; and their Haloa, about the same time, which was the like Devotion to Her and to Bacchus, and their several Dionysia, did spend no small part of their YEARLY Fruits of Corn and Wine; besides other Feasts of Less Note, which were to the same Pur­pose. Thus Mr. Selden, confessing these Feasts to have been YEARLY. The same must be understood of what he says c. 1. n. 1. of his History, That the First-fruits were sacred to the Gods among the Gentiles; that is, The First-fruits of every Year: and not only of one Year, that wou'd be Ridiculous. [Page 76]Ibid. c. 3. n. 1. he Quotes an ancient Inscription to Fortune made by Tau­rinus in Honour of his Father Caesius, who paid his Tythes to the Goddess Fortune; speaking of which, he says, Omnibus hic annis; i. e. That he paid his Tythes to her every Year. And N. 3. he tells, out of Herodotus, that the Inhabitants of Siphnus gave YEARLY Tythes of their Mines to Apollo: And from Callimachus, that YEARLY Tythe was brought to Delos for the same God. Multitude of the like Instances may be brought. But let these, of Mr. Selden's ow [...] bringing, now suffice.

VIII. Mr. Selden offers another Blow,5th Obj. That Tythes were only paid to some Parti­cular Gods. as he thought it, against the Divine Right of Tythes, by alledging which he does very Groundlesly, Tha [...] Tythes were not Pay'd, as Due to the Gods, among the Gentiles, because they were not offer'd to the Gods i [...] General, but only to some Particula [...] God. As he makes the Tythe of the Romans to be almost wholly paid to Hercules, by whom, he says, they un­derstood Mars.

But this Pretence, or Innuendo, has as little Truth, as it has Consequence in it. For the Question is not, To which of the Gods the Gentiles did pay their Tythe? But whether they Pay'd it to any of them? And if they Pay'd it to Any or All of their Gods, it shews their Opinion, that Tythes, as Sacrifices, were Due to the Gods. For All did not Sacrifice to the same God, nor always to the Gods in Ge­neral; but most commonly to some Particular God, to whom they Devo­ted themselves. And the same is to be said of offering their Tythes. The Romans might Dedicate them most frequently to the God of War; and the Greeks to Apollo, the God of Lear­ning: but this was not Exclusive of the other Gods, as if none of them had any Right to Tythes, but only Hercules or Apollo. On the Contrary, Mr. Selden himself confesses, c. 3. n. 1. That the Romans and their next Neighbours did not Tythe only to Hercules, but sometimes also to Other Deities; of which he there gives se­veral Instances, as of the Pelasgi that transplanted themselves into Italy, [Page 78]who sent their Tythe to Apollo at Del­phi. Of Camillus, who likewise gave the Tenth of his Spoils to Apollo. Of Posthumius, who spent 40 Talents of the Tythe of his Spoils, after his Vi­ctory against the Latins, upon Sacri­fices and Prayers, in Honour of the Gods; and with what Remain'd, built a Temple to Ceres, Bacchus, and Pro­serpina. At other times also, on the General Worship of the Gods, such a Tythe was spent, says Mr. Selden; and n. 4. he owns again, That Tythes were sometimes Generally given to the Gods, without any Particular Design'd, among the Grecians as well as the Romans: and Quotes several Examples; which, for brevity, I omit, thinking this Point sufficiently Prov'd, That Tythes were not only offer'd to Hercules or Apollo, but to other Gods, and to the Gods in General. And so I pass to the 6th and last Objection.

IX. The Last Effort against the Practice of the Gentiles, 6th Obj. That Tythe was not pay'd of All things. in Offering Tythes to their Gods, is what Mr. Sel­den often Insists on; and that is, That Tythes were not paid out of all things, but only of some Particular things, [Page 79]according to the Custom of Particular Places. By this means, if he cou'd not hinder Tythes from being Jure Divino, he wou'd Curtail them in Quantity as much as he cou'd: And by bringing in the Dispute which [...]hings were Tythable, might open a Door to Ʋn-Tythe every thing; at [...]east, render it very Precarious.

But if the End of offering Tythes to God can be no other (as has been [...]aid) than a Due Acknowledgment [...]or the Past Encrease which God has [...]iven to our Labours, in whatever [...]ocation; and to Implore the Con­ [...]inuance of His Blessing upon our [...]fter-Labours: This Reason must [...]each to all things which we have [...]eceived from God, or expect to Re­ [...]eive from Him. Solomon determines [...] of All things. Prov. iij. 9. Honour [...]he Lord with thy Substance, and with [...]he First-fruits of ALL thine Encrease. ALL Encrease, of whatever sort. And [...]he same was the Notion of the Gen­ [...]iles, even as confessed by Mr. Selden. He tells us, c. 3. n. 1. That they Ty­ [...]hed their Estates, their Substance. [...], which is every thing that [Page 80]they had. N. 3 All their Estates. Which General Words Include all the Parti­culars that can be nam'd. And it is Impossible to Name them All. Ye [...] let us see what Particulars Mr. Selde [...] has occasionally nam'd in this same Chapter. He names N. 1. the Tenth [...] Fruits, of Money gotten by Sales, and of Spoils of War. Of such things a [...] made Accession to their Estates. Of Sea-Merchandize. N. 3. Of Mines, Mer­chandize, and all Goods Confiscate N. 4. The Tenth of what the Cook in Athens kill'd for Meat. N. 5. O [...] Frankincense. And lastly, the Instance he gives, N. 3. of that Consciention Whore Rhodopis, who sent to Delph [...] as many Spits, for Use in Sacrifice, a [...] the Tythe of that Gain which sh [...] made of her Body came to. Thi [...] shews the Notion they had of al [...] Encrease paying Tythe. And therefo [...] Mr. Selden had no Cause to be so un­reasonably angry, as he was N. 2. with Paulus Diaconus, for that Saying which he has transmitted to us of Festus's viz. Decima Quaeque Veteres Diis sui [...] offerebant. i. e. That the Antients did offer all sorts of Tythes, or Tythes o [...] [Page 81]all sorts of things, to their Gods. As to the Vindication of Paulus Diaco­nus, I Refer to the Learned Answers before mentioned, and what I have hereafter Quoted out of Dr. Spencer. But as to this Saying of Festus, it is no more than what Mr. Selden has given Instances of in this same Chapter; and which, if he had consider'd, he wou'd have Refrain'd, at least, Con­ceal'd his violent Concern against that Authority of Festus, for paying Tythe of All things, as to cry out, No such matter. Some did, and only sometimes, and of some things, and most usually to some Gods only. All of which parti­culars have been consider'd already.

Let me only add, and close up this Head with an Authority out of Dr. Spencer, who Abus'd a great deal of Learning to justifie an Unhappy No­strum of his own, viz. That the In­stitutions of the Law of God were Deriv'd from the same Customs Prior among the Gentiles. That ther were such Customs, as of Sacrifices, Tythes, &c. among the Gentiles Prior to the Law of Moses, is Granted: But their Original was not from the Gentiles, [Page 82](as Dr. Spencer very grosly mistakes it.) The Gentiles had Retain'd, and withal Corrupted the Primitive Insti­tutions of Sacrifices, of Tythes, &c. which were given by God to Adam, and the Patriarchs before the Flood. These were Reviv'd in the Law of Moses; but not therefor borrow'd from the Gentiles, from whose Ca­stoms the Jews were commanded to Abstain.

But God wou'd not Forsake hi [...] own Institutions because the Gentile [...] did Retain them; though they Abu­sed them to the Worship of Fals [...] Gods. But to think that Sacrifice [...] which were ordained as Types of th [...] Sacrifice of Christ, had their Origin [...] from the Gentiles; and that God, i [...] Compliance with their Idolatry, di [...] Institute Sacrifices under the Law; an [...] gave Christ himself to be Sacrifice [...] (which some, of Great Name, ha [...] lately Asserted, perhaps misled by th [...] wild Notion of Spencer's;) this is [...] overthrow the whole Foundation [...] our Religion, giving it no Higher Rise than the Imaginations of wicke [...] Men: And instead of the Devil [Page 83]Aping of God in his Institutions, this, by a Blasphemous Inversion, makes God to Ape the Devil, and borrow from him the whole OEconomy of His Worship and Religion. But this is a Subject I have Treated of elsewhere; only thus much I thought necessary, in this Place, because Dr. Spencer is not to be Quoted without a Caution, lest we might seem to Approve his Errors, while we make use of his Learning. He has effectually Prov'd (though to the evil End before men­tioned) that Tythes were universally Pay'd among the Gentiles, even be­fore the Law of Moses; and vindi­cates the above Quotation out of Festus.

That the Ancients did offer the Tythes of All to their Gods. i. e. All of them; of All things; to All their Gods; and Always, or in the ordinary Course of their Religion. And that R. Montacute had sufficiently vindicated this Testimony of Fe­stus from the Cavils of Scaliger.

To which Spencer adds this of Montacute, viz. That some have been found in History, who did not Sacrifice: but none, in All the Annals of Time, who did not Pay Tythes. Nor was this strange, since Tythes were as frequent among the Heathens, as Altars, First-fruits, Vows, Ob­lations, or Idols.

Festi Testimonium, Decima quaeque Veteres, Diis suis offerebant. His enim apertè Docet [...]. Antiquos Omnes, eorum Omnia, Diis Omni­bus, & Omnino, vel Ordi­naria Religione Decimasse. Huic Testimonio tutius innita­mur, quod R. Montacutius il­lud à Scaligeri convitiis tam Docte vindicaverit, & famae fidei (que) suae Pristinae restitucrit, (Diatrib. cont. Seld. c. 3. p. 412, 413, &c.

Positivis hisce, negati [...] unum Authoris illius (ib. [...] 454. & 574.) adjungam T [...] ­stimonium. Nonnulli [...], qui non sacrificarunt, in Is [...] ­storiarum Exemplis inve [...]i­untur; Nulli vero per o [...]i­um temporum Annales, [...] reperiuntur. N [...] mirum, cum Decimae [...] minus frequentes apud E [...] nicos, quam Altaria, Pi­mitiae, Vota, Oblationes, [...] simulacra fuerint. Spe [...] de Leg. Heb. l. 3. Dissent. [...] p. 620.

SECT. VIII. The Original of Tythes.

1. IT is now time to see how fa [...] upwards we can Trace the Practice of Tythes; that, if possible, w [...] may find its Beginning. Ther is [...] Account how it Began among th [...] Gentiles. It was time out of min [...] with them; as ancient as any thin [...] which their Histories Contain'd. Th [...] Attique Law before mention'd, fo [...] Paying of Tythes, is said (as Mr. Selden tells us, Review c. 3.) to hav [...] [Page 85]come from Triptolemus: and he was Co-temporary with Moses.

But this cannot be the Original of Tythes; for we find them long before. And it is not unlikely (says Mr. Selden c. 3. n. 5.) but that the Ancient and most known Examples of Abraham gave the first ground both to them (the Phae­ [...]icians in Asia; and from them to the Carthaginians in Africa) and to the Europeans, so sometimes to Dispose of [...]he Tenth of their Spoils of War to Holy Ʋses. Whether this Tenth was only of Spoils of War, or whether only paid Sometimes, has been spoke to. But we are now following the Track of [...]his Universal Custom of Tythes, to [...]ee if we can come to the Beginning [...]f it.

Melchisedec is the first of whom ex­ [...]ress Mention is made that he Re­ [...]eived Tythes. He is the first likewise whom we read of call'd by the Name [...]f Priest. Yet none doubts but that [...]her were Priests before. As little can we doubt but Tythes were pay'd be­fore. For his Tything of Abram is not [...]ention'd as the Introduction of any New Custom; which, if it had been [Page 86]then New, wou'd have been told, else who had known what it meant? But, on the contrary, the Apostle ar­gues Heb. vij. (as we have seen) that this Tythe was paid as a Tribute due to Melchisedec, as he was Priest of The most High God: and thence infers the Greatness of Melchisedec above Abram. And this shews undeniably that the Notion of Tythes, as Due to the Priests, was known before that time: For o­therwise Abram cou'd not have pay'd them under that Notion; which St. Paul says he did.

This Melchisedec Mr. Selden suppo­ses (c. 1. n. 2.) to have been Se [...], the Eldest Son of Noah. So that we must pass the Flood to search for an Higher Original of Tythes. And of this Dark time we have no History re­maining but that only of Genesis. And that is very Brief, and touches but upon Few things; being chiefly De­sign'd to Deduce the Genealogy of Is­rael from the Beginning of the World.

Yet, even in that short Summary, we have no obscure Light given to as to Tythes, with some other of the after Judaical Rites. As, the Diffe­rence [Page 87]of Clean and Ʋnclean Beasts and Fowls, Gen. vij. 2. That the Clean were only to be offer'd in Sacrifice, c. viij. 20. That the Fat of the Sacri­fice was Particularly to be offered; and the Firstlings to be the Sacrifice, Gen. iv. 4.

Some Rabbies Pretend that the whole Mosaical Law was before the Flood; and only Reviv'd under Mo­ses. That I will not undertake. But we cannot Deny a Great Part, as the Sacrifices, &c. And some as Arbitrary as any in the Levitical Law, as that of Clean and Ʋnclean Beasts, &c.

2. But now, as to that of Tythes. We find, in the first place, the Gene­ral Notion of Honouring the Lord with our Substance, i. e. offering to Him some Part of our Increase, Gen. iv. 3. and 4. And 2dly, That ther was a Determinate Part appears from the LXX Translation of Gen. iv. 7. [...]. i. e. If thou hast offer'd aright, but hast not divided aright, hast thou not sinned? hold thy peace.

The Authority of this Translation is supported by its being so frequently [Page 88]Quoted in the New Testament; even where it seems to add to the Hebrew Text. As in that most Remarkable Prophecy of our Saviour, Psal. xl. 6. A Body hast thou prepared me. Which is not now found in the Hebrew. And this is put instead of that Expression in the Hebrew, Mine Ears hast thou bored. Which is not mentioned; but the other, according to the LXX, is Quoted, Heb. x. 5.

Some Prefer the LXX Translation before the Present Hebrew Text, which they say has suffer'd some Detriment in the several Captivities and Perse­cutions of the Jews: but, that the LXX Translation was made out of the Hebrew while it was Pure and Un­corrupted. I will not Desire to press this so far: only let the LXX Transla­tion stand as, at least, the Best Com­ment now extant of the Old Testa­ment. And this cannot be Deny'd to it, it being Generally Quoted, not only by the Apostles, but the Fathers of the first 400 Years. And as to this present Text, Gen. iv. 7. it is Quoted literally as I have set it down, accor­ding to the LXX, in St. Clem. Rom. [Page 89]Ep. ad Corinth. n. 4. in Irenaeus adv. Haeres. l. 4. c. 34. and in others of those Primitive Fathers. Tertullian advers. Judaeos, n. 2. says, that God Rejected the Sacrifice of Cain, because Quod Offerebat, non recte Dividebat: i. e. He did not Divide aright that which he Offered. And this is more Intelligible than our Translation, which gives no Account of the Rea­son why God Rejected the Offering of Cain; but the LXX do's, and the Primitive Fathers, who followed it, viz. That Cain did not Divide aright, that is, he did not offer the full Quan­tum which he ought. And the Coun­cil of Hispalis, An. 590. enjoining the Payment of Tythes, applies this of Cain, and says, That whoever do's not Pay his Tythes, Praedo Dei est, & Fur, & Latro; & Maledicta quae in­tulit Dominus ( [...]) Cain non recte Dividenti congeruntur; i. e. He is a Thief, and a Robber of God; and the Curses which God inflicted upon Cain for not Dividing aright, are laid up in store for him—Qui non omnia Deci­maverit—who do's not Pay Tythe of all things. This shews that the Sin [Page 90]of Cain was in not offering the full Quantum of his Fruits: and that that Quantum was a Tenth. And the Apo­stle seems to give the same Account of Cain's Sin, Heb. xj. 4. where he says that Abel did offer [...] a Lar­ger Sacrifice: Plurimam Victimam, as the Vulgar renders it. And Grotius (in loc.) says, that the Sense of this Text, according to the LXX was, that Cain did not offer of the Best, or else that he gave a Less Proportion than the Tenth. Aut certè minus De­cimâ. Quae ab Antiquissi­mis Seculis Dei Portio. Gen. xiv. 20. xxviij. 22. Vestigia etiam manent in Graecis Latinisque Historis passim. Which (says he) from the most Ancient Ages, was the Portion due to God. And that the Footsteps of it are everywhere to be found in the Gree [...] and Latin Histories.

Mr. Selden (c. 1. n. 3.) wou'd have Cain's Sin to lie only as to the Quality of his Sacrifice, in not offering of the Best: but not at all as to the Quantity, as if ther had been any Quota Pars, or Certain Quantity no­ted; and that Cain had given Less. But this is wholly Precarious; he of­fers not so much as any Pretence that shou'd limit this Sin of Cain's to the [Page 91] Quality only, without any Respect to the Quantity of his Offering. Where­as, on the contrary, the Quantity is Chiefly, nay Only, noted in this Text. For not Dividing aright, which is the Sin Charged upon Cain, respects only the Quantity. The Quality is not to be Divided. And if ther was no Quota Pars, no certain Quantity Re­quired, then cou'd not Cain have been Charg'd with offering Less. For where ther is no Law, ther is no Transgression.

3. Now then it Remains that ther was a Quota Pars, and that it was Enjoin'd Let us next Enquire, who it was that Enjoin'd it. And that must be either Adam, or God imme­diately. For ther were none other Superior to Cain. Ther may be a third way supposed; and that is, That Cain did Vow such a Quantum, and that he did not offer so much as he had Vowed. But this is Gratis dictum. And if he had Vowed a Tenth part by Chance, at that time, next time it might have been an Eleventh, Twelfth, Fifteenth, or any other Part. And the Notion of a Tenth Part, as Due [Page 92]to God, cou'd never, from thence, have Descended to all Ages and Na­tions, as we see it has done. It had been the same, if Adam had Enjoin'd a Tenth, only out of his own Head, by Chance; and to oblige only for that time. That cou'd never have been the Foundation of so universal a Practice. But if Adam did Enjoin it as a Law, to continue for ever a­mong All his Posterities, it will have a very Great Obligation, beyond that of the Rechabites. And, in the next place, it cannot be Imagin'd that Adam shou'd make such a standing and Ʋni­versal Law, without Directions from God. For such we must suppose all the Laws which Adam gave to be.

4. But chiefly considering, that this was a Part of the Worship of God: and God has always Prescrib'd the Me­thods of His own Worship: and left it not to our wild Imaginations, to In­vent what Means and Ways of Wor­ship we thought fit: Which wou'd be as Various and Foolish as every Man's Fancy, and wholly Unworthy the Majesty of God; who has ty'd us up, that we shou'd go neither to the [Page 93] Right hand nor to the Left, neither Add nor Diminish in Matters of Wor­ship, but Adhere solely to what He has Commanded. The Contrary of which, that is, making our own Imaginations the Rule and Standard of our Worship, is Properly Superstition: which God Declares that He hates. And though these Declarations are in the Scriptures, yet the Reason of them is Eternal, and Binding from the Beginning, be­fore the Scriptures were wrote.

5. And we cannot Imagine but that God gave Adam Directions concerning His own Worship. Shall we say that Sacrificing was a Pure Invention of Adam's, or of Cain or Abel's?

What Reason can any Man give, why Killing of a Beast shou'd be thought a Giving it to God, or a Wor­ship of God? Why Burning of it? Why the Fat, which we find noted in Abel's Sacrifice? And why a First­ling? But ther is more than this. Sa­crifices were Appointed as Types of Christ our True Passover, who is Sa­crificed for us. And Adam cou'd have no Knowledge of Christ, but by Re­velation, which was given to him, [Page 94] Gen. iij. 15. And therefor without a Revelation he cou'd not have Invented Sacrifices to Represent and Exhibit the Death of Christ to come. Or if he had Invented it, yet he cou'd not have Appointed it, as an Act of Worship without Express Command of God. For all Acts of Worship, are Means of Grace, whereby God do's Convey His Grace to Us; and has oblig'd Him­self, by His Promise, so to do, whe­ther is not a Failing on our Part. Now God cannot be Oblig'd but by Himself. And therefor if any Ma [...] take upon him to Appoint any Wor­ship of God, he do's thereby Pretend to Limit God; and appoint Hi [...] Means whereby He shall be Obliged to Convey His Graces, upon such Ter [...]u and Conditions, as we Pleas to Chall out for Him. And this is an High Blasphemy.

6. Some foolishly apply this to In­different Ceremonys appointed by the Church, in the Worship of God: Which are nothing els but observing that Or­der and Decency in the service of God which the Apostle has Commanded [...] but no Part of the Worship it self. Cir­cumstances [Page 95]of Time, Place, Habit, Gesture, &c. are Inseparable from Publick Worship. And the Determi­nation of these, by a Lawful Autho­rity, we call Ceremonys: Which have no other Vertue but the Command of such Authority. Nor are they ap­pointed as any Means of Grace at all, whereby any Grace, either Ghostly or Bodily is Convey'd to Us. If the wea­ring of a Surplice (for example) u­sing the sign the Cross, or any other Ceremony, were appointed to Heal Di­senses, Allay Storms, save from Fire, help Women in Labour, Chase away Devils, or to Convey any Vertue to Soul or Body; then wou'd such Cere­monys become Utterly Unlawful; be­cause they were appointed as Means of Grace, to Convey such Graces to Us; which it is not in the Power of Man to Appoint.

7. This small Digression I thought necessary, in this Place, to obviat the foregoing Objection which might be made against what I have said of its not being in the Power of Man to In­vent or Appoint the Worship of God. And this do's sufficiently shew, that Sa­crifices [Page 96]were neither of Adam's Inventi­on, nor of his Appointment, otherwise than as he had Received Command­ment for it from God; and Deliver'd the same to his Children.Hist. Schol. in Gen. xxvj. As Peter Comestor says, that Adam, by the Spi­rit, did teach his Sons to offer Tyther and First-fruits to God. And Hugo d [...] S. Victore says, that God taught Adam how to Worship Him, and that Adam taught his Sons to give Tythes and First-fruits Annot. in Gen. c. iv..

This is farther evident in that it is said Heb. xj. 4. That Abel offered by Faith. Now Faith has onely Relati­on to God, and to His Commands▪ To obey the Command of a Parent o [...] Magistrate is not called Faith. And i [...] we think to Pleas God by a Worship [...] our own Invention; and have Faith or Trust in Him that he will accept it. This is Presumption in us. It [...] Superstition, and Hateful to God; and which the Scripture wou'd never ca [...] Faith in God. Therefor since Abel did offer in Faith, it is a Necessary Consequence that the thing was Com­manded of God.

