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Warrens, Fishing, Orchards, Gardens, Negotiationibus, Trading, Merchandise, and all Bufinefs, & omnibus rebus quas dederit Dominus, of All things whatsoever that God gives us, Decima pars Ei redenda est, we muft Give the Tenth to Him. Qui autem Detinuerit, per Juftitiam Epifcopi, & Regis (fi neceffe fuerit arguatur. Hac enim. B. Auguftinus prædicavit,& conceffa funt 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 fo St. Aguftine did Preach: And this is Granted by the King, Lords, and Commons. It were Endless and Needless to Repeat All the Reft of the like Acts of Par liament, which are All of the like ftrain, and Import.

It is fhewn before, that this was the Univerfal Notion of the Heathen's in All Nations, That Tythe was to be pay'd of All things, of All Mer chandife and Trading, of All Manual Labour, and of All Spoils taken in War, as well as of All Estates Perfonal and Real, of every thing that God gives.

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

If the Payment of our Tythe to the Poor, or other Charitable Ufes, be a Due Payment of our Tythe ?

1. Anf. N That Some Part of our

O. It is fhewn Sect. IV.

Subftance is Due to God, as an Act of Worship. And it is Prov'd afterwards, That that Proportion is a Tenth, at leaft. 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 fecond Tythe to the Poor. And this was Purely an A&t of Charity. But the Tythe of God muft be Pay'd only to his Priefts, as other Sacrifices and Offerings were, of which the Tythe was a Part, as before is fhewn. If we give to the Poor out

T

of

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, fo of the Chriftians, before that Invafion (fpoke to above) of the Pope and his Emiffaries upon this Inheritance of God: To which God's Title had not been Difputed, before that time, fince the Beginning of the World, no not by the Heathen.

II. Moreover, we are under the Indifpenfible 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 ufes, but to Perform them out of our Nine Parts: For this was the Sense and Meaning of All thefe Dedications of Tythes beforeMentioned. In the first of which (confirm'd by all the Reft) the Charter of King Ethelwolf, of which I have Recited fome Part already, it is Exprefly caution'd (as fet down by Selden, ubi fupra, p. 199.) That Ne

mo juftam Eleemofinam de his quæ Poffidet facere valet,nifi prius feparaverit Doraino, quod a Primordio Ipfe fibi Reddere Delegavit. i. e. None can justly give Alms out of any thing that he Poffef fes, till he has first feparated out of it, to the Lord; that which, from the Beginning, He hath Commanded to be Render'd to Himself. And this is Ufher'd in with, ficut Sapiens ait, As the Wife Man faid. Which fhews that it was an Anciently Received and Approved Doctrine, at that time.

And these words Immediately following do Contain the Sanction or Curfe that attends the doing otherwife. 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 obteftatione, Præcipimus, ut omnes ftudeant, de omnibus quæ poffident, Decimas dare, quia fpeciale Domini eft; & de Novem partibus fibi vivat, & Eleemofinas tribuat. i. e. Therefor we Command, with Obtefting (i. e. before God) that All fhould take heed to Pay the Tythe

of

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of All that they Poffefs; because it do's peculiarly belong unto God; And let him fupport himself, and give Alms out of the Remaining Nine parts.

The fame fays St. Augustin, in his Sermon De reddendis Decimis (Tom. x. 219. Serm. de Tempore) where he Exhorts All that wou'd obtain the Remiffion of their Sins, or Profperity 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?

A

Anf. Be Touched, that is, Con

Efore any of the Nine parts

be

verted to our own ufe, God is to be Firft ferved. And befides 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 Chriftians. Infomuch that it grew into a Proverb among the Greeks Aura iew,