Now the offering of Fruits was a Sacrifice, and Worship of God as well as the Sacrificing of Beasts. And as God did, at the beginning, appoint the Firstlings and the Fat of Beasts for Sacrifice, so did He appoint a de­terminate Quantity of the Fruits, else Cain had not been Condemned for not Dividing aright.

And, as that Institution of the Firstlings and the Fat, of Clean and Ʋn-Clean Beasts and Fowl, &c. were Re-Commanded under Moses, so was that of Tythes.

8. Concerning which, let me give this farther Argument, from other Instances which are allow'd. It is al­low'd that Sacrifices, and Priesthood, and Marriage, were Instituted, at first, by God. And that they Descended, by Immemorial Tradition, from Adam to the Heathen Nations, who knew not of Adam, nor the Beginning of the World, nor how these Institutions Began. But it was concluded, and that by a sure Rule, that those Insti­tutions, which were Ʋniversally Re­ceiv'd, and whose Beginning was not known, must certainly be from the Beginning.

Now Tythe, as well as any of these before-nam'd, was Ʋniversally Re­ceiv'd among the Gentiles: and its Beginning was not known more than any of the Rest: And therefor Tythe must have been from the Beginning, as well as any of the other.

Consider, I beseech you, how other­wise Tythes cou'd have come to have been so Ʋniversally Receiv'd. Sup­pose all the World to be agreed that Some part of all our Substance was Due to God: but that no Determinate Part was appointed, but Every Man left, in that, to his own Fancy or Inclina­tion: How shou'd all the World his upon the same Number of a Tenth, more than a Fifth, Fifteenth, or any other Number? Nations far Distant from one another, who knew not of one another, nor held any Corre­spondence?

Take Three Men off the Street, and bid them think of a Number: it is 10000 to one, that they do not all Three think of the same Number. How Inconceivable then is it, and next to an Utter Impossibility, that so many Milli­ons of People shou'd all, by meer Ac­cident, [Page 99]stumble upon the very same Number? And that they shou'd think this Number to be Sacred, so as none ought to offer a Less Quantity, with­out committing a Great Sin? That none shou'd know the Beginning of this Custom? That no History shou'd mention it? These are things so Un­accountable, that it is not left in any Man's Power, who will consider of it, to believe that Tythes were any Hu­mane Invention: or that the Notion of it cou'd have spread it self so uni­versally through the World, if it had not Descended from our First Parent; and so flowed from the Fountain through the many Divided Streams.

Mr. Selden (c. 3. n. 5.) wou'd have it, that the Gentiles learn'd this Cu­stom from the Jews. De Legib. Hebr. be­fore Quo­ted. And Dr. Spen­cer, that the Jews had it from the Gentiles. But neither of these are the Truth. The Jews were a very Con­temptible People, in the Eyes of the Gentiles, and Abhorred of them. And therefor it is no ways likely that the Gentiles wou'd learn from them: Es­pecially such an Expensive Worship, as wou'd cost them the Yearly Tenth [Page 100]of all that they possessed. And, on the other hand, The Jews were strict­ly forbidden to learn the Customs of the Gentiles; they thought the Gen­tiles so Impure, as that it was not Lawful to Marry, no nor to Eat with them: and therefor, it is as Impro­bable that the Jews shou'd Part with the Tenth of all their Yearly Increase, because the Gentiles did so.

Again. If some Neighbouring Gen­tiles had learn'd it from the Jews, how shou'd it have spread to other far di­stant Nations? How shou'd it have been Receiv'd amongst them all at the same time? How wou'd not the Be­ginning of it be known, in any Na­tion? Nor from whence they had it? But to come to Matter of Fact. If as Mr. Selden did suppose, the Jews had the Notion of Tythes only from the Levitical Law; and that the Gen­tiles, after this, Learn'd it of them: Let us consider that the Law was gi­ven to the Jews, after they came out of Egypt; so that the Egyptians, not any other, cou'd have learn'd it from them, while they stay'd there. It was given them in the Wilderness, where [Page 101]for 40 Years they convers'd with no other Nation, and where Moses died: Now Triptolemus King of Attica be­fore mentioned, who made the Attick Law [...], to Honour the Gods with their Fruits, which, as Por­phyry Repeats it, was,Porphyr. de Abstin. l. 4. §. ult. p. 179. That all the In­habitants of Attica, shou'd worship the Gods, according to their Estates, with First-fruits and Offerings of Wine, every Year: And [...], which is Porphyry's Expression for offering of their Fruits to the Gods, and was his Phrase for Paying of Tythe; as was usual with all others, in those times, both Sacred and Profane Writers:See N. 2. of this Sect. I say, this Triptolemus was Co-tempo­rary with Moses; and, for the Rea­sons before told, cou'd not have learnt the Notion of Tythes from him, or the Jews in his time. And yet Trip­tolemus is not said to have been the first who brought the Notion of Tythes among the Gentiles; only that he made Laws for it, in his own Country, which supposes the thing to be known before.

But Mr. Selden wou'd screw it in another way, and (as I before quo­ted [Page 102]his c. 3. n. 5.) makes the Exam­ple of Abram to have given the first Ground to the Phaenicians, Carthagi­nians, and Europaeans for Paying of Tythes. How was it the Example of Abram that taught Melchisedec what Tythes meant, who Tythed him, or put him under that Tribute? And Melchisedec was a King and a Priest amongst the Phaenicians; and, no doubt Received Tythe from them, as well as from Abram: And did the Phaenicians then first learn it from Abram's once paying it to Melchise­dec? Is it not more Probable that they shou'd learn it from Melchisedec than from Abram, who was a Stranger to them? These are hard Shifts which Ingenious Men are put to, to Defend a Bad Cause. But if one of these must learn it from the other, it is more Probable that Abram might learn'd from Melchisedec, than Melchisedec from Abram: for Melchisedec was much the Elder Man; and both a King and a Priest. But the Truth is neither of them did learn it from the other; Both knew it, and learn'd it from their Fathers. And that Instance [Page 103]of Abram's paying Tythe to Melchise­dec the Priest, was told only occasi­onally, not as the Original of Tythes, or of Priesthood, more than his Pay­ing current Money with the Merchant to Ephron (Gen. xxiii. 16.) was the Ori­ginal of Money or Merchandize, because we never Read of Money or of Mer­chants before. And as certainly as his paying of Money current with the Mer­chant, supposes that ther was Money and Merchants before, and that is was usual to pay Money; so certainly, and from the same Reason, do's Abram's paying Tythes to a Priest, suppose that ther were Priests before; and that it was usual to Pay Tythes to them. And ther is as much Ground to suppose that the Gentiles learn'd the Use of Money from Abraham's Paying Money to Ephron; as that they learn'd the Use of Tythes from his paying Tythes to Melchisedec.

How shou'd All the far Distant Na­tions of the Earth know, and take such Notice of this single Act of Abram's, who was but a Traveller and Sojourner in Canaan, so as to make it their Pattern and Example? How [Page 104]shou'd they have this Notion All at once? Wou'd not some Footsteps or Account remain in History, how it was Receiv'd from one Nation to another? If that of Abram was the Original of Tythes, wou'd not their Beginning be found in some Nation or other? What Wild and Un-ac­countable Imaginations are these?

But the Truth is, the Gentiles nei­ther learn'd the Notion of Tythes from Abram, or the Jews; nor the Jews from the Gentiles; more than the Notions of Sacrifices, of Priesthood, of Marriage, which were Receiv'd from the Beginning of the World; and Deduc'd through the After-Gene­rations as well of Jews as Gentiles.

Tythes must be as Ancient as Sacri­fice; for Tythes were a Sacrifice. They were the Quantum of the Sacrifice. And they must be as Ancient as Priest­hood; for they were Given by God, as a Maintenance to His Priests, and always so understood. To Sacrifice was the Office of the Priest; and the Tythe was his Reward. So that these, being Relatives, must be of equal Standing.

Having thus shewn the Original of Tythes to have been from God, at the Creation; and to have Descended from that time to this, through all Ages and Generations of Men: I will now Proceed to Answer some Obje­ctions which have been made against them.

SECT. IX. Obj. That Tythes are not Com­manded in the Gospel.

I. THIS Objection proceeds from a Mistake of the Nature of the Gospel, as if it did Abrogat the whole Law; and that Nothing of the Law were of Force, but what is anew Commanded in the Gospel. Whereas the Gospel was not meant to Overturn any thing in the Law; but to Confirm it, to the least Jota; Matth. v. 17, 18. by Fulfilling all the Types of Christ; which, as Shadows, vanish, of Course, when the Substance is come. And the Ceremonys which were ordain'd to [Page 106]accompany these Types, were, with the Types, Fulfilled, that is, Ended. And Fulfilling is the Perfection, not the Destruction of any thing. That is the Highest Perfection to attain to the End for which it is Ordain'd; and that is the Fulfilling of it. Ther was another Part of the Law, which respected the Particular Nation of the Jews, as to their Political Government and Oeconomy, which is call'd their Judicial Law. And this vary'd, even in the Nation of the Jews, according to their Different Times, and Circum­stances; as it must be in all Nations. And this do's not, or ever did oblige any other Nation, otherwise than as the Justice and Equity of that Muni­cipal Law of the Jews (being given by God Himself) is the Best Pattern that can be follow'd, in other Na­tions, where their Circumstances will allow of it.

But all the Rest of the Levitical Law, except the Typical, the Ceremo­nial, and the Judicial, were Confirm'd by Christ; and needed no New In­junction. Now it is Evident, That Tythes were no Part either of the Ty­pical [Page 107]or Ceremonial Law. They were no Type of Christ. For Christ is call'd by the Name of His Types. 1 Cor. v. 7. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. But Christ is nowhere call'd our Tythe. Tythe had another End and Tendency, which was, an Acknowlegement and Homage Due to God, as the Author of all the Good we Receiv'd in this World; And that it was his Blessing alone, which gave Success and Encrease to our Labours. This Respected God as our Creator and Preserver; but had no signification as to the In-Carna­tion, Sufferings, Death, and Resur­rection of Christ. And therefor was no Type of Him. And therefor was not Fulfill'd or Ended in Him. The Reason of it, is Eternal; and must last, while God feeds Man upon the Earth. And has been, ever since God Created Man upon the Earth. It was Long before the Law, and therefor, not taking its Rise from the Law, cou'd not be Abrogated in the Law. It is true, it was a Part of the Law, as being anew Enjoined in the Law; and so was a Municipal or Judicial Law among the Jews: But it do's not [Page 108]therefore Cease to oblige other Nati­ons, as other Parts of their Judicial Law may cease, because, 1. The Ju­stice and Equity of it, is nothing Pe­culiar to the Jews, but Equal to all People and Nations whom God do's Preserve and Feed. But 2dly, Other Nations were in Possession of it long before the Law of Moses; and after, not from the Law of Moses, but from its Original and Ʋniversal Obligation: and therefore the Abrogation of the Law of Moses, had it been every word Abrogated, cou'd not have Dissolv'd the Obligation of Tythes.

But Tythes belonging to no Part of it, that ceas'd upon the Co­ming of Christ; consequently is still confirm'd, unless it can be shewn that Christ has Discharg'd it. Christ did not anew Institute the Decalogue; but left it of Force, because not Alter'd by Him. And so it is of Tythes.

II. But Christ has not only, by his not Forbidding, confirm'd Tythes; but has given Express Approbation of them. Matth. xxiij. 23. Where he says, These things (i.e. the paying Tythe of the smallest things, as of Mint, Annise, [Page 109]and Cummin) ye ought to have done. And in his Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, Luk. xviii. 12. He reckons Paying Tythe of All that we Possess, as an Act of Worship and De­votion to God. Which sure He wou'd not have done, if it had been then Abrogated. But if you say, that this was spoke to the Pharisees, not to His Disciples; Origen, who put this Objection, gives an Answer. That He wou'd not have Commanded that to the Pharisees, which he wou'd not have His Disciples to fulfil much more abundantly; for, Except your Righ­teousness Exceeds the Righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,Hom. II. in Numer.&c. How therefor (says Origen) do's my Righteousness Exceed theirs, if they dare not taste of the Fruits of the Earth till they have first offer'd the First-fruits to the Priests, and Tythes to the Levites. And I do­ing none of these things, mis-spend of the Fruits of the Earth to my own Use, without acquainting Priest or Levite, or letting the Al­tar partake of any Part of them? And this we have said (continues [Page 110]he) to shew, That the Command for First-fruits of Fruits and Cattel ought to stand even according to the Letter.

Let me add the Apostle's Argumen Hebrews vij. 8. where he says, that under the Law, Men that Die re­ceived Tythes; but opposing to this the Melchisedecal Priesthood, which was but a Type of Christ's, he say▪ that He receiveth them (Tythes) of whom it is witnessed that He Liveth, i. e. Liveth for ever, not as the L [...] ­vitical Priests, who were Mortal, and therefor succeeded one another. No [...] Melchisedec, if he was Sem, was M [...] ­tal, and Died, as well as the Leviti­cal Priests; and therefor this was spo­ken only of Christ. And the Apostle says, that He receiveth Tythes, for i [...] can be meant of None other. And if Christ receiveth Tythes, then He h [...] not Abrogated them. Then He h [...] Confirm'd them; not only Negativel [...] by not Forbidding them, under the Gospel; but Positively, by Approving of the Payment of them, and Him­self now in Heaven, ever living, to Receive them.

Again Hear St. Paul, 1 Cor. ix. 13.14. Do ye not know that they who Mi­nister about Holy things, live of the things of the Temple? And they who wait at the Altar are Partakers with the Al­tar? Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they who Preach the Gospel, shou'd Live of the Gospel. OF THE GOSPEL. What is that? The Apostle makes the Comparison, as of the Altar in the Temple, that is, of the Tythes and o­ther Offerings which were offer'd up­on the Altar; And therefor are said to belong to the Altar, as being Due to the Altar, to be offer'd there: So that as the Altar in the Temple had a Large Revenue; and the Priests did Partake with it, did Live of it: Even so hath the Lord ordain'd — What? That the Evangelical Priests shou'd Live of the Gospel. What Revenue then has the Gospel to Maintain them? A Revenue surely like that of the Tem­ple. Els it is not Even so, as the Apo­stle makes the Comparison. Some wou'd have the Gospel merely Eleemo­sinary: Nothing Due; but all Free-will-Offerings. Then I am sure it was not Even so as the Temple; for there [Page 112]were Free-will-Offerings, it is true, but that was not All. Ther were Ty­thes, and other Offerings as of Obliga­tion. Else ther had been no Certain­ty or setled Maintenance. Now if the Gospel has nothing as of Right, which it can Claim, how is it Even so as the Temple? If the Priests of the Temple were sure of a Tenth, And the Priests of the Gospel, not of a hundred, or thousandth Part, or of any Part at all, how were they Provided Even so as the Priests of the Temple?

But what was it that the Lord Or­dained? That Every Man shou'd pay what he Pleas'd? That they might do, and that they would do, without any Order or Law made for it. Was ther Ever such a Law made, that Every Man shou'd do just what he Pleas'd, and no more? Wou'd not such a Law be Good for just Nothing? That is to say, it wou'd be no Law; for Law is a Requiring and Enjoyning something, a Restraining of Liberty, and putting Men under an Obligation, who were Free before, as to that which the L [...] Commands: And therefor that which lays no Restraint or Obligation, but [Page 113]leaves every Man perfectly at his own Liberty, is no Law: And consequent­ly, if every Man were left to his Li­berty, what he pleas'd to Give to the Gospel, then Christ here Ordained just Nothing: it was no Ordinance or Law at all. And ther was no manner of Comparison betwixt the Gospel and the Altar, which the Apostle do's Compare together. The Lord ordained Tythes to the Altar; and Nothing to the Gos­pel. What Comparison then betwixt the Gospel and the Altar? The same as betwixt Tythes and Nothing! And how then did The Lord Ordain a Maintenance for the Ministers of the Gospel, EVEN SO as for the Ministers of the Altar?

Ther is no Coherence, no Argument, no Comparison, nor Good Sense, can be made out of this Text, unless The Lord had Ordained, that, as the Tythes were Pay'd to the Priests of the Tem­ple; they shou'd be likewise Pay'd to the Priests of the Gospel. And then the Comparison lies Full and Round, and the Apostle's Argument is Strong and Cogent: which otherwise is Preca­rious, and In-Consequential. Therefor I [Page 114]think that from this very Text, it may, nay that it must be Concluded, That The Lord has Ordained Tythes under the Gospel, as well as under the Law. And I will shew hereafter, that this Text was thus understood, in the first Ages of the Church.

But why wou'd not S. Paul down­right name Tythes, and so put the Matter out of Dispute? I answer; Ther was then no Dispute at all con­cerning the Divine Right of Tythes. All the Dispute that then cou'd be, was only to whom they shou'd be Pay'd? whether to the Priests of the Temple or the Gospel? The Priests of the Temple were then in Possession of them; and wou'd have Rais'd a much more severe Persecution against the Gospel, if its Priests had Pretended to them. And therefor it was Great Prudence in the Apostles not to Name Tythes, not to add Oyl to the Flames of that Persecution, which was like to be too strong for the ordinary sort of Christians, and overcame some of them. Yet wou'd not the Apostles lose their Right; which S. Paul, in this Chapter, not only Asserts, but Arguer [Page 115]for it, though he wou'd not then make use of it, for Reasons which he there Declares.

SECT. X. Obj. That no Tythes were Pay'd in the Days of the Apostles, and first Ages of Christianity.

1. First, I Deny the Supposition: That no Tythes were then Pay'd. For though a Tenth was Or­dained; yet it might be Exceeded, and Men might give a Greater Pro­portion, if they thought fit: and God did accept of what more Men gave, as a Mark of more Extraordinary De­votion, and Zeal to his Service. And therefor they who gave More, gave the Tenth.

Now, in the Days of the Apostles, the Christians gave not only a Tenth; but their Zeal was so Exceeding as to sell Lands, Houses, &c. and give All that they had in the World, and [Page 116]lay it down at the Apostles Feet.Acts iv. 34. And this was not a sudden Heat of Devo­tion, and soon over, it lasted many Years. We find it in Justin Martyr, 160 Years after Christ. And now (says he) We bring all that we have into Common, [...]. Apolog. 2. pag. 61. and Communicate it to every one that wants. And after him Irenaeus, Advers. Hae­res. l. 4. c. 34. An. Chr. 180. tells that the Jews consecrated a Tenth, but the Christians gave All that they had to God's Service; and wou'd give not Less than the Jews, because they had a better Hope. And after him Tertullian, An. 200. says (Apol. c. 39.) That all things were Common among the Christians, but their Wives.

Now while this great Zeal and Li­berality lasted, what Reason was ther to Press Men to give a Tenth, who gave a Great deal more? Mr. Selde [...] confesses (c. 4. n. 1. p. 36.) So liberal (says he) in the Beginning of Christi­anity, was the Devotion of Believers, that their Bounty to the Evangelical Priesthood far exceeded what the Tenth cou'd have been. And p. 39. The Libe­rality formerly used had been such, that [Page 117]in respect thereof, Tenths were a small part. And Review, c. 4. p. 462. he says, It had been little to the purpose indeed to have had Tythes of Annual Increase paid, while that most Bounti­ful Devotion of Good Christians conti­nu'd in frequent Offerings, both of Lands and Goods, to such Large Value. And (c. 4. n. 2. p. 40.) he continues this vast Liberality of the Christians in their Offerings, to the days of St. Chrysostom, who liv'd at the end of the 4th Cen­tury; where he tells how much the Clergy were Envy'd for their Riches; which, says he, Grew only out of such Christian Devotion to the Priesthood. He magnifies the Great Oblations made [...] Rome, however Cyprian (says he) [...]ight before have cause to complain in Africk. Yet the Oblations were not Mean in Africa; which we may ga­ther from the Relation of St. Cyprian himself; who tells (Epist. 160. p. 96. Ed. Oxon.) that out of the Oblati­ons of the Christians of Carthage, where he was Bishop, he contributed, at one time, an Hundred Thousand Sester­tiums, towards the Relief of some Christian Captives. But, to say no [Page 118]more of the Greatness of the Devoti­ons of those Times; I have only this Use to make of it, as to my Present Purpose, That the Christians then gi­ving more than a Tenth, had been Reason sufficient, if ther had [...] been one word in any of the Fathers of those Times, concerning Tythes, For how cou'd they Require Tythes, when Tythes were Pay'd, and a great deal more?

But because ther shou'd be no sort of Argument wanting, in this Cause, we have frequent Testimonies, even of the Fathers of these first Ages, for Tythes being Due, under the Gos­pel, as well as under the Law; and that the Commands in the Law for Tythes, do still oblige us. I will men­tion but a few.

St. Irenaeus, Disciple to St. Polycar [...], who was Disciple to St. John the Apo­stle, says (advers. Haeres. l. 4. c. 34) That we ought to offer to God the First-fruits of His Creatures, as Moses said, You shall not appear Empty before the Lord. It has been said before, that First-fruits and Tenths are us'd pro­miscuously. But Irenaeus shews, that [Page 119]he means Tenths, in the same place, by making this Comparison betwixt the Offerings of the Jews and the Christians, that the Jews offer'd a Tenth, but the Christians gave All that they had. And (Ibid. c. 27.) he shews how Christ did Heighten the Com­mands of the Law. As, for Adultery, to forbid Lust: for Murder, to forbid Anger. And he adds this Instance to the other, That instead of Tythes, Christ commanded to sell All, and give to the Poor; and this (says he) is not a Dissolving of the Law, but En­larging it. By which Argumentation, Tythes are no more Dissolv'd, under the Gospel, than the 6th and the 7th Commands. Of the same Opinion was Origen, who Flourish'd about 20 Years after Irenaeus. To whom (says he) we give our First-fruits, to the same we send up our Prayers. [...]. Contr. Cels. l. 8. p. 400. By First-fruits he means Tenths, as appears by his 16th Homil. on Genesis, where he says that the Number Ten is Regarded in the New Testament, as well as the Old. And says, that because Christ is the [Page 120] Author of All, therefor Tythes are offer'd to the Priests. He is large upon this Subject, Hom. II. in Num. as Translated by St. Hierom (for we want the Greek.) Much of which Mr. Selden quotes (c. 4. p. 40. and 41.) and particularly Origen applies the Text before Debated, 1 Cor. ix. 13. to the Priests having Tythes under the Gospel: and says, that Tythes are Due now as well as then, etiam secundum Literam, according to the very Letter of the Law: which, in this Case, is still obligatory, and to Christians as well as Jews. He reckons them as having no Remembrance of God, as not believing that God gave the Fruits of the Earth, who do not Ho­nour Him with them, by giving Part of them to the Priests. And, as I be­fore Quoted this same Homily, he likewise cites our Saviour's Command to the Pharisees, telling them, that they ought to pay Tythe of Mint, An­nise, Cummin, &c. and shews how this is more strictly obligatory upon Chri­stians: and concludes with Proving, That the very Letter of the Law must stand for the Payment of the First-fruits [Page 121]of Fruits and Cattel. Haec. dixi­mus asserentes Mandatum de Primitiis Frugum vel Pecorum debere etiam se­cundum Literam stare. And all that Mr. Selden has to say against this clear Testimony, is,History of Tythes, c. 4. n. 3. p. 41. That though Ori­gen do's mention Tythes in the Premi­ses, yet that in the Conclusion, before-quoted, he only names First-fruits. He makes Origen a very bad Reasoner by this. But ther is no Ground for it; because (as before often said) by the Word First-fruits, Tythes were frequently meant. And in this same place Origen uses both these Terms: where he tells that the Pharisees durst not Taste of the Fruits of the Earth, priusquam Primitias Sacerdotibus offe­rant, & Levitis Decimae separentur, i. e. before they offer'd First-fruits to the Priests, and the Tythes were separated for the Levites. Where, as he uses the Words Priests and Levites, so the Words First-fruits and Tythes, promis­cuously. For the Tythes were to be pay'd to the Priests, who it is true were likewise Levites, that was a Ge­neral Word, like the Clergy among us, to Comprehend all the Orders of [Page 122]the Church; But the Tythes were not pay'd to the Levites, as they were a Distinct Order from the Priests. Nor were the First-fruits pay'd more par­ticularly to the Priests, than the Tenths were. Both First-fruits and Tenths were Offerings to The Lord (as be­fore has been shewn) and all the Of­ferings and Sacrifices were offer'd only by the Priests, and not by the Levites. Yet Origen here uses these Words in­differently, as likewise the Words First-fruits and Tenths. And to shew (contrary to Mr. Selden's Pretence) that he meant to bring them both, in their Distinct Senses, into his Con­clusion, he draws his Consequence, not from One but Both of them, speak­ing in the Plural Number, Et Eg [...] nihil Horum faciens — i. e. Neither offering my First-fruits nor Tenth [...]. These Word [...] immediately follow those above quoted, where he shew how strictly the Scribes and Pharise [...] pay'd their First-fruits and Tenths and then, speaking in the Person o [...] a Profane and Careless Christian, says, Ego Nihil Horum — do neither o [...] These; this comprehends both First-fruits [Page 123]and Tenths, to cut off Mr. Sel­den's vain Distinction; and Origen Condemns such a Christian as much worse than the Scribes and Pharisees. And his Inferring from hence, that the Mandatum de Primitiis, the Law for First-fruits, ought to stand, can­not Exclude the Tenths, which he ex­presly mention'd: But shews plainly, that by this he meant the Tenths. As St. Chrysostom, In Hebr. Hom. 12. Tom. 4. p. 497. by the same word of First-fruits expresses the Tythes which Abram gave to Melchisedec, calling them [...], i. e. The First-fruits of his Labours. And Clemens Alexandrinus, who was Ori­gen's Master, us'd both these words in the same Sense, and taught the ve­ry same thing as Origen; viz. That the Law of Moses concerning Tythes was still obligatory and of Force a­mong Christians: as being a Moral Duty, and a Part of God's Worship. He says, that Moses's Law did teach Piety and Wor­ship towards God, [...] — [...]. Strom. l. 2. p. 397. Edit. Lutetiae 1629. by Gi­ving Him the Tythes of our Fruit and Cattel — and of these First-fruits (says [Page 124]he) the Priests were Maintain'd.

Here First-fruits and Tythes mean the same thing. And so it is in the Apostolical Canons, where Can. 38. it is order'd how the [...], the First­fruits or Tythes shou'd be Disposed; which is a full Demonstration that they were then Pay'd.

I will close my Proof of those first Ages with the Great St. Cyprian, who Flourish'd A. D. 240. He Re­proving the Cooling of the Charity of some, and how far they had fallen short of the Primitive Zeal, says (de Ʋnit. Eccles. n. 23.) Domos tunc & Fundos venundabant, at nunc e Patrimo­nio nec Decimas damus, i. e. They then sold Lands and Houses; but now we do not so much as Pay the Tythes of our Estates. Thereby Reproaching the Covetous and Distrustful of his days, who Pay'd not their bare Due, that is, the Tythe; whereas formerly they Gave much more than was Due, more than the Tythe, they Gave All. Thus far we have seen the Doctrine of the Church, as to Tythes, for 240 Years after Christ; which is all the time Dis­puted: for in the After Ages, when a [Page 125]Greater and more Universal Neglect of Tythes had crept in, the Fathers are voluminous upon the Subject, and Councils express in Requiring them under pain of Excommunication, as being Due to God from the Begin­ning. And the Apostolical Canons a­bove quoted, were the Canon-Law that was in those times.

So that we have not only the Te­stimony of Private Fathers; But the Law that then was for the Payment of Tythes, before the extraordinary Oblations of more than a Tenth, did cease in the Church; though they had then no need to Insist upon the Tythe, because they Receiv'd a much Greater Proportion. Mr. Selden, as before quoted, owns that these Ex­traordinary Oblations were still conti­nu'd for the first four hundred Years. And if I shou'd take in all the Fathers about this time, I shou'd be forc'd to Repeat whole Sermons vindicating the Divine Right of Tythes. None will Deny but that they were Full and Ex­press for Tythes at that time; and af­terwads. Only the First Fathers were not so large, because they did not [Page 126]Treat expresly upon this Subject, only obiter, and by the bye, having no oc­casion for it, while the Zeal of Chri­stians was not willing to be stinted to the bare Due of a Tenth, but gave much more. So that it were not strange, if we had heard nothing at all from them of it. But, by Good Providence, they have left sufficien [...] to Convince those willing to be De­ceiv'd, in After Ages, who through Covetousness and Distrust of God, did forbear to Pay their Tythe. Till, by a long Custom of Sinning, Men began to lose the Sense of their Sin; who yet Durst not Plead for the Lawful­ness of it. As the Jews, the whole Nation of whom subtracted their Tythe, Mal. iij. 9. and were Cursed of God for it▪ yet none can think that this was a S [...] of Ignorance in them, that they Dis­puted or Forgot the Positive Com­mands of the Law for Tythe: But they were not Willing, and so had Forg [...] to Practise it. Which was the Case of those Careless and Diffident Chri­stians who at first only Grudg'd to Pay their Tythes; then Forbore it; and at last Forgot it: but began not till the [Page 127]later most Corrupt Times, to Dispute against it.

II. When the Papacy had grown Great upon the Ruins of Episcopacy: and the Bishop of Rome Appropriated the Stile of Apostolical to his See alone; Assuming to himself the Supremacy over all other Bishops; and sought to swallow up all their Authority, and Center it in the Plenitude of his Pow­er: And that, for this End, it was ne­cessary to Usurp the Revenues, as well as Authority of his Colleagues; where­by he might be Enabled to Maintain the vast Swarms of Regulars, whom he had set up, and Exempted from the Jurisdiction of their respective Bishops, to Depend wholly upon Himself: and by this he Un-measurably broke the Episcopal Authority: For the Seculars only were left under that small Re­mainder of the Episcopal Power, which the Pope had left, as a Fiocco, to those Bishops whom he had subjugated. But he Cherished the Regulars as his Life-Guard. And, like a Conquerour, he seiz'd upon the Estates of those whom he had overcome, as justly Forfeited; and bestowed them upon those who [Page 128]fought on his side. The Tythes of the Church, which All belong'd to the Bishops and their Secular Clergy, the Pope took upon him to Alienate, and let in the Regulars as Sharers with them. And thus He founded Mona­steries and Abbies Innumerable; and Endowed them with the Tythes of the Neighbouring Parishes; to the Les­sening of the Bishops Jurisdiction; Im­poverishing the Secular Clergy, who Depended upon them; and plentiful­ly Maintaining what Numbers he pleas'd of the Regulars, who were Im­plicitly at his Command.

And to countenance and make way for these Horrid Sacrileges and Ʋsur­pations, the Popish Canonists were first Corrupted: who forgetting the First and Chief End of Tythes, which was as a Worship, and Tribute Due to God; and Insisting only upon the Secondary Consideration, that of being a Main­tenance to the Clergy; They, though they own'd Tythes to be Jure Divine, yet gave the Pope Power, as Sovereign Disposer of the Revenues of the Church, to Alienate, Commute, and Appropriate them as he thought fit.

But this was a Dangerous Tenure. For while Tythes were own'd to be Jure Divino, the Pope's Alienations might be Disputed. Therefor the School-Men, who were generally Monks, made a new Scheme about the Year 1230, and said that the Divine and Moral Law extended only to a Competency for the Clergy: but as to the particular Quantity of a Tenth, that this was only of Ecclesiastical In­stitution.

But ther is no stop in the Art of Encroachment; For, having brought [...]own Tythes so Low, the Begging-Friars, after this got up, and they made Tythes to be perfectly Arbitrary, [...]t the Will and Pleasure of the Giver: [...]nd not Due to the Secular Priests; [...]ut that they were nothing else than [...]here Alms; and consequently might [...]e given to any Religious Beggar. This [...]as a shameless Preaching only for [...]heir own Bellies; and to rob their [...]nemies the Secular Clergy.

But to Conclude. The Popes, as [...]ithful Treasurers of the Church, have, [...]n several Ages, taken upon them to [...]ll the Tythes of the Church to Lay­men, [Page 130]to the best Bidder. And have Infeodated the Tythes all over Italy to the Secular Princes; insomuch that I was told by an Understanding Gen­tleman, and a Rom. Cath. who liv'd many Years in Rome, that ther is not an Inch of Tythe now paid to the Church in all Italy. All is sold to the Laity or Appropriated to the Monk▪ And the like, though not in so gre [...] a Degree, is done in France, Spai [...], and other Popish Countries.

SECT. XI. Tythes Dedicated by Particul [...] Vows in England.

THE General Obligation [...] Tythes being Established, th [...] needed no Particular Application as [...] England. But I find that we ha [...] Here added the Sacred Sanction [...] Vows to that General Obligation u [...] ­der which we were Bound with [...] the Rest of the World. And the [...] [Page 131]may be done, and, I suppose, has been, in most Christian Countries; yet let me shew it as to our selves.

1. Tythes have been Established by all the Authority, both Ecclesiastical and Civil, that this Nation cou'd af­ford: and Dedicated to God by Ex­press Vows of Kings and Parliaments, with the most solemn Imprecations and Curses, upon Themselves and their Po­sterities, who shou'd Retract, or take back any Part of the Tythes so Dedi­cated. This is so well known, and so many Acts of Parliament Confirm­ing it, that I need but Name it. Yet, for the Satisfaction of those who are not so well vers'd herein, I will set down a few of the most Ancient Re­cords, which Mr. Selden himself has afforded us, that they may be liable to the less Exception. C. 8. n. 2. p. 199. he Recites the 17th Chap. of the Great Council of Calcuth, A. D. 786. where he says, Convenerunt omnes Principes Regionis, tam Ecclesiastici quam Seculares. All the Great Men of the Nation, as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal, were Conven'd. So that this was a full Parliament, according to the [Page 132]Constitution of those Days. And p. 203. he supposes it, Extending through the whole Kingdom. And as to the Truth of the Matter of Fact, he Quotes several Authors wherein it is Printed: and says, p. 202. Neither can it be suspected by any Circumstance in the Subscriptions; which being so many, might have by Chance soon go [...] among them a Character of Falshood, had it not been Genuine.

This Chapter of it which he Quotes is [De Decimis dandis, sicut in Leg [...] scriptum est] Concerning the Payment of Tythes, according as it is written in the Law. And they Infer, as the Ancient Fathers before Quoted, that the Command in the Law of Moser for the Payment of Tythe was still in Force, and obligatory upon Christian [...] and Quote Mal. iij. 10. &c. for it, And it is Recited in the said Chapter, ho [...] the King Elfwald, the Dukes, Lord [...] Senators, and the People, did All with one Consent [Devoverunt] Bi [...] themselves, by a solemn Vow, to Pa [...] the Tythe to God.

2. Mr. Selden, p. 208, 209. s [...] down a Charter of King Ethelwolf [Page 133]A. D. 854. wherein he grants Deci­mant partem terrarum per Regnum no­strum. The Tythe of All the Lands in his Kingdom to the Church. And it concludes thus. Qui autem Augere vo­luerit nostram Donationem, Augeat om­nipotens Deus dies ejus Prosperos; si quis vero Minuere vel Mutare presump­serit, Noscat se ante Tribunal Christi red­diturum rationem, nisi prius satisfactio­ne emendaverit. i. e. He that shall Add to what I have Given, The Lord add to him Prosperous days: But if any shall Presume to Lessen or Change it, let him know, that he shall give an Account of it before the Tribunal of Christ, unless he first Repent, and make Satisfaction. This Mr. Selden says he had out of the Cotton Library, where it is in MS. among the Chartularies of the Abbey of Abingdon. The Charter expresses, That the King made this Grant by the Advice and Consent of the Bishops, Earls, and All the Great Men. And Mr. Selden says, p. 208. That this was a Constitution, by the Parliamentary Consent of that time.

3. But in the Year following, A. D. 855. King Ethelwolf did Renew this [Page 134] Grant, in a more solemn Manner. Dedicating and Vowing the Tythe of All the Lands in England, In Sempi­terno Graphio, in Cruce Christi; as it is Express'd, and was the Manner, at that time, of the most Solemn Vow: And Tender'd the Charter, by him sign'd, upon his Knees, offering it up▪ and laying it upon the Great Altar of St. Peter's Church in Winchester, the Bishops receiving it from him o [...] God's Part. And this was done, n [...] only with the Consent of both Lord and Commons, of whom an Infini [...] Number was Present; But all the Bi­shops, Abbots, Earls, and Nobles, di [...] Subscribe it; with the Greatest Ap­plause of the People. And it was se [...] and Published in every Parish-Church throughout the Kingdom.

4. This Ethelwolf was the first [...] ­reditary Monarch of the English Saxons, who held the whole Nation under his Subjection, in Peace, an [...] without Contradiction: and conse­quently he was the first who cou'd ef­fectually make a Law to oblige [...] whole Nation.

And this Law and Vow of his, and of the whole Nation, by their Con­sent given, as aforesaid, was Confirm'd and Renewed, by almost every King and Parliament that succeeded, in the Reigns of Alfred, Edward, Athelstan, Edmund, Edgar, Ethelred, Canutus, and Edward the Confessor, before the Conquest: and from William the Con­querour down all the way to Hen. VIII. in many Parliaments; with solemn Curses and Imprecations upon Them­selves or Posterities who shou'd De­tract any of the Tythes so Vowed and Granted; And such Curses and Ex­communications were Pronounced in the most Solemn and Dreadful Man­ner, by the Bishops, with Burning Ta­pers in their hands, in Presence of King, Lords, and Commons, in Par­liament Assembled, and All Consenting and Confirming the same, in Name of Themselves and their Posterities. And, as it is express'd in the Act of Parlia­ment made in the Reign of King Ed­mund, A. D. 940. Wherein All the People are Charged,Spelm. Concil. T. 1. p. 420. Hist. Jor­val. Col. 858. upon their Chri­stianity, to Pay their Tythes; and those who Neglect it, are Declar'd Accursed, [Page 136]i. e. Excommunicated: and they were Esteem'd as Men who had Renounced their Christianity; and not to Deserve the Name of Christians. And these Grants and Vows are Confirm'd by Magna Charta, and all the rest of our Laws, both before and after it.

5. Now it is a Receiv'd Maxim in the Civil Law, as well as a Dictate of Reason, That Votum transit in Haere­des, A Vow do's Descend and Oblige our Heirs. And in the Law of Justi­nian, which he Receiv'd from Ʋlpi­an, it is Particularly apply'd to this of Tythes. f f. lib. de Policit. l. 2. Quis. §. 2. Si forte, qui Decimam vo­vit, Decesserit ante Sepositionem, Ha­res ipsius, Haereditario nomine, Decime obstrictus est. Voti enim obligationem ad Haeredem transire constat. i. e. If any that had vowed Tythes, should D [...]e­before they were Pay'd, his Heir is ob­lig'd to Pay them; because it is a known Rule, That the Obligation of a Vow do's Descend to the Heirs. How much more then, if any not only Voweth, but actually Executeth his Vow, and has Already Given the Tythes which he Vowed out of his own Possession to those to whom his Vow did oblige [Page 137]him to give them; how much more is his Heir obliged in this Case, not to Recall or Take back such Tythes out of their Possession, to whom they were so Vowed and Given?

If a Man cannot Annul or Make void his own Vow, without a manifest Mocking of God; how can he Re-call or Disannul the Vow of Another?

If a Man's Grant of his own Estate, when Duly Executed, cannot be Re­call'd, tho' to the Prejudice or Ruin of his Family; And tho' it was a Wrong in him, and very Ʋnjust to make such a Grant: shall not his Grant of Restitution stand, whereby he only Gives back, what he had Ʋn-justly taken from Another? What he had Robbed from God, of His Tythes and Offerings? Must ther be a writ of En­quiry to Examin into the Justice and Equity of the Original Grant, And to Recall it, because it was too Much? Shall we think that too Much, which God has Reserved as Holy unto Him­self? And for which He has Promised to Bless us, in All that we set our Hand unto? Is not He Able to make us Amends, and Encrease our store [Page 138]an hundred fold? Is not He Able to Punish our Distrust of Him, And take away our Nine Parts, who Grudge to Give Him the Tenth? Is not this a Snare of the Devil to throw us out of God's Favour, and make us Forfeit His Protection? Is it not a Snare to the Man who Devoureth that which is Ho­ly, Prov. xx. 25. and after Vows, to make Enquiry? If it is not Lawful to make Enquiry, to Grudge, or Snip from what I have Vowed, tho it be of things which I was not Obliged to Vow, or to Give away: How much more Unlawful is it, to make Enquiry after I have Vowed that which was God's Due before I Vowed; and which I was Obliged to Pay, tho I had not Vowed it at all?

If Ananias and Sapphira were strick­en Dead upon the Place, for keeping back but Part of the Price which they had not formally Vowed, no nor Pro­mised, for ought Appears; but only Thought of, or Resolved in their Minds to Give; even of Their Own, and which cou'd not have been Exacted from them; Shall they Escape who keep back, not a Part, but the Whole of those Tythes, which God had Reser­ved, [Page 139]like the Forbidden fruit, not to be Touched by us, Ever since the Creation of Man upon the Earth: And which had been moreover so often and so Solemnly VOWED, with the most Dreadful Imprecations both Temporal and Eternal upon all those who should Refuse or Neglect to Pay them? If the Dissembling of Ananias and Sapphira was constru'd a Lying, not to Men, But to The Holy-Ghost: How is it not a Lying both to Men, Act. v. 4. and to The Ho­ly-Ghost, to Defeat the Grants of our Fore-fathers; to Disannul their Vows; And Rob GOD of what they had vow­ed to Him; and which was His Due before: And is still Due from us, tho neither they nor we had ever Vowed them? Ther is a Greater Complication of Daring and Provoking Sins in this Matter than perhaps is to be found in any other Instance, now in Practise amongst Us. And which we ought not to Forget in the List of those Sins, for which God, is now visibly Punishing of these Nations. We have Refus'd Him, His Tenth; And He has taken our Nine Parts from Us, and scarcely left a Tenth in the Nation of what [Page 140]but a few years ago we did Possess. And His Hand is stretched out still—

6. Mr. Selden, tho he bent his whole strength against the Divine Right of Tythes, yet when he came to Consider the Solemn Dedication of them, with Vows to God, he yields, upon this score, that they were Ʋn­alienable and Irrevocable. I will set down some of his words, in his Re­view. p. 486. And let him that De­tains them (the Tythes, says he) and believes them not to be Jure Divino, think of the Ancient Dedications of them made to Holy Ʋses. And how­ever they were abused to Superstition as the other Large Endowments of the Church, before the Reformation; yet fol­lows it not, without farther Considera­tion, that therefor, although so Dedi­cated, they might be Prophaned to Com­mon uses, or Lay-hands. Consult here­in with Divines. But I doubt not but that every Good Man wishes, that at our Dissolution of Monasteries, both the Lands and Impropriated Tythes and Churches possessed by them (that is things sacred to the service of God, al­though Abused by such as had them) [Page 141]had been bestowed rather for the advance­ment of the Church to a better Mainte­nance of the Labouring and Deserving Ministery, to the fostering of Good Arts, Relief of the Poor, and other such Good uses as might retain in them, for the bene­fit of the Church or Commonwealth, a Cha­racter of the wishes of those who first with Devotion Dedicated them (as in some Christoph. Pinder. de Bonis Eccle­siae, in Du­cat. Witten­berg. pag. 94. &c. other Countrys upon the Reformation, was Religiously done) than confer'd with such a Prodigal Dispensation, as it happened, on those who stood ready to DEVOƲR WHAT WAS SAN­CTIFY'D; and have, (in no small Number) since found Inheritances thence Derived to them, but as SEJANƲS his Horse, or the Gold of THOLOƲSE.

7. This Observation of Selden's has been more Particularly Insisted upon by Sir Hen. Spelman in his Hist. of Sa­crilege: and his Son Clem. Spelman in his Preface to his Father's Book, De non temerand. Eccl. Who has given Many and Remarkable Instances of the Ruin and Destruction of those Fa­milies who shar'd most of the Church Lands and Tythes in the Beginning of our Reformation, and before from [Page 142] William the Conqueror. Especially it was taken notice of That the Heirs of such Familys were taken off untimely; or that they had no Heirs; and their Estates and Honours went into other Familys. This was chiefly Remark­able in Hen. VIII. himself. All of whose Children Dyed Childless, and left his Crown to another Family and Nation. And whereas the Addition of the Church Lands and Treasure, which were Annexed to the Crown, were thought so In-Exhaustable, that Hen. VIII. Promised to his Parliament that if they wou'd settle them upon the Crown, he wou'd free the Nation, for ever, from Taxes and Subsidies; would Maintain 40How's Preface to Stow's An­nals. Coke's Jurisdiction of Courts. f. 44. Earls, 60 Barons, 300 Knights, and 40000 Soldiers, and that they shou'd always be so Main­tain'd upon the Expence of the Crown. Yet when these Church-Lands, and Tythes Impropriated were accordingly Granted to the Crown; together with the Plunder of All the Church-Plate, and Jewels offer'd at their Shrines; which were Inestimable: All that the King had Promis'd in lieu of them, was forgot: And the Nation never Pay'd [Page 143]such Heavy Taxes, as since that time: Instead of being Eas'd from Taxes, as they Expected, and was Promis'd; from that Day, Taxes seem'd to be Entayl'd upon them; And ever to En­crease. They have already (as a­bove observ'd) brought Us to a Tenth, who have seis'd upon the Tenth of God. And unless we Repent—And as for the Crown, that vast Accession of Sacrilegious Wealth, and Lands, Eat out themselves, and all the Crown Lands with them. Insomuch that, at this Day, several Private Gentlemen in England, enjoy more to their own Estates than all the Lands which are left to the Crown do now yield. And Hen. VIII. himself, who thought never to be Poor, liv'd to see that Incredible Mass of Wealth, which he had Rob­bed from the Churches, All Melt away like Ice before the Sun; And his own Vast Treasure with it, insomuch that he was at last Reduc'd to Coyne Base Money.

The Fate of the Great Duke of So­merset is very observable, He was Ʋn­cle to King Edw. VI. and Protector of England: he built Somerset-House [Page 144]with the Stones of a Church Reform'd to Ruin. And was the Great Patron, and Promoter of Impropriations. He was taken in the same Net he had laid for others, an Act of Parliament he had Procur'd for his own safety, and to Crush his Enemys; by which he was Trapped himself, and lost his Head for so Poor a Crime as Felony: And, which is more extraordinary, had not the Power, or Presence of Mind, to Demand the Benefit of his Clergy, which cou'd not have been Refus'd him. As if (says an Histo­rian) God wou'd not suffer him, who had Robbed His Church, to be saved by his Clergy.

Many are too Rash in Determining the Judgments of God to be sent for this or that. And the Excess of this, especially of late times, even to Super­stition, among those who Cry'd out most against it, and were most Super­stitious, but knew it not; has Run others to the Contrary Extreme of Ir­religion, to think God wholly Ʋn­concern'd in the Affairs of the World; and that no Notice at all is to be ta­ken of any Events; which they sup­pose [Page 145]to happen Casually, and to have no Relation to either the Good or Evil that we do. This is to Deny all Pro­vidence in God; which is Atheism, for it destroys the very Notion of a God, which cannot be without His Providence suppos'd, and an Univer­sal Influence and Inspection over All things.

And though it is hard to make an Argument, and Conclude Positively for what Particular Sin such a Judgment was sent: And we often Mistake in this, and make Applications according to Humour or Interest: yet Sometimes Judgments are so very Legible, that we may Read our Sin in our Punish­ment. And God frequently in Scrip­ture Reproves the Hardness of their Hearts, who shut their Eyes against the Observation of this signal part of His Providence. Isa. v. 12. Who Regard not the Work of the Lord, neither Consider the Operation of His hands. They have Be­lied the Lord, and said, It is not He, Jer. v. 12. neither shall Evil come upon us. It is [...]all'd a Belying of God, to think that [...]he Evils which come upon Us are not sent from Him. For, says he,Isai. xlv. 7. I [Page 146]make Peace, and Create Evil: I the Lord do all these things.

And,Am. iij. 6. Shall ther be Evil in the City, and the Lord hath not done it?

The wicked Blaspheme God, Psal. x. 12, 14, 15. while they do say in their Heart, Tush, Thou God carest not for it, He hideth away his Face, and He will never see it— Surely Thou hast seen it, for Thou be­holdest Ʋngodliness and Wrong: This Thou may'st take the Matter into Thine own Hand.

And the Jews are Reprehended by our Saviour, for Not Discerning the Signs of the Times. Mat. xvi. 3.

It is call'd a Knowing of God, to observe the Course of His Judgment, and His Mercies; for how otherwise can we Know Him upon Earth?

He Judged the Cause of the Poor and Needy, Jer. xxij. 16. then it was well with him: Wa [...] not this to know Me, saith the Lord?

And the Consequence is, That not to take Notice of these things, is not to Know God; it is to Belie Him, to Blaspheme Him, as in the Texts be­fore Quoted, and Many More that cou'd be Produc'd to the same Pur­pose.

Now to Apply this to our Present Purpose, I do not Pretend to draw an Argument from the Many Instances of God's Remarkable Judgments upon both their Persons and Families who had Robb'd His Church; as if those Judgments Must of Necessity have been Inflicted Purely and Solely for this Sin: But if this be a Sin, and of so Deep a Dye, as it must be if it be any Sin at all; for it can be no other than Sacri­lege: And if that be the most Open and Notorious Known Sin of these Persons: And likewise, That these Judgments are observ'd to follow the Lands, Houses, and Tythes Impropri­ate, tho often Bought and Sold, and Changing of Owners: Not in Every Case, for if God shou'd Punish Wick­edness in All, the World must soon be Destroy'd, And He do's often suffer the Wicked to Prosper: It is one of the Sharpest Scourges He uses to Cha­stise a Sinful Nation; And having done His Work, to Burn the Rod: But when we see Judgments to fol­low such a Sin, for the Most Part, and in such Repeated and Remark­able Instances as Sir Henry Spelman [Page 148]gives Us in his History of Sacrilege; And many more of the same sort, which we can Gather elsewhere; And some that our own Experience can furnish Us withal: In such Cases, it is far from Superstition to take Notice of the Hand of God in them: And not to do it, is that Stupidity and Blasphemy before Reprehended, it is a Hardning our selves against all the Methods of Divine Providence; a De­nial of it, and Living without God in the World.

Who can (for Example) avoid the Observation of the New-Forest in Hampshire Devouring so Many of William the Conqueror's Sons, by Strange Deaths, he having. Destroy'd 26 Parish Churches to make Room for his Deer there, as you may see in Spelman's Hist. Sacril. p. 119, 120.

Or what is observ'd in the Preface to his De non Temerand. Eccl. p. 42. That within 20 years after Hen. VIII his Seizing the Revenues of the Church by the Advice and Assistance of his Nobility; and Dividing her Patrimo­ny among them Chiefly; More of them and their Children were At­tainted [Page 149]and Dy'd by the Sword of Ju­stice, than from the Conquest to that time, which was about 500 years.

Sir Henry Spelman's Hist. Sacril. c. vij. Computes that The great In­crease of Lands and Wealth that came to the King by the Dissolution was Qua­druple to the Crown-Lands. And takes Notice (p. 226, 227.) how the Crown-Lands were Dwindling away. Most of them being then gone (when he Wrote, in the Reign of King Charles I.) and only Fee-Farm Rents Reserv'd out of the Greatest part of them, viz. 40000 l.a year out of the Crown-Lands, and 60000 l. out of the Church-Lands. And observes, as a Con­tinuance of the Judgment upon them, That an Infraction was then begun to be Made upon the Very Fee-Farm Rents themselves, And that some of them had been Alienated. But if he had Liv'd another Reign, he wou'd have seen them Every one Sold: And the Crown Reduc'd to Live from Hand to Mouth, upon the Mere Benevolence of those, Whose Care it is, to keep it Always so Depending, and upon its Good Behaviour.

So much has the Crown Gain'd by the Access of Sacrilegious Wealth, as from Imperial Dignity, and a Propri­ety Paramount in all the Lands of England, to become an Honourable Beggar for its Daily Bread!

I know not how far this has sunk with those who are Concern'd: Or whether another Curse may not be Ad­ded, that is, Never to Consider, but Go on.

However, Sir Hen. Spelman has told Us of several Gentlemen in England, who, out of a Due sense of the sin of this Sacrilege, have freely Given up, and Restored to the Chruch, as far as the Laws wou'd Permit them, all their Impropriate Tythes, which had Descended to them from their An­cestors: That instead of them, and the Curses which attended them, they might Entail the Blessing of God, up­on the Rest of their Estates, and up­on their Posterities. The sense of this sunk so Deep with the Great Earl of Strafford, that foreseeing a new Sacri­legious Deluge of Ʋsurpation upon the Church then coming on, An. 1640, he made it his Dying In junction to his S [...] [Page 151]under Peril of his Curse, and of the Curse of God, never to meddle with any Church-Lands, or what had been once Dedicated to God. This Legacy he sent him from the Scaffold, where Men are past Dissembling, or Courting of Favour; tho this cou'd have been no Recommendation to him, at that time.

And how Light soever some Men make of the sin of Sacrilege, while they Gain by it: yet when they come to Dye, they may have the same sense of it, which that Noble Lord then so Religiously Exprest. But ther being no Repentance Accepted by God, without Restitution, as far as in our Power, I Pray God they may think of it, while it is in their Power to make that Restitution, which Alone can witness the Sincerity of their Re­pentance.

8. Ther can no Pretence be made for the Lawfulness of Impropriations, when those Very Acts of Parlia­ment, which took them from the Church, and Gave them to Lay-Men, do acknowledge that they are God's Dues, and His Right. That they are [Page 152]Due to God and Holy Church, as in 27 Hen. VIII. c. 20. Nay they were always so acknowledg'd and no other­wise, Insomuch that ther was no Law or Precedent for a Lay-Man to sue for Tythes; it was utterly Hete­rogeneous and Abhorrent: For which Reason, when Tythes were given to Lay-Men, they were forced to have a Particular Act of Parliament, 32 Hen. VIII. c. 7. to Enable Lay-men to sue for Tythe; which before they cou'd not do. In which Very Act, Tythe is Nam'd as being Due to Almighty God. And next to Act of Parliament, the Great Oracle of our Law Sir Edw. Coke is to be heard, who in the Bishop of Winchester's Case, plainly as­serts that Dismes sont choses Spiritual, & Due de Jure Divino, i. e. That Tyches are spiritual things, and Due of Divine Right. And if so, how can Acts of Parliament Alter them? can they take away God's Right? This is Plainly Pleading Guilty against them­selves. And leaves all those self-Con­demned, who have nothing but these Acts of Parliament to plead in Arrest of Judgment for the Sacrilege of their [Page 153] Impropriations, at the Day of DOOM.

9. In the next place, can an Act of Parliament Dispence with Vows made to God? or alter things Dedicated to His service? Did the Oath which Jo­seph took of the Children of Israel, Gen. l. 25. Exod. xiij. [...]9. bind their Posterities, so many Ages after, and that about a matter of no greater Consequence, than the Removing of his Bones? And shall not the Repea­ted Vows of our Ancestors Bind us, to Give God His Honour due unto his Name, the Worship of our Tythes, which He, from the Beginning, has Reserv'd as Sacred unto Himself! Did that Oath Bind,Jos. ix. 15. which The Prin­ces of the Congregration swore to the Gibeonites? And shall not the Vows and Oaths of so Many of our Kings and Parliaments Bind Us!

Did that Oath Bind, which the Gi­beonites obtained through Fraud and Deceit? And shall not ours Bind, which were Voluntary and Honest! Did God Dispence, so far, with his own Command of making no Cove­nant with the Canaanites, in favour of the Israelites Oath, tho taken Una­wares? And will He give up that Part [Page 154]of His Worship, which He hath made Standing and Perpetual, the offering of our Tythes, in favour of our Breach of a Lawful and Religious Oath to Perform this! Did God Punish the Israelites with 3 years Famin, 2 Sam. xxi. for Saul's attempting to Break this Oath 450 years after it was made?Act. xiij. 20. And is our Crime forgotten, who little more than 150 years ago have Dissolv'd the Oaths of our Ancestors! Did God Punish this sin of Saul's upon the Isra­elites, after he was Dead? And may not we be Punished tho Hen. VIII. be Dead! Were the People Punished, who did not Consent to Saul's Act? And shall they Escape, who join'd with and Assisted Hen. VIII. shar'd the Spoil with him, and keep it unto this Day!

Did God Refuse to Answer, till Jo­nathan's Ignorant,1 Sam. xiv. 37. and Unwilling Breach of Saul's rash and hurtful Oath was Purged? And will he Answer our Prayers, till we are Purged from our Willful and Obstinate Breach of the Lawful and Laudable Vows of our Pro­genitors! Did Saul's Oath Bind, with­out the Consent of the People; and [Page 155]tho Jonathan knew it not? And shall not Ours Bind, made with the Consent of the People; and which we All ve­ry well Know!

Was Zedekiah so severely Cursed, Ezek. xvij. 16. for Despising the Oath of God which the King of Babylon Forc'd him to swear, tho it was,Vers. 14. That the Kingdom might be Base, and that it might not lift it self up? And shall we be Ʋphol­den, who have wilfully Despised the Oath of The Lord our God, to Pay Him His Tythes; which, if we Trust His Promise, wou'd make Us Great, and Blessed, Mal. iij. 10, 11, 12. and a Delightsome Land!

SECT. XII. The Benefit of Paying our Tythe.

1. OUR services Add nothing to God: Therefor it is our Good which He seeks in All His Institu­tions of Religion. It is Our Good, our Greatest Good that our whole Trust shou'd be in The Lord, Always and upon All occasions: Because he can­not Fail Us, And every thing else [Page 156]will: And therefor we must be mise­rable, if we place our Trust in any thing else than God. And our Greatest Happiness must consist in a Full and Absolute Dependance upon Him. Now this Trust and Dependance is Produc'd more by our Deeds than our Words: More by Practising of it, than by Speaking of it, and Praising it. And the Payment of our Tythe is a Practice of it, a Trusting in God, that He will not only Accept it, and Give us Spiri­tual Blessings for it: But even, That we shall Gain by it, as to this World, and Grow the Richer for it. For it is His Blessing only that giveth En­crease; as to the Fruits of the Field, so to the Labours of our Hands, to All our Endeavours, in whatever Vocati­on. And He has Promised not only Spiritual but even Temporal Blessings and Encrease of our Stone, if we will Trust Him so far, as Duly, and Chear­fully, without Grudging, or Desponden­cy to Pay our Tythes to Him.Mal. iii. 10. Bring ye All the Tythes into the Store-house, that ther may be Meat in mine House, and Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you [Page 157]the Windows of Heaven and Pour you out a Blessing, that ther shall not be Room enough to Receive it: And I will Re­buke the Devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the Fruits of your Ground; neither shall your Vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts: And all Nations shall call you Blessed, for ye shall be a Delightsom Land, saith The Lord of Hosts. The same Blessing is Promised. Prov. iij. 16. Honour the Lord with thy Substance, and with the First-fruits of all thine Increase: so shall thy Barns be filled with Plenty, and thy Presses shall burst out with new Wine. And thus it was understood by the Jews in after Generations. As you find it Ex­press'd almost in the same words as these of Solomon, Eccl. xxv. 8. [...], 10.11. Give the Lord his Honour, with a Good eye, and Dimi­nish not the First-fruits of thine hands: In All thy Gifts, shew a Chearful Coun­tenance, and Dedicate thy Tythes with Gladness: Give unto the Most High ac­cording as He hath Enriched thee, and as thou hast Gotten, give with a Chear­ful eye: For the Lord Recompenseth, and will Give thee seven times as much. [Page 158]Therefore it is our own Advantage, that we Pay Tythe. The Lord bids us Prove Him herein, Try Him, Trust in Him, and see how Abundant He will be in his Blessing to us, and whether He will not Return to Us Ten-fold, for the Tenth we Give to Him. But if we Dare not Trust God so far as to make this small Experiment, when He Provokes Us to it; and Grudge to Give Him the Tenth, who gave Us All, it is but Just with Him to take that from Us wherein we Trusted, and not to leave Us a Tenth; but to take the Whole from those who Durst not Trust Him and All His Promises with a Tenth.

Whereas, on the other hand, those who do Truly and Sincerely Believe and Trust in God, and in what He has Promised; will shew it in Deeds as well as in Words; will Pay Him His Tythe, Religiously and with a Good Heart. And when he finds God Per­forming His Promise, and Rewarding his Faith in Doubling of his Stores, This Encreases his Faith and Trust in God: It is Practice makes Perfect: And it confirms our Faith as to the [Page 159] Future Promises of Heaven, whe we find that God does make good His Promises to us Here. These are In­estimable Benefits, even the Confir­ming of our Faith, without which we shall never come to Heaven.

And I will be Bold to say, That whoever Dare not Trust GOD's Pro­mise, as to his Tythe (supposing him Convinc'd of it) does not Really Be­lieve it, nor Trust to it, as to Heaven; however he may Flatter himself, or Impose upon others. For he that will not Trust God in a Little, how will he in a Great Deal? If not for a Pen­ny, how can he for Heaven!

Therefor we see how justly Cove­tousness is call'd Idolatry. A Cove­tous Man cannot Trust in God: Nor can he that Trusts sincerely in God, ever be Covetous. It is Impossible. For these are Direct Opposites. This is the Reason that God has Commanded we shou'd Worship Him, not only with our Minds, or with our Tongues, but with our Substance: This puts our Faith in Practice. And Practice Confirms and Enlarges it. And it is the Least Proportion of our Substance which [Page 160]He has Required, that is the Tenth. Something that may shew our Trust and Dependance upon Him. The more Zealous gave more, according to their Faith. Luk. xviij. 22. Christ commanded the Rich young Nobleman to sell All. And the First Christians Gave All: Act. iv. 34. All, at the Beginning, Gave more than a Tenth, else were they esteemed worse than the Jews, who Gave that Pro­portion, as I have before shewn out of Irenaeus, &c. Now then the Pay­ment of our Tythe, being, of it self, Productive of so Great Vertue and Strength in our Minds, to Teach Us, and Enure Us, how to Trust in God: And having likewise the Promise of so Great Temporal Blessings, is not to be look'd upon as a Tax or Imposition Upon Us; But as a High Privilege, and a Pledge by which God has Obli­ged Himself to Provide for Us; and to Return Us Ten times as much, even in this world, besides the End of our Faith, which is Heaven. Hence our Tythe is called, The Bread of our Soul. And God threatens it as an heavy Judgment, That we shall not be Permitted to Pay our Tythe to [Page 161] Him. They shall not offer Wine-offer­ings, to the Lord — their Bread for their soul shall not come into the House of the Lord. By this they Forfeited All the Benefits, and All the Promises which were Annexed to the Payment of their Tythe. How much more then have we Forfeited, who, when we are not only Permitted but Invi­ted to Partake of this Benefit, turn the Deaf Ear, and Refuse to Restore what we have Sacrilegiously Robbed out of the House of God?

SECT. XIII. Remarkable Judgments for not Paying of our Tythe.

TYthes being Prov'd to be a Part of God's Worship, and a Bles­sing to Attend the Payment of them: The Consequence is Imply'd, that a Curse must be Due to the non-Payment, of them; it being a Contempt of God, and a Neglect of His Worship. As Payment of Tribute is an Acknowledg­ment of his being King to whom we think it Due: And the Denial of Tri­bute, [Page 162]is a Denial of his being King. So Tythe, being the Tribute which God hath Reserv'd to Himself, to De­ny that to Him, is Denying Him to be our God. And tho we acknowledge Him with our Mouths, yet that will no more be Accepted, than an Earth­ly King wou'd think him to be a good Subject, who only call'd him King, And gave him the Knee or the Hat, but yet Deny'd him his Tribute and more Substantial Honour.

I. The Heathens Paid their Wor­ship, and consequently their Tythe, as being part of it, to False Gods: And thought that Judgments did Attend their Neglect of it.

And Judgments might Attend it. For tho their Worship was not Pleasing to God, as to the Manner of it, it being Idolatrous: yet it being Ulti­mately Referr'd to, and Intended for the Supreme Being, whom they Igno­rantly Worshipped (Act. xvij. 23.) It was Consequently a Dishonour meant to Him, when they Prophan'd what they thought Sacred to Him. And might Justly be Punished by God, as Arguing a Pravity in their Wills, tho [Page 163]they follow'd an Erroneous Judgment.

Thus it became Sin to Jeroboam, and his House, Even to cut it off, 1 Kin. xilj. 33, 34▪ and to Destroy it from off the face of the Earth, That he made Priests of the Lowest of the People, tho it were to his Idol Calves that he had set up. For the Worship being Referr'd Ultimately to God, whom he Meant to Worship by those Calves; the Dishonour did consequently Redound to God, to have the Meanest of the People set up for his Priests.

And Jeroboam must Sin herein more Willfully than the Heathen, because he had more Knowledge than they, that this Manner of Worship was Forbidden by God.

Which the Heathens not Knowing, their Worship was less Guilty; and Con­sequently Might be the More Notic'd by God; So as to Punish their Preva­rications in it, according to what they Intended, tho not according to the thing it self.

For this Reason Joseph did not Buy the Lands of the Priests in Egypt (Gen. xlvij. 22.) because they were Given to a Religious tho Idolatrous Use.

And tho. God ordered Idols to be Burn'd: And their Priests sometimes to be Slain: yet we find not that ever He permitted any of their Dedicated things, to be taken as a Prey, or turn'd to Common Use; But to be Burnt and Destroy'd.

For these Reasons, the Heathens may be Allowd among the Instances of God's Judgments upon Sacrilege, particularly that Branch of it, which is our present Subject, the Subtraction of Tythe. However it confirms their opinion concerning the Divine Right of Tythes: for otherwise they cou'd not have thought that the Divine Ven­geance fell upon them for their Subtra­ction of their Tythe.

But because I lay the least Stress up­on these Instances from the Heathen, I will only Name a Few, that I might not wholly omit them.

1. It is told before in the Story of Camillus how the Romans Apprehen­ded the Displeasure of the Gods, And what Reparation they Made for the Soldiers not giving the Tenth of the Booty they got in the Sacking of Veies.

2. Hesiod (as before mentioned) tells of the People Thoes, who were ac­counted Wicked and Atheistical, be­cause they paid not their Tythes to the Gods: and that they were utter­ly Destroy'd by the Gods; for that Reason.

3. Diodor. Sic. tells likewise (Hist: l. 5.) of the Carthaginians, who con­stantly paid their Tythe to Hercules: but when they were grown Rich, they neglected it, till being Reduc'd to Great Straits in their Wars, they attributed these Judgments to have come upon them for that Neglect; and, in their Distress, they Return'd to the Payment of their Tythes as for­merly.

4. Pausan. Hist. Graec. says that the Siphnians, who us'd to pay the year­ly Tythe of their Mines, Lost them, by the Justice of the Gods, for having Omitted that Payment.

5. And, to name no more, Dionis. Halicar. l. 1. shews how the Pelasgi in Ʋmbria were punished with a Barren year, for not Paying of their Tythe; and that, upon their afresh vowing the Tythe of All their Profits to the [Page 166] Gods, that Judgment was Remov'd.

This is sufficient (at least) to shew the Notion of the Heathen in this Point.

II. But it is more Authentick to see how God Punished this Neglect of Tythe, among the Jews. And we find this to have born a Great Part in the most Remarkable Judgments that befel them. 1. The Captivity of the 10 Tribes was in the Reign of Heze­kiah King of Judah. And we find by the Reformation which Hezekiah made a [...]r that, as well in Israel as Judah, 2 Chr. xxxi. that the Payment of their Tythes had been Greatly Neglected; the Restoring of the Tythe being a Main Branch of that Reformation. And therefor ther is no Doubt but that the Neglect of paying their Tythe had a Main weight, as in the Exci­sion of the Ten Tribes, so in the Cap­tivity of Judah, which soon after followed.

This farther appears in the Refor­mation of Nehemiah, after the Captivi­ty. Wherein they Promised Amend­ment of those things which they had formerly Neglected; and for which Neglect that Captivity was sent upon [Page 167]them. They particularly Remember the Neglect of the Sabbatical year, and the year of Release (before menti­oned) and Promise the future obser­vance of them. Neh. x. 31. and af­ter, to the end of that Chapter, ther is Large Mention, and Renewed Pro­mises as to the Due and Exact pay­ment of their Tythes; which makes it plain, that as the Sabbatical year and the year of Release, so the Tythes had been Neglected; and that for such Neglect, they had been Punished with that Long Captivity. And as the Land had Rest for 70 years together, to fulfil so many Sabbatical years as they had Neglected (which is shewn be­fore Sect. i. pag. 11.) So were they deprived of the Whole Profits of the Land, who had Neglected to Pay The Lord His Tenth Part.

III. But after their Return from the Captivity, they fell again into a new Ne­glect of Paying their Tythe; for which an Heavier Curse fell upon them than before. A vise Prostitution of their Priesthood, and Greater Corruption in Doctrine and Manners than ever for­merly, as appears in the History of the [Page 168] Maccabees, and afterwards to the time of our Blessed Saviour, when they were totally subjected to the Romans; at whose Pleasure their Priesthood was Changed, made Annual and Ar­bitrary; and their whole Service ren­dred Precarious. By their Doctrines of Corban, and such like, they had made the Commands of God of None Effect, as our Blessed Saviour Repre­hended them: Their Scribes and Pha­risees were Hypocrites, blind Guides, Serpents, Matt. xxiij. and a Generation of Vipers. Their Chief Priests and Elders took Council against Jesus, Mistook and Murder'd their Messiah. This was the Heaviest of Curses! They entail'd the Guilt of His Blood upon them and their Children; which lies upon them to this Day, in a Dispersion to the four Winds, of now near 1700 years standing; a much Greater Judgment (if they would Reflect upon it) than their 70 years Captivity in Babylon, for their former Idolatries and Praeva­rications.

But, as to our Present Subject, was ther any thing Remarkable as to the Non-Payment of their Tythes, before [Page 169]our Saviour's Coming, that might be reckon'd to have its share in that Hard­ness of Heart which prov'd their De­structon? Yes. Godwyn shews from the Jewish Authors (in his Moses and Aaron. l. 6. c. 3. p. 253.) that ther had been a Great Neglect among them in the Payment of their Tythe: And this Encreased more and more upon them, insomuch, that, as they tell Us, for about 130 years before our Saviour's Incarnation, This Corrup­tion so Prevail'd, that the People in a Manner Neglected All Tythe. But we have an Higher Authority than even these Jewish Authors against themselves, that is, the Last of their Prophets, after the Captivity, who Charges this of the Non-Payment of their Tythe, as the Great Curse which lay upon them; And therefor, must have a Pincipal weight, in the fore­nam'd Dreadful Judgments, which fell upon them. Hear his own words. Will a Man Rob God? yet ye have Rob­bed me: But ye say wherein have we Robbed Thee? in Tythes and Offer­ings. Ye are Cursed with a Curse; for ye have Robbed Me, even this whole Nation. Mal. iij. 8, 9.

IV. Let us now Descend to the Times of Christianity. It has been told before, of the Great Devotion of the Primitive Christians, in Giving not only the Tenth, but All of them much more, Many even All that they had to the service of God. But this wore away, and they began to Grudge the very Tenth. Soon after which in the beginning of the Fifth Century, ther came a Dreadful Revolution. The Goths and Vandals were let loose, like an Impetuous Torrent, which over-ran many Nations, and Ruin'd many Christian Churches that never found an after Settlement. Among the rest the Vandals sack'd Hippo in Africa A. D. 429. Immediately after the Death of St. Augustine, who was Bishop of that City. He, as it were, standing in the Gap, and keeping off the Vengeance from them, while he liv'd. And in his Admonitions to them he laid a Particular stress upon their Neglect of the Payment of their Tythe, as a Main Cause of the Miseries which had overtaken them; Especially of their Poverty, occasion'd by the Heavy Taxes, which were extorted from [Page 171]them, to carry on that War in which they were ingaged. And he observes to them, That God, by this, was ex­acting Double from them for those Tythes which they had Neglected to Pay to Him. Majores nostri (says he Hom. 48.) ideo Copiis omnibus abunda­bant, quia Decimas dabant, & Caesari censum reddebant: Modo autem, quia discessit Devotio Dei, accessit Indictio Fisci. Nolumus partiri cum Deo De­cimas, modo autem Totum tollitur. Hoc tollit Fiscus, quod non accipit Chri­stus. i. e. Our Forefaihers abounded in Plenty, because they Gave to God and Caesar their Due. That is, Tythes to God, and Tribute to their King: But now because our Devotion towards God is ceas'd, the Imposition of Taxes is Encreas'd. We wou'd not share with God in Giving Him the Tenth; and now behold the whole is taken from Ʋs. The EXCHEQƲER has swallow­ed that which we Refus'd to Give to CHRIST.

V. How Literally has this been our Case: I wish that we may Reflect up­on it. It is about 150 years since we have seiz'd upon the Tythes of God: [Page 172]And we have been of Late Paying the Arrears of it by Wholesale, Dis-Gor­ging by Millions those Sacrilegious Ʋsurpations, which we have been suck­ing in all that time. And God has Empty'd them from Us into Foreign and Popish Nations. For we knew not that He gave us Corn, Hos. ij. 8, 9. and Wine, and Oyl, and Multiply'd our Silver and our Gold, which we have Prepared for Baal. Therefor has He Recover'd it out of our hands. We thought it was our own Skill and Strength, which Got us All these Riches, by which our Portion was made Fat, Hab. i. 16. and our Meat Plenteous; therefor we Sacrific'd to our Net; but thought it needless to Ac­knowledge God in all this, by giving Him a Tenth. Shall He not therefor Empty our Net? We have Empty'd it with our own hands. Yet will not see this to be a Judgment from God! But we shall see and consider, for he is stron­ger than We. We thought a Tenth too much for God, and Grudg'd the ordinary Tribute of our Kings: But have Pay'd Ten times over, by Extraor­dinary Ways and Means. We Robb'd God of His Tribute, the Tythe, and [Page 173]thought it Good Husbandry, to save it in our own Pockets: And he has ta­ken the Nine Parts from us, and not left us a Tenth of what but a few years ago we Possessed. And what will be the End of these things? Except ye Repent —

If any think that the seizing of the Tythes in Hen. VIII's time, cannot be visited now 150 years after; let them Reflect that God visits the sins of the Fathers upon their Children to the 3d and 4th Generation. That He bore with the Jews in their Continual Breach of the Sabbatical year, for 490 years; yet Forgot it not, but Punish­ed it afterwards, with a Fearful De­struction, even the Captivity and Re­moval of the whole Nation, for 70 years together. Pray God we may not continue to Provoke Him to the same Degree.

VI. What shall I say more? We have the Promises of God, who can­not Lye, That if we will shew our Trust and Dependance upon Him, so far, as to give Him a Tenth; if we will thereby Acknowledge Him to be our God, and that by His Blessing we [Page 174]are made Rich, He will Return it to us an hundredfold, till ther shall not be Room enough to Receive it. Again, if we will not Trust to Him but to our own Net, that he will Empty it; and shew Himself to be our God, by Manifold Judgments, till He over­come Us; and make Us see and confess That it is He who hath done All these things unto Us: And that ther is not an Evil in the City, which He hath not sent upon us.

We have seen the Faith of Jews and Heathens to exceed ours! It was a Proverb among the Jews, Pay Tythes and be Rich. So much they acknow­ledged All that they had to come from God. And the Heathens made the same Observation, that they who Pay'd most to God, did Receive most from him. They saw God's Judg­ments upon them for not giving Him His Tenth: They Repented and Re­stored the Tythe, and were Delivered. But we Christians remain the only In­curable Infidels! We will not Trust GOD; and Provoke Him to Convince us, by All His Judgments! Which God Avert, by Opening our Eyes, and [Page 175] Enlarging of our Hearts, that with a sin­cere Repentance for all our other sins, we may likewise Restore His Tythe, and Learn to Trust in Him: That he may yet Repent for All the Evil he has brought upon Us; and with which He still threatens Us, and may leave a Blessing behind Him, even a Meat-Offering and a Drink-Offering unto The Lord our God; that ther may be Meat in His House, and thereby Plen­ty in Ours. May His Judgments have this Happy Effect with us, to make us Search and try our ways, to Examine seriously this Matter of Tythe; And to Turn again to the Lord, in this, as well as in any other Breach of God's Commands, of which we have Many to Reckon, and this not the Least. Now is the time to search out All. For when God's Judgments are upon the Earth, Isa. xxvi. 9. the Inhabitants of the World will Learn Righteousness.

SECT. XIV. Of what things Tythes are to be Paid.

1 Ans. OƲT of All your Gifts. Numb. xviij. 29. [...]. Gal. vi. 6. Of All our Goods or Good things. Of All things that God gives us. Of All things wherein we Expect the Blessing of God. For All come under the same Reason, of Pay­ing Tythe, as an Acknowledgment and Tribute to God for the Nine Parts which He has given to us: And to shew our Dependence and Trust in Him for All that we shall Receive. All the Tythe of the Land, whether of the Seed of the Land, or of the Fruit of the Tree, is the Lords, it is Holy unto the Lord, Lev. xxvij. 30. Thou shalt truly Tythe All thy Increase of thy Seed, that the Field bringeth forth year by year. Deut. xiv. 22. The first-fruits of Corn, Wine, and Oyl, and Honey, and of all the Encrease of the Field, and the Tythe of All things. The Tythe of Oxen and [Page 177]Sheep, and the Tythe of Holy things, which were Consecrated unto the Lord their God, 2 Chr. xxxi. 5, 6. Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the Tenth unto Thee, Gen. xxviij. 22. Honour the Lord with thy Substance, Prov. iij. 16. and with the First-fruits of ALL thine In­crease. So shall thy Barns be filled with Plenty, &c. This is the Reward God has Promis'd to it (if we Dare Trust Him.) And wherein soever we Expect God so to Bless us, of All those things we must Pay Him the Tenth; else have we no Title to this Promise. And this was the Notion of the Jews. I give Tythes of ALL that I possess, said the Pharisee, Luk. xviii. 12. And our Saviour Determines, Matth. xxiij. 23. that we ought to Pay Tythes even of Mint, Anise, and Cummin, i. e. of the smallest things.

This was the sense of All the Fa­thers, in the Primitive Ages of the Church. They Excepted Nothing from Tythe, of which I have given some Instances, and many more are to be Produc'd.

II. We are moreover Bound to this by the Solemn Vows, Dedications, and [Page 178] Laws of our Predecessors, Kings and Parliaments of England, before-men­tioned. In the first Great Charter, or Act of Parliament of King Ethelwolf, which I have already Mentioned, and which Selden Recites (ut supra) p. 200. it is thus Vowed, Constituted, and Ordained, Ʋnde etiam cum Ob­tejtatione Praecipimus, ut omnes stude­ant, de omnibus quae Possident, Deci­mas dare, quia speciale Domini Dei est. i. e. Wherefor we Command and Objure All to Pay the Tythe of All things that they Possess, because it is the Peculiar of the Lord God.

And thus it is in all the following Grants and Dedications of the Kings and Parliaments downwards.

Many of which are Recited by Mr. Selden. And some of them Descend to name All Particulars that well cou'd be thought of. As in the Laws of Edward the Confessor set down at large by Mr. Selden, c. 8. n. 13. p. 224, 225. which Names Tythe, de omni Annona, of All sorts of Provisions, Victuals, Wages, or any Income. Moreover of Colts, Calves, Cheese, Milk, Lambs, Fleeces, Pigs, Bees, Wood, Hay, Mills, Parks, [Page 179]Warrens, Fishing, Orchards, Gar­dens, & Negotiationibus, Trading, Merchandise, and all Business, & om­nibus rebus quas dederit Dominus, of All things whatsoever that God gives us, Decima pars Ei redenda est, we must Give the Tenth to Him. Qui au­tem Detinuerit, per Justitiam Episcopi, & Regis (si necesse fuerit) arguatur. Haec enim. B. Augustinus praedicavit, & concessa sunt a Rege, Baronibus & Po­pulo. i. e. And if any Detain his Tythe, he is to be compelled to Pay them, by the Justice of the Bishop, and the King (if ther be need for it) for so St. Agustine did Preach: And this is Granted by the King, Lords, and Commons. It were Endless and Needless to Repeat All the Rest of the like Acts of Par­liament, which are All of the like strain, and Import.

It is shewn before, that this was the Universal Notion of the Heathens in All Nations, That Tythe was to be pay'd of All things, of All Mer­chandise and Trading, of All Manual Labour, and of All Spoils taken in War, as well as of All Estates Personal and Real, of every thing that God gives.

This was the Concurrent Notion of Heathens, Jews, and Christians, Till Popery, of Late, has Corrupted it; from whom we have Lickt it up.

SECT. XV. If the Payment of our Tythe to the Poor, or other Charitable Ʋses, be a Due Payment of our Tythe?

I. Ans. NO. It is shewn Sect. IV. That some Part of our Substance is Due to God, as an Act of Worship. And it is Prov'd afterwards, That that Proportion is a Tenth, at least. Therefor it must be Pay'd as an Act of Worship, which is Different from an Act of Charity. The Jews paid their Tythe to the Priests, not to the Poor: they paid a second Tythe to the Poor. And this was Purely an Act of Charity. But the Tythe of God must be Pay'd only to his Priests, as other Sacrifices and Offerings were, of which the Tythe was a Part, as before is shewn. If we given to the Poor out [Page 181]of God's Tenth, we give what is none of our own: We Rob God to pay Man: And commit Sacrilege for Cha­rity. Therefor we must give to the Poor out of our own Nine Parts. And this was the Current Doctrine and Practice, as of the Jews under the Law, so of the Christians, before that Invasion (spoke to above) of the Pope and his Emissaries upon this In­heritance of God: To which God's Title had not been Disputed, before that time, since the Beginning to the World, no not by the Heathen.

II. Moreover, we are under the In­dispensible and Sacred obligation of the Many Vows of our Ancestors (the force of which I have Urg'd before) not to Employ the Tythe of God, to other Charitable uses, but to Perform them out of our Nine Parts: For this was the Sense and Meaning of All these Dedications of Tythes before-Mentioned. In the first of which (confirm'd by all the Rest) the Char­ter of King Ethelwolf, of which I have Recited some Part already, it is Expresly caution'd (as set down by Selden, ubi supra, p. 199.) That Ne­mo [Page 182]justam Eleemosinam de his quae Possi­det facere valet, nisi prius separaverit Do­mino, quod a Primordio Ipse sibi Red­dere Delegavit. i. e. None can justly give Alms out of any thing that he Posses­ses, till he has first separated out of it, to the Lord; that which, from the Be­ginning, He hath Commanded to be Ren­der'd to Himself. And this is Usher'd in with, sicut Sapiens ait, As the Wise Man said. Which shews that it was an Anciently Received and Approved Doctrine, at that time.

And these words Immediately fol­lowing do Contain the Sanction or Curse that attends the doing otherwise. Ac per hoc, plerumque contigit ut qui De­ciman non tribuit, ad Decimam rever­titur. i. e. And by this, it often comes to pass, that he who do's not Pay his Tenth, is Reduc'd to a Tenth. Unde etiam, cum obtestatione, Praecipimus, ut omnes studeant, de omnibu qua possident, Decimas dare, quia speci­ale Domini est; & de Novem parti­bus sibi vivat, & Eleemosinas tribuat i. e. Therefor we Command, with Ob­testing (i. e. before God) that All should take heed to Pay the Tythe [Page 183]of All that they Possess; because it do's peculiarly belong unto God; And let him support himself, and give Alms out of the Remaining Nine parts.

The same says St. Augustin, in his Sermon De reddendis Decimis (Tom. x. 219. Serm. de Tempore) where he Exhorts All that wou'd obtain the Remission of their Sins, or Prosperi­ty in this world to Pay their Tythe to God, and give Alms to the Poor out of the remaining Nine Parts.

SECT. XVI. When Tythes are to be Pay'd?

Ans. BEfore any of the Nine parts be Touched, that is, Con­verted to our own use, God is to be First served. And besides that, the Whole being God's, the Nine Parts are not Released to Us, but by offering the Tenth to God. This has been a Re­ceiv'd Notion, even among the Gen­tiles, as well as Jews, and Christi­ans. Insomuch that it grew into a Proverb among the Greeks [...], [Page 184] To eat of things that had not been Sacri­ficed. i. e. of which some Part had not first been Sacrific'd, or Offered to God, viz. That Part which they thought Due to the Gods, which I have above shewn to be the Tenth. And this Say­ing [...], was us'd to Express the most wicked Profligate, who had no sense of his Duty to God or Man, such was he thought, who Durst be so Prophane and Ir-Reverend to God, as to Eat or make use of any thing, which had not been Hallowed by Of­fering first the Tenth of it to God. And, as among the Greeks, so Pliny tells (Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 2. p. 367.) that the Romans never tasted of their Fruits or Wines, till the Priests had first ta­ken the First-fruits, or Tythe out of them. So the Arabian Law. See be­fore, p. 66.

And this was correspondent to the Law of God Himself. Who Com­manded Lev. xxiij. 14. Ye shall eat neither Bread nor Parched Corn, nor Green Ears, until the self same Day that ye have brought an Offering unto your God. It shall be a statute for ever. And Num. xviij. 30. When ye have hea­ved [Page 185]the Best thereof from it, then (and not before) it shall be counted, as the Increase of the Threshing-floor, and of the Wine-press: i. e. to be eaten, and made use of. Again, ver. 32. And ye shall bear no sin, by reason of it, when ye have Heaved from it the Best of it. i. e. That it wou'd be a sin to Eat of it, without first offering to God His Due. That is the Tenth, as it is Ex­press'd ver. 26. And it was a Sin, even unto Death, in the Levites, if they Eat of any of the Tythes which the People gave to them, before they had Offered, the Tythe of their Tythe to God; which he gave to the High-Priest, and was called the Heave-offer­ing of the Levites. And their Con­verting any Part of the Peoples Tythes to their own use, before they had made this Heave-offering of a Tenth of it, was called a Polluting of the Tythes of the People, which they had Recei­ved, and made them Liable to Death. ver. 32. And ye shall bear no sin, by reason of it, when ye have Heaved from it the Best of it; neither shall ye Pol­lute the Holy things of the Children of Israel, lest ye Die. Thus our entring [Page 186]upon any Part, before we have Offered to God His Tenth Part, is a Polluting of the Whole, as to us. For it is Sanctifi'd to us, by our Offering the Tenth to God: Till when, the Whole is Hallowed to God; and it is Sacrilege to Invade it. Nor is any of it Re­leas'd to our Use, till God's Part be first taken from it.

And you see how strictly this was Enjoyn'd by God, and how Ʋniver­sally; That as the People were not so much as to Taste of any of the Fruits of the Earth, no not the Green Ears, till they had offered to The Lord His Part out of it, by Giving it unto the Levites; so neither were the Levites to Taste of any of the Peoples Tythe, till they had first Offered the Tenth of their Tenth to God, by giving of it to the High-Priest; And that under Pain of Death: And of Rendering the Whole Polluted to them. He that steals any of his Goods to his own use before he has given to God His Tenth, steals it, and all the Rest from God's Blessing. And tries if he can grow Rich, whe­ther God will or not. Which if God Permit, it is for his Greater Judgment; [Page 187]And God can Exact it from him, or his Posterity; Upon whom we Entail God's Curse, when we Deprive God of His Due.

SECT. XVII. Of what Part of our Goods, the Tythe is to be Pay'd.

OF the Very Best, no Doubt; for we offer it to God. And in this we Express the Reverence Due to the Divine Majesty. And to offer any thing to him, that is not the Best we have, Argues a Slight and Contempt of Him; And Preferring our selves, or something else before Him. Therefor tho we give the full Proportion of a Tenth, yet if we Give it not of the very Best, we fail as to the Quality of our Gift, tho not as to the Quantity: We Forfeit the Blessing upon the whole; And instead of that, we bring a Curse upon us, as seeking to Deceive or Blind the Eyes of God, as if He took no Notice, or did not Regard it. [Page 188]Which is a Greater Contempt of God than if we did not offer to Him at all. But cursed be the Deceiver, Mal. i. 14. who hath in his Flock a Male, and Voweth, and Sa­crificeth unto the Lord a Corrupt thing. For I am a great King, saith The Lord of Hosts; And My Name is Dreadful among the Heathen. But I need not Insist upon this. The Commands are Numerous, and cannot escape the ob­servation of Any, That whatever was offered to The Lord was to be without Blemish, Deut. xvij. 1. And the Texts before Quoted Num. xviij. 30. and 32. do, among Many others plainly Express it. When ye have Heaved the BEST thereof from it, then it shall be counted as the Increase of the Threshing-floor, &c. And ye shall bear no sin, by reason of it, when ye have Heaved from it the BEST of it. i. e. if you do not Heave the Best, it will be a Sin, and you shall Bear it.

As to the same Notion among the Heathen, see before, p. 47. and p. 71.

SECT. XVIII. Who they are that ought to Pay Tythe?

Ans. ALL that Worship God. For Tythe is a Part of His Wor­ship. 2ly. All that Expect His Blessing upon the Remaining Nine Parts: And upon their future Labours and Endea­vours.

Object. Tho the Rich may Bear this, yet it seems very Hard upon the Poor. Ans. It is no Harder to the Poor than to the Rich; because they Pay Propor­tionably. So Equal is this Tax of God's Imposing! After the Tythe of Worship, the Jews were obliged to Pay another Tythe of Charity to the Poor, which was call'd, The Poor Man's Tythe. And this latter sort of Tythe no Man was obliged to Pay to Any who was not Poorer than Himself. By which Rule, the very Poorest sort are Excu­sed from this Tythe. But none are Excused from the Tythe of Worship, more than from their Prayers, or any [Page 190]other Part of God's Worship. None must Appear before the Lord Empty. Ther is no Exception from this Rule. If it be said, what do's such a Modi­cum signifie which a Very Poor Man can Give? Ans. It is Accepted by God as much or more, if given with a better Heart, than the Great Offerings of the Rich. The poor Widow's two Mites were reckoned More than all that the Rich had offer'd of their Abundance, Luke xxi. 3.

Observe, That those Priests to whom this Widow gave her two Mites, were Rich, and Covetous beside; they Devour'd Widows Houses. Luk. xx. 47. they were these to whom our Bles­sed Saviour said,Mat. xxiij. 33. Ye Serpents, ye Gene­ration of Vipers, how can ye escape the Damnation of Hell! yet He made it no Objection against this Religious Widow, that she should throw in her Mite to swell the Wealth of those Wicked Men, who were much more ca­pable to have Relieved her Great Ne­cessities, than she was to add to their Store. For He knew, and has Instru­cted Us, that her Offering was to God, and not to the Priests; tho the [Page 191] Prists did Receive it, and it was put into their Treasury: yet Christ calls those Gifts which were cast into it, The Offerings of God. Luk. xxj. 1, 4.

Let us observe, in the 2d place, That this Farthing which the Widow gave, was only a Free-will Offering; which was of less Obligation than the Tythe: for the Tythe was Positively Required; and might be Exacted, if not Pay'd. How will this Rise in Judgment against those, who have not the Heart to Give what is Bare­ly Due! And think a Tenth too much, when it is Commanded!

It has been before observed, how the Primitive Christians Gave, Many of them, All that they had, as this Widow had done; But None Less than a Tenth: For that they thought them­selves Bound to give More than the Jews; because (as Irenaeus said) they had a Better Hope.

Now the First-Fruits, the Tythe to the Levites, the second Tythe to the Poor, the Tythe for Feasts, the Cor­ners of their Fields, which they were forbid to Reap, and the Gleanings which they were not to Gather. Lev. [Page 192]xix. 19. are computed not to leave to the owner, above a Fourth or a Fifth Part, Clear to Himself. Out of which their Daily and Multitude of Occasi­onal Offerings for Legal Ʋncleannesses, besides their Voluntary or Free-will Offerings, which cannot be Reckon'd, were to be taken.

How far short then of the Jewish Performance; and how much shor­ter of the Primitive Christian Devoti­on, do we come; who will not Pay the one Tenth, even of Worship, which is Indispensibly due to God himself; which he has Reserved, by an Ʋni­versal Decree, ever since Adam! How will the Heathen Rise up in the Judg­ment, and Condemn us, who have through All Ages and Nations, made Conscience of Paying the Tythe of God; tho they Worshipped GOD in this, as in other Parts of their Wor­ship, after an Ʋn-lawful and Idolatrous Manner! How will this Condemn us, who stand out against the Light and Ʋniversal Tradition which they had; against the Positive Commands of the Law, and the Gospel; and against the Current sense of the Primitive and [Page 193] Ʋniversal Church of Christ; and op­pose to All these the Modern Corrupti­ons of the Church of Rome; which have made Tythes Eleemosinary, and Alienable. And we have Alienated them in a much more Scandalous Man­ner, and upon less Pretence than Rome had done. She gave them from the Secular to the Regular Clergy; We, from all Clergy, to the Laity. This was a Piece of Popery whereby a Penny was to be got. Therefor we Reform'd it Backwards, into our own Pockets! our Jehu destroy'd Baal indeed out of the Land;2 Kin. x. 28, 29. But he departed Not from the Sin of the Golden Calves.

SECT. XIX. If Tythes may be Commuted or Redeem'd?

I. TYthes are a Part of God's Wor­ship, Instituted by Himself: and therefor cannot be Alter'd or Changed, but by Himself.

No Man might Alter or Change any Part of the Sacrifices under the Law.

He might not Sacrifice a Bullock for a Sheep, where a Sheep was command­ed; though a Bullock was of more value. We must keep close to the In­stitution of God.

And Tythe was one of the Offerings under the Law, it was an Heave-Offering (as before is shewn) and therefor cou'd not be Bought off or Redeemed.

And to Prevent all such Redempti­on of Tythe, it was ordered, Levit. xxvii. 31. That if any wou'd Redeem ought of his Tythe, he should Add there­to a Fifth part thereof: and Ver. 33. Both it and the Change thereof shall be Holy: It shall not be Redeemed. And Ezek. xlviii. 14. They shall not Sell of it, neither Exchange, neither Alienate the First-fruits of the Land: for it is Holy unto the Lord. And so the Jews of after ages understood it, as we may see in Judeth. xi. 13, 14, 15. where it is declar'd to be Unlawful for the People, tho in the Greatest Ex­tremity, to meddle with the Tythe, or so much as to touch them with their [Page 195]hands; and that it was not dispensable by the Senate. And so the Heathen thought Gen. xlvij. 22, 26. that the Lands of the Priests were not to be sold upon any account, even when the People were forc'd to sell All, and Themselves too, for the Greatness of the Famine. And if the Lands given to the Priests were held so Sacred, as being Dedicated to God, Much More the Tythe; which were Dedicated like­wise, but Moreover, were Antecedent­ly Reserv'd by God Himself, which the Gentile world did believe, as well as the Jews, as before is shewn.

II. Again for another Reason, Tythes cannot be Redeemed by Ʋs; because they have been so oft Vowed and Dedicated to God, as before has been said. And it is expresly com­manded by God, Lev. xxvij. 28. That no Devoted thing, that a Man shall De­vote unto the Lord, of All that he hath both of Man and Beast, and of the Field of his Possession, shall be Sold or Re­deemed: every Devoted thing is most Holy unto the Lord.

But the Pope and a Popish Parlia­ment first have Dispenced with this, [Page 196]out of the Plenitude of their Pow­er!

And their Pardon is All that either of their Impropriators will have to Plead at The Day of Judgment.

III. These had no other considera­tion of TYTHE but as a Mainte­nance for the Clergy: And if they Provided for them Another way, where was the Harm?

But the Folly of God is wiser than Men. He knew well what would be the Consequence of having the Cler­gy Depend upon Any for their Subsi­stence. That the Temptation was too strong for Humane Nature, in our Fal­len Condition. That Time-servers, and Men-Pleasers wou'd, by this, creep into the Church, and sow Pil­lows under the Arms of those who Fed them. That, by this, they must fall into Contempt, and Religion with them, as the Effect has sadly shewn.

Therefore God would not give the LEVITES Temporal Possessions a­mong their Brethren: for these wou'd be Liable to their Municipal Laws, like the Rest; and they might be [Page 197] VOTED out and in, be Chop'd and Chang'd, according to the Caprice of those who wou'd not abide their Do­ctrine. But He setl'd upon them His own Inheritance, as he calls it Deut. xviij. 1. which none others might touch, without Sacrilege, and throw­ing off their Homage and Allegiance to God Himself. i. e. Rejecting Him from being their King and their God. (which now a days, is the slenderest sort of security) That as the Priest­hood had its Original and Institution, so it should have its Revenue and Maintenance and Dependence from God Alone.

And as they that served God at the Altar, were Partakers with the Altar, i. e. with the Dues of God, which were offer'd upon the Altar: Even so hath the Lord ordained, that they who Preach the Gospel shou'd Live of the Gospel, i. e. of those things which are Due to God, under the Gospel (as Tythes, and Free-will-offerings still are) And shou'd be as Free and Independent on Man in their Office, as the Priests were under the Law.

SECT. XX. To whom Tythes are to be Paid.

I. THE Tythe of Charity, or the Poor-man's Tythe, being Alms, we may dispose of them to such Ob­jects of Charity as we think best. And these are call'd Sacrifices, in a Large Sense, under the Gospel, as well as under the Law. See Heb. xiij. 16. Phil. iv. 18.

1. But ther is a Preference given, Gal. vi. 10. to that Charity which is Extended to The Houshold of Faith, that is, to our Fellow-Christians rather than others: Christ reckons it as done to Himself, Matth. xxv. 40.

2. The Reason of this carries it likewise; to Prefer the Members of the True Church before Sectaries: Yet so as not to Neglect even Sectaries, Jews, or Infidels: For all that are in Want, are Objects of our Charity, whe­ther Good or Bad: All must be Sup­ported: And while God grants to the most Wicked Person, Life, and Time of Repentance, we ought to Contri­bute [Page 199]towards it, by Preserving that Life which God continues to them. For they are our Brethren, and God has made of One Blood All Nations upon the Earth. They are the Image of God: Christ has shed His Blood for them: and may yet Grant them Re­pentance, and make them Glorious Saints of His Kingdom. Therefor Charity must Extend to All, without Exception; tho not without Discri­mination.

II. That this Charity must, of ne­cessity, be a Tenth, and not under, I do not Contend. For tho the Jews did pay a Second Tythe to the Poor; yet that stands not upon the same Foundation as the Tythes of Worship, which were before the Law, and Ʋ ­niversally Receiv'd from the Beginning of the World.

Yet, since the Jews did pay a Tenth to the Poor, I think we ought not to Pay Less; but rather More, because as Irenaeus said, We have a Better Hope. But I stint not the Proportion; only Recommend St. Paul's Advice to our Consideration,2 Cor. ix. 6. that He who soweth Spa­ringly, shall reap also Sparingly: And [Page 200]he who soweth Bountifully, shall Reap also Bountifully.

III. But now as to the Tythe of Worship, as that is Determin'd to a Tenth, at Least, so must it be Pay'd only to The Priests of the Lord. Be­cause it is Part of God's Worship, it is one of the Offerings of The Lord; and as other Offerings and Sacrifices, it cannot be Offer'd, but by the Priests. And particularly as to the Offering of our First-fruits and Tythes, it is com­manded to be done by the Priests. Deut. xxvj. 3, 4. It is Invading of the Priest's Office for any other to Offer it. The same Sin for which God smote Ʋzziah, 2 Chron. xxvj. 1 Sam. xiij. 12. and Rejected Saul; and Declar'd it Death for any, but His Priests, to Offer up­on His Altar. And the Sacrifices of such who Offer them by any other hands than those of His Priests, are so far from being Accepted, that they are Sin, and, like the Offerings of Ko­rah, Rebellion against God.

IV. But how shall they do who live in Foreign, Infidel, or Heretical Countries, where they can have no Priests; that is, None whom they Own?

1. Let them, if they can, Imitate the Zeal of Tobias, who, being of the Ten Idolatrous and Schismatical Tribes that had Cast off the Priesthood of Levi, carry'd his Tythes to Jerusalem, and offer'd them there by the hands of the Priests the Sons of Aaron, as you find Tob. i. 6.

2. But if this cannot be done, for the Distance of the Place, or other Insuperable Difficulties: then they ought to Send their Tythes to such Priests whom they think to be true Priests of God: and consequently by whose hands they believe God will Accept of them.

Ther is no Place too far for Send­ing. We Traffick for Mammon to all Parts of the World.

It was Common with the Gentiles, to Send their Tythe. Of which seve­ral Instances are before given.

Mr. Selden shews this, That Tythes ( [...]) were yearly sent to Delos, History of Tythes, c. 3. p. 30. where Apollo was born, to be offer'd to him There.

Justin. Hist. l. 18. p. 186.The Carthaginians us'd to Send their Tythe to Tyre (whence they had Come) by one Cloathed in Priestly [Page 202]Purple Robes, to be offer'd to Her­cules.

And if We cannot take so Much Pains, We have Less Zeal than they. And Less Trust in our God, Less Faith in His Promises, and Fear of His Threatnings, than they towards their Idols. And our Reward will be Ac­cordingly.

SECT. XXI. In what MANNER Tythes ought to be Offered.

I. THE Offering of our Tythe to God, being an Act of Wor­ship, ought, no doubt, to be Perfor­med with Prayers and Adoration of God. And God Himself did Prescribe a Form for it, Deut. xxvi.

Out of which, and other Scriptures, respecting Christians, as Different from the Jews, I have Compos'd the Form hereunto Annex'd. Not that I wou'd Impose it upon any: But the Church not having Prescrib'd such an Office, [Page 203]leaves it to Private Christians to Ex­ert their own Devotion. And if what I have done may be helpful to any others, I have the End for which I have Publish'd it.

II. And as under the Law a Bas­ket of the First-fruits was to be brought to the Altar, Deut. xxvj. 4. and there Of­fered in Name of All the Rest, which were Reposited in the Store-houses be­longing to the Temple, for that Pur­pose: So I conceive it ought to be with us. The Reason is the same; and was before the Law, and with­out the Law so Practis'd by the Gen­tiles, pursuant to the Universal Tra­dition Receiv'd, and Deduc'd down all the way from Adam, as before has been Discoursed.

Nor can it otherwise, at least not so properly, be made an Act of Devo­tion; that is, an actual Tender and Offering of the Whole to God. Which is not done by barely Parting with our Tythe, or suffering it to be Drawn from us. The Whole cannot be Offer'd at the Altar: But a Basketful, in Name of the Whole, is a Dedica­tion and Offering of the Whole.

Accordingly, it was order'd in the Apostolical Canons, Can. 4. that no more of the First-fruits shou'd be brought to the Altar than ther was use for there, as the Elements for the Holy Sacra­ment, &c. and the Rest to be sent to the Bishop's House, as the Repository for them. For the Church was not then Divided into Particular and Di­stinct Parishes, as now.

III. And surely if the Husbandman shou'd, at the End of his Harvest, bring a Basket of his First-fruits, and offer it at the Altar, with Thanksgi­vings to God for the Encrease He had given him that Year, with Supplica­tions and Prayers for God's future Blessings upon his Labours, upon Him­self, his Family, and Relations, upon the Church and the King, and whole Nation, &c. it wou'd tend to a Great Encrease of Devotion, and Imprint very strongly upon our Hearts, our Dependence and Trust in God: For ther is no time wherein Men are more Sensible of the Immediate Hand of God, than in the Seasons of the Year, and the Weather, especially in Harvest-time.

This God hath kept in His own hand, more Immediately than any o­ther part of the Material Creation. The Courses of the Heavens we know in a great measure; and therefor can foretell Eclipses, Changes of the Moon, Rising and Setting of the Sun, &c. But all the Rules of Mechanism are at a loss for the Change of the Weather. If that depended wholly upon Second Causes, and were Part of the Clock-work (as the Virtuosoes ex­press it) of the Creation, ther wou'd be the same Necessity for the same Weather on every such Day of every Year, as for the Equinox, Solstice, or other Change of the Seasons.

Therefore says the Prophet,Jer. xiv. 22. Can the Heavens give showers? And Job reck­ons this among the wonderful things of God, Job v. 10. xxviii. 26. Who giveth Rain upon the Earth. To make the weight for the Winds: And He weigheth the Waters by measure, when He made a Decree for the Rain, and a way for the Lightning of the Thunder.

And David expresses the same, al­most in the same Words; Psal. cxxxv. 7. He causeth the Vapours to Ascend from [Page 206]the Ends of the Earth: He maketh Lightnings for the Rain: He bringeth the Winds out of his Treasuries. The same is just so said Jer. x. 13. And Psal. cxlvij. 8, 15, &c. Who covereth the Heaven with Clouds, who prepareth Rain for the Earth. He sendeth forth His Commandment upon Earth: His Word runneth very swiftly. He giveth Snow like Wool: He scattereth the Hoar-frost like Ashes. He casteth forth his Ice like Morsels: Who can stand be­fore his Cold? He sendeth out his Word, and Melteth them: He causeth his Wind to Blow, and the Waters flow.

These are kept out of the ordinary Course of Natural Causes, in God's more Immediate Government. They are therefor call'd His Treasures, and Reserv'd against the Day of Trouble; a­gainst the Day of Battel and War, Job xxxviij. 22, 23. Then shall the Right-aiming Thunder-bolts go abroad, and from the Clouds, as from a well-drawn Bow, shall fly to the Mark. And Hail­stones full of Wrath shall be cast as out of a Stone-bow. Yea, a mighty Wind shall stand up against them, and, like a Storm, shall drive them away, Wisd. v. 21. &c.

These are GOD's Armory, and kept in His own hand: And come not by Certain Rules, as the Rising and Setting of the Sun, the Solstices, Eclipses, &c. And therefor are look'd upon as the More Immediate Acts of God, and Instances of His Power. Therefor David says, His Strength is in the Clouds, Psal. lxviij. 34. The Thunder is call'd His Voice. The Storms at Sea, and Commotions of the Waters, are said to be His Act, in His Immediate Governance. As it is said, Prov. xxj. i. The King's Heart is in the Hand of the Lord, as the Rivers of Water: He turneth it Whithersoever He will.

It is the Lord that Commandeth the Waters: Psal. xxix. 3, 4. It is the glorious God that maketh the Thunder. It is the Lord that Ruleth the Sea: The Voice of the Lord is Mighty in Operation.

They that go down to the Sea in Ships—These Men see the works of the Lord, Psal. cvij. 23, &c. and his Wonders in the Deep: for at his word the stormy wind ariseth, and lifteth up the waves thereof—for he maketh the storm to cease, so that the waves thereof are still.

Nothing that is Fix'd and Certain in the Constant course of Natural Cau­ses, is Call'd a Wonder of the Lord. Else every thing would be equally a Wonder. Nay it wou'd be a Won­der, if it were otherwise, as if the Sun should Stop or Go back; if the Returns of Day and Night, Summer and Winter, should fail. These wou'd be great Miracles, which there­for God very seldom shews: (Else no­thing wou'd be left Constant or Cer­tain in Nature. But all return to their old Chaos) And then they wou'd cease to be Miracles, if they were done as oft as Every body would Call for them.

But God hath Reserv'd some things out of the ordinary course of Nature. And in these He shews daily Wonders of his Providence.

He calls this His Witness among the Gentiles. Act. xiv. 17. That as by his Works of Cre­ation, He had Demonstrated His Eter­nal Power and Godhead; Rom. i. 20. So he had gi­ven them an equal Proof of His Provi­dence, and of their Continual Depen­dence upon Him, in his sending them Rain and Fruitful Seasons; for which they cou'd Assign no Natural Causes.

Thou art the God that do'st Wonders —The Waters saw thee, Psal. lxxvij 14, &c. O God, the Waters saw thee: they were afraid, the Depths also were troubled: The Clouds poured out Water, the Skies sent out a Sound, thine Arrows also went abroad: the voice of thy Thunder was in the Heavens, the Lightnings lighted the world, the Earth trembled and shook: Thy way is in the Sea, and thy Path in the Great Waters; and thy foot-steps are not known. We cannot Trace God, not know His foot-steps in His Dis­pensing of these things, as of others which are Dispos'd in the Common Course of Natural Causes. Therefor in these things God's Power is Chiefly shewn. And in these things we are Commanded to Wait and Depend up­on Him. Lev. xxvi. 4. Deut. x. 14. And He tells Us, that He will Dis­pence them to one, and not to Ano­ther, Am. iv. 7. But things that De­pend on Natural Causes are Equal to All. We are Commanded to pray for Rain, Zech. x. i. But it is not Permit­ted to Us, it wou'd be Presumption and Tempting of God to Ask for Al­tering the Course of Nature, of Sun, [Page 210]Moon, or Stars, or to Break the Co­venant of Day and Night.

And the Weather, which God thus keeps in His own Hand, is no less Ne­cessary to our Life, in Giving us the Fruits of the Earth, than the Fixt Course of Nature, the influence of the Sun, &c. To teach us, that we must Depend as Much upon the Immediate Blessing of God, as upon all Second Causes.

The Heathen were sensible of this. And therefor, They had, as their Pra-Messum, Prayers before Harvest; so their Flori-festum after Harvest, to ex­press their Thankfulness to the Gods, for the Fruits of the Earth.

But this People (saith the Prophet) hath a Revolting and a Rebellious heart; Jer. v. 23, 24. they are Revolted and Gone: Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth Rain, both the Former and the Latter in his Season: He reserveth unto us the appointed Weeks of the Harvest.

Thus we see, that this Acknowledg­ment and Devotion to God, was Com­manded to the Jews: and observ'd by the Heathen, from the Dictates even of Natural Religion.

And what is it that can exempt Christians from Paying this? From Rendring unto God the Honour and Tribute Due unto his Name! sure they ought rather to Exceed than come short of Jews and Heathens in this!

It were much to be Desir'd that a Publick Office were Appointed for this: And this made Part of our Solemn De­votion.

But till that be done, I hope it will not be taken amiss by our Superiors to Exhort both our Priests to Receive, and the Laity to Pay this their Bound­en Duty to God, and at His Altar to Offer up His Tythes.

IV. The Rest which are not there Offer'd at the Altar, shou'd, by the Owners, be brought into Store-houses Appointed. The Priest's Drawing of them is Scandalous, and more his Farming of them. They are All, as well as the First-fruits which were offered, Holy unto the Lord: All are Offered in the First-fruits. They are not to be Commuted or Redeem'd for Money, where they can be brought in Kind. They are a Sacrifice unto God, and must not be Changed. And [Page 212]they who Subtract, or Refuse to Pay them, have Denied The Lord to be their God, by Denying Him His Tri­bute; they ought to be cast out of the Congregation, and not Reputed as Chri­stians. So it was Decreed in a Gene­ral Parliament of Clergy and Laity at London, A. D. 940. in the Reign of King Edmund, before mentioned: And this has been Confirmed by Repeated Vows and Acts of Parliament. We are to Bring our Tythes and Offerings unto The Lord, and not leave Him or His Priests to Draw them, or Choose.

And besides the Affront to God, it Engages the Priest and his Flock in many Disputes and Heart-burnings, and often into Strifes and Law-suits; which Lessens his Authority, and Ren­ders his Labours ineffectual, by Perso­nal Prejudices conceiv'd against him.

All this God foresaw, and by His Law He prevented it: But we are grown Wiser than He!

Cou'd the Priests under the Law set the Sacrifices to Farm? Wou'd it have been a Reasonable Proposal, to have said to a Priest, Your Proportion o [...] the Sacrifice is a Shoulder or a Leg; [Page 213]come, I will give you the Value of it in Money, or next Beast I kill I will send you a Shoulder or a Leg home to your House, and Excuse me from the trouble of Bringing my Sacrifice to the Temple? Wou'd not the Answer have been, I cannot Excuse you from your Sacrifice, for it is Offered to God, and not to Me: My Maintenance out of it is but a Secundary, and the least Con­sideration: I cannot Commute or Al­ter the Nature or Manner of your Sa­crifice; or take a Bullock, if you wou'd give it me, instead of a Sheep or a Bar­ly-Corn, where that is Appointed? No more cou'd he Commute, or Change, or Compound for the Tythe; for that was a Sacrifice, and Offer'd to God as well as the Rest: and was to be Brought by the Owners to the Temple, to be there Offer'd to God in their Names, by the Priests. The Priests were no more to Draw the Tythes of the People thither, than their other Sacrifices.

SECT. XXII. How Priests are to Pay their Tythe?

1. Ans. TO the Bishop, as the Le­vites to the High-Priest. They are to Pay the Tenth of their Tenth. And the Levites Tythe, which they paid to the High-Priest, was as much an Offering and Sacrifice to The Lord, as the Tythe which the People pay'd to the Levites, and under the same Limitations. They are call'd an Heave-Offering, and Holy unto The Lord. The Levites were not to Taste of their Tenths till they had first Of­fer'd the Tythe of them to the High-Priest, and of the very Best of them. As you may see Numb. xviij. from Ver. 26.

II. Tythes argu'd the Superiority of those to whom they were Pay'd. Whence the Apostle inferr'd the Supe­riority as of Melchisedec above Abram, Heb. vii. 4, 9, 10. so of the Priesthood of Melchisedes, and, in that, of the Christian Priest­hood above the Levitical.

And as the Levites TYTHING of the People, or putting them under that Tribute, argu'd the Superiority of the Levites above the People: so the High-Priest's TYTHING of the Levites shewed the Superiority of his Order above that of the other Levites.

And this is as Necessary to Preserve the Superiority of Episcopacy above the Order of Presbyters in the Christian Church.

The Reason holds the same: and the Levitical Priesthood was an Exact Type of the Christian. Bishop, Presby­ter, and Deacon, being the same in the Church, that Aaron, his Sons the Priests, and the Levites, were in the Temple; as St. Hierom observes Ep. ad Evagr.

III. If it be ask'd, To whom the Bishop shou'd pay his Tythe?

Ans. He having no Superiour, as Aaron had none, I conceive that he is not under the Tythe of Worship. For it must End somewhere.

But then, as the Heaven returns the Tribute of those Exhalations which it draws from the Earth, in Dew and Fruitful Showers; so the Bishop, being [Page 216]the most Immediate Representative of Christ, ought to Distribute his Tenths, and more, of Charity, and to Water his Flock with his Beneficence.

Thus Returning to the Poor, with Encrease, their Tythes; and Dispen­sing the Temporal as well as Spiritual Blessings of God to them.

That the Revenues of the Church (whatever other Abuses were in the Administration of them) were Ap­ply'd more to this End than since they came into Temporal Hands, will be shewn in the Next Section.

Let it be only Observ'd in this place, That even since the Reformation, more Acts of Charity and Publick Works are to be seen from what is left to the Church, than from Many Many times the Greater Proportion of Wealth that is amongst the Laity. And this, not­withstanding that ther are some Thou­sands of Parishes in England which Exceed not Twenty Pounds a Year. And but very few of the Bishopricks that can Afford a Decent Subsistence, with the Best Husbandry.

And notwithstanding that the Church has been for many Years (in the Re­volution [Page 217]of 1641) totally Divested of all her Revenues.

SECT. XXIII. The Remedy.

HAving thus far Consider'd the Divine Obligation of Tythes; and the Breaches of it that have been in this Nation: We ought not to Leave the Subject, till we can Pro­pose a Remedy, if any such can be found.

I. For the Obligation of Conscience. That lies upon Every Man Concern'd, to Restore what has been Robb'd from God: in order to Procure His Blessing, instead of that Curse which is Intail'd upon the Sacrilegious Possession of the Spoils of His Church, into whatever Hands they come.

II. But because this has been a Na­tional Sin; and these Impropriations have been Bought and Sold upon the Credit of Acts of Parliament: There­for ther ought to be a NATIONAL [Page 218]REPENTANCE and RESTI­TƲTION. Which may be by a Tax to Purchase the Tythes from the Impropriators, and Restore them to the Church: That the Whole Burden may not Lie upon those who have been Ignorantly involv'd in this Sin, as ha­ving Descended to them from their Fathers; and may be the Whole or Greatest Part of their Estates. Tho that, nor any thing else, can be an Excuse for Continuing in any Sin. God is Able to make Amends; and has Promis'd it to those who will Trust in Him. And, as said before, there are Examples of it, even here in England, whose Hearts God has Touched.

III. The House of Commons have, in their Votes, Encourag'd any to Make Proposals for the Employing and Maintaining of the Poor, who are now so Great a Burden upon the Nation.

I have no Skill at Proposals or Pro­jects. Yet may Offer some Considera­tions, which others may happen to Improve.

1. First then, Let it be observ'd, Ther never was any Tax laid upon [Page 219] England for Maintaining of the Poor, before the Latter End of the Reign of Q. Elizabeth, as may be seen in our Book of Statutes.

2. That before the Reformation, the Poor were Maintain'd by the Clergy, besides what was Contributed by the voluntary Charity of well-dispos'd People. But ther was no such thing as Poor-Rates, or a Tax for the Poor. The Bishops and Clergy, as well Secular as Regular, kept open Hospitality, for the Benefit of Strangers and Travellers, and the Poor of the Neighbourhood, And were so oblig'd to do by their Foundations. They had Amberies, for the Dayly Relief of the Poor. And Infirmaries for the Sick, Maimed, or Super-Annuate; with Officers appoint­ed to Attend them. They Employ'd the Poor in Work, which is the most Charitable way of Maintaining them. It was they who Built most of all the Great Cathedrals and Churches of the Nation: besides the Building and En­dowing of Colleges, and other Pub­lick Works of Charity, and Common Good. They bound out to Trades Multitudes of Youths, who were left [Page 220]Destitute: Bred others to Learning, of whom some grew very Eminent: And gave Portions to many Orphan Young Women every Year. They Vey'd with one another in these things. What Superstition or Conceit of Merit ther was in it, we are not now to En­quire. I am only telling Matter of Fact. And God did Bless these Means to that Degree, That the Poor were no Burden to the Nation. Not a Penny Impos'd upon any Lay-Man for the Maintaining of them. The Clergy did that among themselves. They look'd upon the Poor as their Charge, as Part of their Family. And laid down Rules and Funds for their Support.

3. I doubt not but ther were Faults among the Clergy then. And some of them might Indulge themselves even to Excess. Which it is Certain was Aggravated beyond the due Bounds, when Commissions to Visit Churches and Monasteries were Given to those Lay-Men, who were to Share the Booty, if they cou'd find Reason sufficient (themselves being Judges) to have the Revenues of the Church Divided [Page 221]amongst themselves: who (modestly speaking) were not Better Men than those they Dispossess'd: Nor have made Better Use of those Revenues since they came into their hands. The Monks were Sinners; but their Visitors were No Saints.

4. The Poor-Rates in England come now (as I am Inform'd) to about a Million in the Year. All this we Pay to Boot betwixt having the Clergy or the Impropriators to our Land-lords. For the Clergy (ill as they were) kept this Charge from off us.

And if their Revenues were taken from them, because they did not make the Best Use of them: Those to whom they were given shou'd be Oblig'd not to Mend the Matter from Bad to Worse.

What Benefit has the Farmer for the Tythes being taken from the Cler­gy? Do the People then pay no more Tythe? That wou'd be an Ease in­deed! But they are still Pay'd. Only with this Difference, That the Im­propriator, generally through England, sets his Tythes a Shilling or Eighteen­pence in the Acre Dearer than the In­cumbent.

5. Wou'd it then be an Un-reaso­nable Proposal, to put all the Poor in the Nation upon the Church-Lands and Tythes, which Maintain'd them before? And let the Clergy bear their Share for as much of them as are left in their hands.

6. If the Impropriators will not be Pleas'd with this, Then let them have a valuable Consideration given them for these Lands and Tythes, by a Tax Rais'd for that Purpose: And Return the Poor to the Clergy, together with their Lands and Tythes.

7. And that the Tax may not be thought too Grievous, let it be only Three Years of the Present Poor-Rates through England. And if that will not do, the Clergy shall Purchase the Rest themselves. Three Years Pur­chase is a very Good Bargain to get off a Rent-Charge, which is Perpetual; and more Probability of its Encreasing than growing Less.

What Man in England woud not willingly give Three Years of his Poor-Rate, at once, to be Freed from it for Ever?

And for the Poorer sort, who may not be Able: Or if any be not Wil­ling; Then let them have the same time to Pay it in as Now.

Let the Clergy have Three Years of the Poor-Rates, payable in Three Years. And a Value put, at which the Impropriators shall be oblig'd to Sell: And after that the Clergy shall be oblig'd to Maintain the Poor as formerly. And this will Cost no more than to Double the Poor-Rates for Three Years, and so be Rid of them for Ever.

8. But if those who have Swal­low'd the Patrimony of the Church will neither Eat nor Let Eat, will neither Maintain the Poor themselves, not Let others do it who are Wil­ling; Let them Reflect, Let the Na­tion Consider it, all who have any Sense of God or Religion left, That since they have Robb'd God, the Church, and the Poor, by Seizing up­on their Patrimony, the Poor are En­creas'd to that Prodigious Rate upon them, That they are forc'd to Pay now Yearly for their Maintenance more than all their Sacrilege amounts [Page 224]to. So little have they Gain'd at God's hand; by their Invading of what was Dedicated to his Service! And He will still prove Stronger than they: And may Encrease the Poor, till they Swallow up the Rich who have De­voured them. Besides many other Ways His Judgments have to Meet with Us. We have Pay'd the Price of all our Impropriations and Arrears within these Ten Years past. And are Paying on still —

9. I must, besides, tell our Impro­priators, That in Truth, in Reason, and in Law too, as well of God as Man, they have taken these Lands and Tythes of the Church, cum onere, with that Charge that was put upon them by the Donors of the Lands, and by God upon the Tythes, that is, of Maintaining and Providing for the Poor. A Lessee can forfeit no more than his Lease, he cannot Alter the Tenure. And whoever comes into that Lease, comes under all the Cove­nants of the Lease. Therefor the Impropriators stand Chargeable, even in Law, to keep up that Hospitality, the Amberies, and Infirmeries for the Poor, [Page 225]the Sick, and the Stranger, that the Clergy were oblig'd to do while they had their Possessions: And in some sort Perform'd, at least so far as to keep the Poor from being any Tax up­on the Nation.

And at the Beginning of the Refor­mation, when the Laity were first put in Possession of these Lands and Tythes, they understood it so to be; and were Content to take them with all that follow'd them, (any thing to get them) and did for a while make a Shew of keeping up the former Hos­pitality, &c. better than the Clergy had done; That being the Pretence why they took them from the Clergy. But when the Fish was Caught, they soon laid aside the Net.

10. Ther was Another, and a Greater Burden, put upon these Lands, &c. which is, The Cure of Souls. And that too they Undertook. The King turn'd the Supreme ORDI­NARY of the Church; And the Lord Cromwel, as his Vice-Gerent in Ecclesia­stical Matters, sat upon the Bishops Bench in the House of Lords, and took Place of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, as [Page 226]the more Spiritual Person of the Two, and Above him in the Church OEco­nomy. And the Mean Impropriators came in Place of the Forfeited Re­ctors; and Presented their Vicars, as they did. But the Superiour Cure was in the Rectors: And is Transfer­red to the Impropriators.

Who now stand Doubly Accounta­ble; first, For Invading the Priests Office. And secondly, For Discharging it as they do. Selling their Advousons at Market; and looking upon them as Meer Lay-Fees. Taking Bonds of Resignation, and other Ways and Means that are made to Accord with Law­yers Symony. Which I am afraid will not be Pleadable at the Day of Judg­ment, nor Satisfie a Disturb'd Consci­ence upon our Death-bed. Besides the Scandalous Allowances made by many Impropriators to their Vicars.

Whether the Proposal I have made▪ or any other to the like Purpose, will take Effect, I know not: But I think it is Evident, That it wou'd be to the Apparent Advantage of the Nation (upon Account) about a Million a Year. Besides many other Benefits, Greater than that. As,

I. The Blessing of God. If that is to be Reckon'd upon in these Days. For if Sacrilege be a Sin: And if these things before spoke of be Sacrilege: Then if ther be a God, or Truth in the Holy Scriptures, ther lies a Heavy Curse upon this Nation; which can­not be Removed without Restitution of what we have Robb'd from God.

II. It wou'd, in a few Years, Lessen the Number of the Poor; they wou'd Grow Less and Less; for by putting them to Work, as the Clergy did, they wou'd be able to Support their Fami­lies, and not Multiply Beggars upon Us without End. And the Clergy wou'd find Work for them. Ther are yet Churches to be Built, or kept in Repair; Schools and other Publick Works to be done. It is now a Na­tional Charge to Re-build One Church: And has taken so Many Years, that Paul's Work is become a Proverb. Ther wou'd not have needed any Tax for this, more than for the first Build­ing of it, if the Clergy had their own. Who built most of all the Churches in the Kingdom, with less Noise.

III. It wou'd Improve Trade. By so many being Bound Apprentices, as the Clergy did, when they had their Revenues: And so Dispose of the Va­grants and Loose-Livers (who for Ne­cessity take to the Highway) into Pro­fitable Employments, useful for the Commonwealth.

IV. It wou'd Improve Learning. (But that may be an Objection with Some.) Many a Noble Genius is lost for want of Education. Which wou'd then be Much More Liberal. As it was when the Church Enjoy'd her Pos­sessions. And Learning was in the Dark Ages, Preserv'd almost only among the Clergy, when the Bent and Inclination of other Men ran little that way, except such as were In­fluenc'd, and Many Educated by the Clergy.

V. Let me Add, that it wou'd be more for the Advantage of the Crown. And consequently of the Kingdom. It is well known, That these Lands pay'd More, in all Publick Taxes while they were in the hands of the Church, than they have done Since▪ And the Convocations always Tax'd [Page 229]themselves Much More, in Proporti­on, than the Laity. They paid Tenths oftner than the Laity paid Fifteenths. Which made Char. V. say of Hen. VIII. When he seiz'd the Lands of the Church, That he had Kill'd the Pul­let which laid the Golden Egg.

VI. Money is the Blood of the Kingdom. And the Circulation of it Diffuses Life and Vigour to Every Part. Now, if according to what has been said in this Essay, ther were a Perpe­tual Circulation of the Tenths of the Kingdom, from the People to the Priests; from the Priests to the Bi­shops; And back again from the Bishops to the Poor, I submit it to Considera­tion, whether this wou'd not Prove a Greater Advantage to the Nation, than any that our State Projectors have yet found out? God requires Nothing but for our Good. And his folly is wiser than Men.

Let me lastly Obviate a Prejudice I fore-see may be taken against my Pro­posal: For Prejudices must be Answer'd as well as Arguments; and often Sway Men More.

It may be thought by some who have no Good-will to the Church or Religion, That this wou'd make the Clergy too Great and Rich. And they bear no thought with more Indignation than this. They had rather the Na­tion shou'd Perish, than be Sav'd by the Church. It is not to Gratifie such Men as these; But to satisfie others, and Guard them against their Cla­mours, that I offer the following Con­siderations.

I. That the Number of our Clergy is too Few. They are not able to At­tend such vast Charges as they ought. Especially in London and other Great Towns, where it is impossible for some Ministers, if they shou'd do nothing else, to Visit all the Families, Much less every particular Person who is un­der their Cure; and the like in Many Country Parishes. This is one Great Cause of the Encrease of Dissenters amongst us, of all sorts.

Then our Bishopricks are too Large. And the Bishops Inspection wou'd be Much more Effectual, if he had no More Priests under him than he cou'd be Personally Acquainted with, both as [Page 231]to their Learning and Conversation.

But these Defects cannot, As things now stand, be Amended, while ther are, as I am inform'd, above 2000 Parishes in England not worth above Twenty Pounds a Year. And Many not worth Ten. This makes Plurali­ties Necessary. And Reduces the Poor Clergy to such Contempt, as to Render their Labours Wholly Ineffectual, Un­less to those very Few, who can Di­stinguish their Character from their Cir­cumstances. And withal betrays them Unavoidably to such Ignorance, ha­ving Neither Time to Study, nor Mo­ney to Buy a Book, unless a Dutch Sy­stem; Nor opportunity for Good Con­versation; That Nothing Less than the Power of Miracles, as the Apo­stles had, can Reconcile Respect to them, or Authority to their Doctrine.

Then the Bishopricks are so Stript, that except 5 or 6, ther must be the Greatest Husbandry in the world to make our Bishops Live in any sort Pro­portionable to their Character; besides Leaving their Children to the Parish when they Dye.

But if the Church were Restor'd to her Right, then might ther be 20 times as many Clergy as we have: And their Cur [...]s brought within a Manage­able Compass. Which wou'd keep them from the Danger of being over­grown with Wealth.

Besides that if the Poor were laid upon the Clergy, as we have been speaking, it wou'd take some years be­fore they wou'd have much to spare; before the Number of the Poor wou'd be so Lessen'd, by the Methods before Mention'd, as to Allow them to Aug­ment the Number of the Clergy.

Ther were in the small Kingdom of Israel, at one time, 38000 Levites above the Age of 30. 1 Chr. xxiij. 3. England wou'd Require Many More, to Perform their Function as they ought, to the Profit of the People, And all the Patrimony that ever the Church had in England wou'd not over­do it, to be Divided among so Many as wou'd be needful of the Clergy; and for Maintaining the Poor besides; together with the Building and Repairs of Churches, Schools, Colleges, Libra­ries, and many other Charges profitable to the Nation.

Add another Consideration. If ther were such a Number of the Cler­gy, ther wou'd be More Provision for Many of our Sons, whom we cannot Now Dispose of, at least not so well. And ther wou'd not be Danger of weakning the Strength or Wealth of the Nation, as in Spain, by so Many Idle Monks, as live upon the Labours of others, and Contribute Nothing to the Support of the Government. That Objection cannot Lie against Se­cular Clergy, and where ther are None other. None that are Lock'd up from the World, and Must be Maintained only to Think. None but who are Labourers in the Harvest, and therefor Worthy of their Hire. And whose Hire go's not into a Bed of Sand, like what is given to the Regulars, and Ne­ver returns: But it Circulates, like any other Money of the Nation, and do's as much Good.

And our Clergy are, or may be, as Useful as any others in Parliament, in Council, and other Great Affairs of the Nation. And those of Lower Rank, as Justices of the Peace, and other Of­fices for the Distribution of Justice.

It is a Monkish humour (though some know it not) to think that the Clergy ought not to Intermeddle in Se­cular Affairs, or Live out of Cells. Those who Converse in the World, and Mind their Cures, are in the Rode certainly of doing Most Good. These are therefor call'd the Secular Clergy, because they Live in the World, and use Human Conversation. But those who Run themselves into Holes, as if (forsooth!) their Sanctity cou'd not bear the Common Air: And put themselves under Rules and Models of their own Divising, do therefor give themselves the Name of Regulars. And wou'd be Angels before their Time. But Men are Born into the World, to serve their Generation. And they who make too much Hast out of it, either by taking away their own Lives (as some have done out of Conscience) or by Making them Useless to the World in Retirement, are Guilty of the Same Sin, in diffe­rent Degrees.

And the Example of Elijah, who was Persecuted into a Wilderness to save his Life, is a very impertinent [Page 235]Precedent for them. For he was so far from Choosing it, that he thought it an Affliction beyond Death; 1 Kin. xix. 4. and wisht to Dye.

As little will the Case of John the Baptist Avail them. For his being in the Wilderness was in order to his Shewing or coming Publickly abroad unto Israel. And they who Retire for a time, in order to that End, are far from their Predicament, who put themselves under Vows of Abstraction for their Whole Lives.

They may as well Urge the Exam­ple of our Saviour, who was forty days in the Wilderness. But it is Happy, That they have not the least Umbrage in the favour of Monkery through the Whole Life of our Blessed Lord. He came Eating and Drinking; and con­versing with Publicans and Sin­ners.

As little is ther to Countenance it in the Acts of the Apostles. They, as their Master, went about, Doing Good.

The first Christian Monks were made so, not of Choice, but Necessity: They fled in the Heat of Persecution to [Page 236] Wildernesses and Solitary Places; Where, by Custom they Contracted a Liking of the Lonely, that is, the Mo­nastick Life: Which, as it is Natural, they Prais'd for the Pleasure of its Safe­ty and Freedom of Thought. For this they could not find any where else, when Nothing but Racks and Gibbits was to be seen for Christians, out of the Confines of their Retirement.

And others when this Necessity was over, out of a Superstitious Weakness, wou'd Imitate this Manner of Living. And set it up for a Constant, and the Most Perfect Rule of Life. Which shou'd all Men Imitate, the World must Perish in a Moment. Men may, with as much Reason, run themselves into Jails, in Imitation of the Chri­stian Imprisonments; as into Woods and Privacies, to Act their Flights and Abscondings. It looks very like what we call Childrens-Play. But it comes to too sad Earnest, when it is set up for a Principle.

Thus because the Apostle, 1 Cor. vij. 26. gave Advice (for himself calls it no more, he said it was no Command­ment of the Lord) in the Case of The [Page 237]present Distress, the Grievous Perse­cution that then lay upon the Christi­ans, that it was Good, i. e. Convenient, and More for their Ease and Safety, Not to Marry, at that Time: And be­cause Many, for the same Reason, did follow this Advice, which even Natural Reason would Suggest to any Man; for who wou'd Choose to Mar­ry, either under Sentence of Death, or when he was Flying for his Life? From this no Ground at all, some have run into what the same Apostle do's po­sitively call a Doctrine of the Devil, 1 Tim. iv. 1, 3. Forbidding to Mar­ry. Counting that a Defilement, which God Ordained and Blessed in Paradice. And though they have made it a Sa­crament, yet think it so Un-worthy of a Priest, that he shall Incur Deprivati­on for it: Whereas a slight Penance shall satisfie for his Fornication or Adultery. Thus, Teaching for Do­ctrines the Commandments of Men; And setting them up Higher, and More Sacred than the Commandments of God; who has Permitted Every Man to Marry. 1 Cor. vij. 2. And has Made it Honourable in All. Hebr. [Page 238]xiij. 4. And the Reason given, 1 Cor. vij. 9. Better to marry than Burn, do's Include All; and is a General Rule which obliges All.

And therefor to Prohibit any Order or Degree of Men, without Excepti­on, from Marriage, is in Express Con­tradiction to this Rule. And a Do­ctrine of Devils. Unless we can be Positively Assur'd (which is Impos­sible, without a Miracle) That they have All the Gift of Continency to that Degree as not to Burn. But, on the Contrary, We have Infallible As­surance that they do Burn. They own this to be the greatest Reason of their Mortifications. And they Impose Penances for their Whoredoms and Adulteries, though not so great as for their Marriage. The Examples of their In-Continency are Manifold and Notorious. Which yet Cures not their Burning. It mixes it self with their Devotion: For ther are no such Ana­tomies of Lust to be found, among the most openly Debauch'd, as have Proceeded from the Heated Imaginati­ons of some of the Caelibat Casuists up­on Chastity. Where having the Belo­ved [Page 239]Sin before their Eyes, upon an Honourable account, that is, to Con­demn it: They Un-Cover it, as the Judges did Susanna; and fill themselves with its Beauty.

How different is the Stile of the Aged, or the Marry'd Pens upon that Subject!

Which shews how far the Remedies of God's providing are preferable to those of our Devising: Especially when Ours will run Counter to His; And that we Cry down His, to Establish Our own!

The Fury of the first Persecutions, from a Temporary and Prudent For­bearance of Marriage, run many into an Excess in Praise of Caelibacy, which was Counted a Curse and a Reproach among the Most Pious of Former Ages. But the Enjoyning of it, as it is con­trary to the Frame of the World, so to the Commands of God. And place­ing a Greater Sanctity in it, than in the State of Marriage, is of Pernicious Consequence; as is seen among those where this Principle is set up.

But this is a Digression. Though not wholly Foreign to our Business. [Page 240]For such a number of Priests as Eng­land wou'd Require according to the Rules before spoke of; And to be ex­cluded from all Civil Offices of Profit to the Common-wealth; And likewise Prohibited from Marriage, wou'd be an Un-supportable Detriment to the Community and Publick Good. Ther­for, though these Reasons might have been urg'd for Dissolving the Regulars, in the beginning of the Reformation: Yet they can have no Place against the Restoring of Our Secular Clergy, to what these Regulars, as well as others had Robb'd from them.

As to the Point of Marriage we need say no More of it. For it is not Grudg'd to our Clergy, by Any but the Romanists. But ther are Many Prejudic'd against their being Admit­ted to any Share in the Civil Admini­stration. They Pretend that it is at least an Impediment to the office of their Calling: which they wou'd have Wholly Abstracted from the World: And to Respect only Heavenly things. And that they shou'd be Ʋseless in all other Respects.

This, as I said, is a Spice of the MONKISH Superstition. For I wou'd Pray these Men to consider, Whether the Practice be not as Neces­sary to a Clergy-Man, as the Preaching of Good Drctrine? And wherein he can shew his Practice More, or so Be­neficially, as in Assisting to the Ma­king of Good Laws, and Preventing of Wickedness from being established by Law? In directing the Councils of Princes, to Honourable, Just, and Pi­ous Resolutions? And checking the Prophane and Debauch'd who are apt to Creep in there, Especially into the Councils of Young Princes, who are Inclined to be most Sway'd by those who Administer to their Pleasures? It is not thought Un-becoming the Gra­vity of a Bishop to be Tutor to a Young Prince: but rather a thing Desirable, for the Publick Good, to bring him up in the Fear of God, and Instil Vertuous and Honourable Principles into him. And is it not as Necessary, as Benefici­al that he shou'd Stand by him, when he comes to the Exercise of these Principles, in the Administration of his Government: And when he must [Page 242]Encounter with Many Tentations, and is Most Liable to be Circumvented by Wicked and Designing Men? The Young King Joash did that which was Right in the sight of the Lord, 2 Chr. xxiij. 2. all the days of Jehoiadah the Priest, who had brought him up from a Child. But after his Death, the King fell into the hands of the Princes, Vers. 17. who corrupted him, and brought Wrath upon him from the Lord, and upon the Whole Kingdom, whom he and they like­wise Corrupted into Idolatry. He also grew Tyrannical in his Government, and Most Ingrateful, Killing Zechariah the Son of Jehoiadah, who had Sav'd his Life, and set him upon his Throne, that had been Ʋsurp'd from him.

GOD himself made the Priests the Chief Judges, even in Secular Affairs under the Law. Deur. xvij. 8, &c. And does not the Reason hold the same under the Go­spel? viz. That they are suppos'd, and ought to be most Conscientious in the Discharge of this Duty: And conse­quently, That it is best for the People that the Clergy shou'd have the Dis­charge of it. Do's not the Apostle Ar­gue from the same Topick? 1 Cor. vi. [Page 243]And think it fit, That the Church should Judge of Secular Matters?

But Christ said, who made Me a Judge? that is, in Secular Matters. And,Luk: xij. 14. Joh. xviij: 36. My Kingdom is not of this World: It is true. The Office of Judge in Secu­lar Matters was then in the hands of the Civil Magistrate. Which Christ came not to Disturb or Alter: or to set up a Temporal Kingdom. He gave no Civil Authority at all to His Church. But he no where Debarr'd her from it, if given by the Secular Power. And the Judging which St. Paul speaks of 1 Cor. vi. is plainly that of Volunta­ry Arbitration among themselves; and not Incroaching, in the Least, upon the Office of the Civil Magistrate.

But this shews, That it is no ways Unfit for Clergy Men to Concern them­selves in Secular Affairs. Else it wou'd be as Un-Lawful for them to be Arbi­trators, as Judges. For it takes up their Time; and Engages them in Se­cular thoughts, different from their Studies. Yet no Man makes it an ob­jection, but thinks it very Becoming the Office of a Clergy-Man, to be a Peace-Maker, and Reconcile Differences [Page 244]amongst his Flock or Neighbourhood: Which is Impossible for him to do, without understanding something of Worldly Business. And might he not do this with more Advantage, if he were Cloath'd with the Civil Au­thority? I have seen the Experience of it, and the Country very sensible of the Benefit of a Clergy-Man in the Com­mission of the Peace; where they had that Dispatch, and Justice, and Pro­tection, which they Bemoan'd the want of when he was Remov'd from them. Sure no Relation of Land-lord and Tenant, or Neighbourhood can create a Concern and Tenderness, Equal to that of a Pastor to his Flock. And if he be a Good Man, and Ʋnderstand­ing, No Man can be a Fitter Magi­strate among them. And thereby more Recommend himself, as to his Spiritual Office, when they See and Tast, and Feel his Justice, Prudence, Beneficence, and Charity, as well as Hear him Discourse of it from the Pulpit. When he can Contribute and Vote, and Act for the Support of the Poor, and be their Remembrancer and Advocate every Assizes and Sessions, as [Page 245]well as Recommend it in a Sermon. When he can Brow-beat the Audacious and Prophane; and if not Convert them, yet keep them within Decency, that their Infection spread not among his Flock. When a Debauchee dare not Swear 2 or 3 Rappers in his face; Bur­lesque the Holy Scriptures: or speak some Obscene Beastly Stuff, to put a Jest upon the Parson, without meeting with what he deserves, the Correction of the Stocks. This in an Heathen Country was Part of their Persecution, and they must Bear it. But in a Christian Na­tion, sure it cannot be Mis-becoming the Character of a Clergy-Man, that he be Enabl'd to Preserve Religion and Morality from the Insults and Outrage of these Sons of Belial, without being Forc'd to Sue for it where he may be more Laugh'd at, and see what is Sa­cred turn'd to Ridicule.

What Witch-craft is it that has Rai­sed in Us this Contempt, Jealousie, and Disdain against the Clergy! Are they not our Sons, Brothers, and Relations like other Men? Do we not Expend Mo­ney for their Education, to fit them for that Profession? And do we then [Page 246]Grudge them the Comfort of it, to Live like other Men? If we Bind a Son to any the Meanest Trade, we Wish his Thriving. Are the Clergy then More Vicious than other Men? I think we cannot, with Justice, say so. But a small Blot in a Clergy-Man is More Scandalous (as it ought to be) than Much More in Another Man. And this shews them to be, Generally, of Stricter Lives than other Men, Whereas Many Liberties which wou'd give no Offence at all in Another, wou'd be very ill taken in a Clergy-Man. They do not All live up to the Sacredness of their Character (nor Ever did) But we have put them under se­veral Disabilities, which have been spoke of, Therefor we ought to Bear the More with them. And let all the Prudent Means that can be contriv'd for their Reformation be set on Foot, They cannot be too Good.

But however, as to the Subject in hand, I think it wou'd be no In-con­venience for the Publick, if ther were Provisions for several Thousands of our Children (More than ther are) among the Clergy. And this being [Page 247]Join'd with other Great Advantages, before Mentioned, which would Accurue to the Whole Nation, by Re­storing the Ancient Patrimony of the Church, ought to be no Small Encou­ragement towards it.

I have now done with my Poli­ticks, wherein I have no Talent. And Return to make a Short Conclusion from all that has been said.

CONCLƲSION.

IF it be a Truth, That we ought to Honour the Lord with our Sub­stance: If that be Part of his Worship, of the Honour due unto his Name: If the Determinate Quantum of a Tenth Part, has been the Receiv'd No­tion and Practice of the Whole Earth, ever since the Beginning, as far as we have any Account of Times: If God has Promised Great Blessings, as well Temporal as Eternal, to our Perfor­mance of this Part of Religious Wor­ship, the Due Payment of our Tythe to Him: And Threatned the Neglect there­of with severe Judgments, even to Curse Whole Nations, Accounting it as a Rob­bing of Himself: And if we have seen this made Good in the Heathen Nati­ons, as well as amongst Jews and Chri­stians: And visited many Years after it was Committed, in following Gene­rations, to shew that he Forgets not this Sin, though He may bear Long with it.

If ther be any thing Sacred in Vows, Made in the Most Solemn Manner, by Kings, Parliaments, and People, with the Dreadfulest Imprecations and Cur­ses upon Themselves and Posterities who shou'd Alienate, or take back to Common Ʋse, what they had Dedica­ted to God and His Church. If it be the Rule of our Law, and Determin'd Now every Day in Westminster-Hall, That what is once Mortify'd to the Service of God, can never Revert to the Donor: And that if the Particular Ʋses for which he did Mortifie such Lands, Money, &c. be Superstitious, or Ʋnlawful, the Ʋse is to be Amen­ded; and the thing Devoted turn'd to some other Holy Use, like the Censers of Korah: But can never Revert to the Donor, or his Heirs, because the Grant is To God and His Church; And Must so Remain, and cannot be De-Secrated, or Return'd to Common Use. Nay though the Ʋse shou'd become Impracticable, as in the Late Case of Mr. Snell, who gave a Mortification for four Scots Exhibitioners in Baliol-College in Oxford, for the Propagation of Episcopacy in Scotland; Which be­ing [Page 250]Now Abolish'd there by Act of Parliament, that Use is, for the Pre­sent, become Impracticable. And his Heirs who sued for this here in Chan­cery, Offer'd to give Sufficient Security, That whenever the Ʋse, shou'd be­come Practicable, the Mortification shou'd be Apply'd to it. But the Court wou'd not suffer that. Ther must be no Compounding or Jesting with God, what is once Mortify'd to His Service must not Revert. And the Exhibitio­ners are now Maintain'd upon it, in Baliol-College, though the Ʋse for which Mr. Snell did Design it, is, at Present, Impracticable.

But if the thing Mortify'd, Vowed or Devoted be not any thing of our Own, but that which God has Antecedently Hallowed and Reserv'd to Himself, as the Tythes; And consequently where­in we never had any Property: Then the Breach of Such Vows, Made only in Affirmation, and for the Perfor­mance of what was our Duty before, and though we had not Added the farther Sanction of an Oath to God, I say, The Breach of Such Vows have an Additional and Great Aggravation; [Page 251]as to Substract our Tythes (which are Commanded) wou'd be More Hei­nous, than not to Make a Free-will-Offering: Though when it is Offer'd, it is Hallowed as well as the other.

And when we say to God, Hallow­ed be thy Name, if we Must Mean, All that is Hallowed to his Name, as well Things as Words, that All such be Pay'd to Him, then whenever we Re­peat The Lord's Prayer, we do Again Hallow All our Dedicated things to God. It is a Fresh Vow, at least, an Acknowledgment and Recognition of all our Former Vows: And not only of Our Own, but of what has been Vowed and Dedicated by Others; es­pecially if we are their Successors, for then the Obligation Descends upon Us, and we are Answerable for the Perfor­mance.

All I have to Add is, That where­in soever we find we have done A­miss, we shou'd not Deferr to Return and Amend. And put not off from Day to Day. Abraham Rose Early to Sa­crifice his Only Son whom he Loved. Ther must be a Zeal to Execute the Commands of God, even when most [Page 252]Adverse to Flesh and Blood; To shew the Preference we give to God above All other things whatsoever. With­out this, we shall never be able to overcome the Strong Temptations of the World. And when they cannot Persuade Us, they will Retard and Hinder Us; And make us go Heavily about our Work. And then they sel­dom fail to Stop Us altogether, and finally to Disappoint Us. For the Longer we Delay, after we are Con­vinc'd, we are Every Day less Apt to Dis-ingage our selves from the World: Our Trust in God grows Weaker, when we Dare not Venture upon it; And, by the same Degrees, our Trust in the World grows Stronger. And the Lon­ger it Continues so, we grow Weaker and Weaker; And our Faith Dwindles into Less than a Grain of Mustard-seed. Whereas if we wou'd put on a Noble and Christian Courage, and but Try the Experiment, then if we found it Answer beyond our Expectations, it wou'd Encrease our Faith; And we shou'd Rise from Strength to Strength, and find Comforts beyond Expression; Not only that Peace of Mind, which [Page 253]the World cannot Give: But it wou'd be the surest Means to Attain even the Riches of this World; To Prevail with God to Bless and Encrease our Store, as He has Promised; And Bid Us Prove Him herewith, if He will not Perform it, Mal. iij. 10.

And if a Modern Example will be any Encouragement, he that writes this do's Assure the Reader, That he knows, Now at this Present, where Tythes are, and have been for some time Punctually paid according to the Rules before set down. And the Effects have been Wonderful, More than an Hundredfold, and in Manner Extream­ly Remarkable and Surprizing.

Glory be to God.

17. July 1699.

A FORM OF Prayer and Thanksgiving Upon the Offering our Tythe to the PRIEST.

A Gentile ready to Perish was my Father,Deut. xxvi. 5. Rom. xi. 17. a Wild Olive Tree, growing out of the Paradise of God, the Pale of his Church. But He sent forth his Son, a Light to Lighten the Gentiles, and hath shined even unto us. And I Pro­fess this Day unto The Lord thy God,Deut. xxvi. 3. that I am come unto His Glorious Gospel, which the Lord swore unto our Fathers to give us. And moreover that He hath been with me,Gen. xxviij. 20. and kept me in the way [Page 255]that I have gone; and has given me Bread to eat, and Raiment to put on: And now behold,Deut. xxvi. 10. I have brought the First-Fruits, all the Tythes of my Increase;12. I have brought away the Hallowed things out of mine House,13. neither have I taken away ought thereof; but I have hearkened to the Voice of the Lord my God,14. To Honour the Lord with my Substance,Prov. iij. 16. and with the First-Fruits of all Mine In­crease; I have not Transgressed His Commandments,Deut. xvi. 16. To Appear Empty before the Lord; Neither will I offer unto the Lord my God of that which doth Cost me nothing.2 Sam. xxiv. 24. And, O Lord, that it may please thee Graciously to accept this Of­fering at my hands, and to make it well-pleasing in thy sight. O Lord Jesus Christ, Heb. vij. 8. the Priest who ever Liveth to Receive Tythe, and to [Page 256]make Intercession for us, Receive this our Tribute, our Bounden Du­ty and Service,1 Pet. ij. 25. O thou Bishop of our Souls, in Thy Goodness: and make it acceptable to Thy Father, and our Father;Joh. xx. 17. to thy God, and our God. O Thou, who art able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Thee;Heb. vij. 25. And to succour them that are Tempted,Ch. ij. 18. in that thou thy self wast Tempted; O Thou Merciful and Faithful High-Priest,17. in things pertaining to God, O do Thou make Power­ful Intercession for the Sins of the People,Mal. iij. 8. who have Robbed GOD in His Tythes and Offerings: O Thou who did'st open the Eyes of the Blind, open the Eyes of this People, and smite, Lord, their Hearts, they that may See and Consider their Horrid Sacrilege, and Repent and Return; And that [Page 257]Thou may'st Pardon all that is Past, all their Neglect of Paying their Tythe Hitherto; all Mine, O God, who smite upon my Breast this Day, and, turning my self, I mourn for this great Offence; and Bless Thy Name, with the Ʋtmost Powers of my Soul, That Thou hast Graciously and Wonderfully had Mercy on me, and now, tho Late, hast shewn to me Thy Glory and Thy Truth. O Preserve and Bless me in it; And bring more and more into it, even this whole Peo­ple;Hos. ix. 4. That his their Bread for their Soul may never Hereafter cease to come into the House of the Lord;Mal. iij. 10. that ther may be Meat in Thine House; and that Thou may'st open the Windows of Hea­ven, and Pour us out a Blessing, till ther shall not be Room enough to receive it,11. That thou may'st Re­buke [Page 258]the Destroyer for our sakes, that he may not Destroy the Fruits of our Ground, nor our Corn cast her Fruit before the time, in the Field;12. That all Nations may call us Blessed; That we may be a De­lightsome Land, unto the Lord of Hosts.

Look down from Thy Holy Ha­bitation,Deut. xxvi. 15. from Heaven, and Bless thy People Israel, and the Land which Thou hast Given us. Bless Thy Holy Catholick Church, and Every Land and Country where she Dwells (This in an especial Manner, O Lord our God) Her Governours, the Bishops, with the Inferior Priests and Deacons; And all Thy Faithful committed to their Charge; their Kings, their Princes and Temporal Govern­ment. Isa. xlx 23. Make them faithful Nou­rishers to Thy Church; and to [Page 259]Bow down their Ear to her In­struction, and submit themselves to her Discipline; That Thy Worship may be set up amongst us in its Purity and Fulness; That Thou may'st Delight to Bless us,Deut. viij. 16. and to do us good at our Latter End.

And now, O Lord and my God, let me Return unto Thee for a Bles­sing upon my self, a most Misera­ble and wretched Sinner, who am less than the least of all the Mer­cies which Thou dost daily Renew unto Me, and for my—and— Whom Thou hast Graciously given unto Thy Servant. And all my Family, Friends, Relations, Be­nefactors, and Well-wishers. Feed us, O Lord, with Food convenient for us:Gen. xxviij. 22. And of all that Thou gi­vest us, Grant, that we may sure­ly give the Tenth unto Thee;21. that [Page 260]the Lord may be our God; And may Bless the Fruit of our Body,Deut. xxviij. 4. &c. and the Fruit of our Ground, the Fruit of our Cattel, and the In­crease of our Kine, and the Flocks of our Sheep, that the Lord may Command a Blessing upon us, in our Store-Houses, and in all that we set our hand unto: When we come in, and when we go out: That we may be Blessed in our Basket, and Blessed in our Store: Blessed in the City, and Blessed in the Field: That the Lord may open unto us His Good Treasure, the Heaven to give the Rain unto our Land in his sea­son, and to Bless all the work of our hand; And that we may Lend un-Many, but not Borrow; That the Lord may make us the Head, and not the Tail; and to be Above only, and not to be Beneath, when we shall hearken unto the [Page 261]Commandments of the Lord our God.

And therefor, we do now Ho­nour and Hallow and Worship Thy Holy Name, in Rendring our Bounden Tribute and Service, Thy Tenth of all our Increase; which we offer with Thankful and Joyful Hearts: Adoring Thy Good­ness, and Praising Thy Mercy in Giving us All that we have.

Blessed be thou,1 Chr. xxix. 10. Lord God of Israel our Father for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the Greatness, and the Power, and the Glory, and the Victory, and the Majesty; for all that is in the Heaven, and in the Earth is Thine: Thine is the Kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art Exalted as Head above All. Now therfor, Our God, we Thank Thee, and Praise Thy Glorious Name. But who am I, and what [Page 262]are we, that we shou'd be able to Offer so willingly after this sort? For All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given Thee: For we are Strangers be­fore Thee, and Sojourners, as were all our Fathers: our Days on the Earth are as a Shadow, and ther is none Abiding.

O Lord our God, All that we have cometh of Thine Hand, and All is Thine own. I know also, My God, that Thou triest the Heart, and hast Pleasure in Ʋp­rightness. As for me, in the Ʋp­rightness of mine Heart I have willingly Offered the Tenth unto Thee. And Pray God that I may yet see, with Joy, All Thy People offer the same willingly unto Thee. And, O Lord God, keep this for ever in the Ima­gination of the Thoughts of the [Page 263]Heart of Thy People. Lord, Psal. x. 19. Prepare their Heart, and let Thine Ear hearken thereto.

Redeem Israel, O God, 25.21. out of All his Troubles. Our Father, &c.

A Blessing to be Pronounced by the Priest.

BLessed be Thou of the most High God,Gen. xiv. 19, 20. Possessor of Heaven and Earth. And Bles­sed be the Most High God, who hath given Thee a Heart to Fear before Him, and to fulfil His Law.1 Sam. i. 17. And the God of Israel grant Thee thy Petition [Page 264]that thou hast asked of Him, though Jesus Christ, who Dyed for Thee. To whom be Glory, with the Father, and the Holy-Ghost, for ever and ever. Amen.

FINIS.

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