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beft parts and ability to undertake the facred function; that the beft caufe may have the best management, and the purest religion the ablest defenders. It is also neceffary that their maintenance should bear fome proportion to the dignity of their character, and should raise them above the contempt of thofe who are apt to be influenced by outward appearances; for, though wisdom is better than ftrength, neverthelefs the poor man's wifdom is defpifed, and his words are not heard. And farther, that by this means they may be better inabled not only to provide for their families, which is a duty incumbent upon them as well as the rest of mankind, but to be examples to their flock in charity and in doing good, as well as in all other parts of their office and duty. And the wisdom of our chriftian forefathers thought these confiderations of fuch force, that the government has appointed for the maintenance of our minifters the house and glebe*, and the oblations which were the voluntary offerings of the faithful, very confiderable in the primitive times; fo that the neceffities of the church were liberally fupplied from the great bounty of the people: and when, upon the spreading of chriftianity, a more fixed and fettled maintenance was required, yet fomewhat of the antient cuftom was retained in voluntary oblations, befides tithes, which are the main lawful fupport of the parish minifter. The

In what

manner.

rea

Thele were the original endowments of a church, without which it cannot be fupplied, and without which it could not be confecrated; and upon which was founded the original right of a patronage. For it appears from the Lord Coke, that the firft kings of the realm had all the lands of England in demefne, and Les Grand Manours and Les Royalties they reserved to themfelves; and with the remnant they enfeoffed the barons of the realm for the defence thereof, with fuch ju rifdictions as the court baron now hath; and about this time it was, when all the lands of England were the kings demefne, that Ethelwulf, almoft nine hundred years fince, conferred the tithes of all the kingdom upon the church by his royal charter; which is extant in abbot Ingulf, and in Matthew of Weltminster.

+ We do not read of tithes paid the apolles, because the zeal of chriftians in their times was fo great, that as many as were poffeffors of land or houfes fold them, and laid the price of them at the apoftles feet; and the devotion of the following ages, even to the latter end of the fourth century, was fo remarkable for the liberality of their offerings and oblations, that their bounty to the evangelical priesthood exceeded what the tenth would have been, if they had paid it; fo that there was no reason to demand tithes, when men gave a greater proportion of what they poff ffed; tho', even during those ages, there want not teftimonies from the fathers of thofe times, that tithes were due under the gospel as well as before, and under the law and that they were paid is plain from the apoftolical canons, which provide for the difpofal of them.

reafon of their payment is founded on the law of God, and their settlement among us has been by the antient and undoubted laws of this nation. Therefore fuch as by tricks or shifts keep back or refufe to pay tithes in whole or Thegreatfin in part, or by any other means defraud the clergy of of facrilege. their maintenance, are guilty of that grievous fin of facrilege, by taking what is fet apart for the clergy's fubfiftence, to em→ ploy it in other uses, or to their own particular profit; which is robbing of God, as the prophet informs us: Will a man rob God? yet ye have robbed me; but ye fay, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings, faith the Lord. So that here we are told by God himself, that the with-holding tithes is a robbing of him: and what is gotten by fuch a robbery the prophet declares in the next verfe, Ye are The punishm curfed with a curfe; becaufe of fuch facred things ment. God is the true and proper owner. And accordingly we read in fcripture of fevere punishments inflicted on thofe that were guilty of this fin of facrilege||.

III. A third thing whereby we are to fhew our honour to God is to keep holy the fabbath-day, and all other The times of times fet apart for his fervice: for, as God expects his fervice. a part of our goods for the maintenance of the fettled miniftry in his church; fo he requires us to honour and exprefs our reverence towards him, by dedicating a particular part of our time to his immediate fervice. Remember, fays he that thou keep holy the fabbath-day. So,

The

We have fhewn upon good authority in the preceding note, that tithes were granted by the bounty and munificence of the first monarchs of this realm to the clergy, out of all the lands in the kingdom, and the perpetual payment thereof laid as a rent-charge for the church on the fame, before any part thereof was demised to others: fo here let it be alfo obferved, that if perhaps fome of the great men of the realm had then eftates in abfolute property, as it is certain there were very few, if any, that had, they charged the fame with tithes by their own confent, before they did tranfmit them to the hands of the gentry, or any who now claim from them. So that the land being thus charged with the payment of tithes, came with this clog unto the lords and great men of the realm, and hath been fo tranfmitted and paffed over from one hand to another, until they came into the poffeffion of the prefent owners, who must have paid more for the purchafe of them, and required larger rents from their tenants, if they had not been thus charged. And whatever right they may have to the other nine parts, either of fee fimple, leafe, or copy, they have certainly none at all in the tithe or tenth, which is no more theirs, than the other nine parts are the clergy's.

For further fatisfaction, fee the duty of the people to their minifters, Sunday viii. Sea. 4.

Sabbath,

why infti

tuted.

The ends for which the fabbath was originally inftituted, and for which the command was from time to time renewed, were principally as follows: That men might continually commemorate the works of creation; which original reason of the inftitution of the fabbath is of eternal and unchangeable consideration. Another reason of this commandment is, that the poor labourer and the fervant, and even the cattle may have a time of reft. This reason likewise, as well as that of commemorating the creation, is of a moral and perpetual nature. And a third reason, which was added upon occafion of renewing this inftitution to the Jews, was, that they might commemorate their deliverance out of the land of Egypt, which to that people was as it were a new creation. And because it was a manifeft contempt of this great deliverance, and a prefumptuously wilful defpifing of a plain command of God, the man in the wilderness, who did but gather sticks upon the fabbath-day, was by God's efpecial direction commanded to be put to death: and as the moral part of the commandment concerning the fabbath is of perpetual obligation; fo the ritual or inftituted part, which had relation to the deliverance of the Jews out of Egypt, is abolished by the gospel. But then, instead of the Why changed into the Jewish fabbath, there fucceeded, by the appointLord's day. ment and practice of the apoftles, the commemoration of our Lord's refurrection: Which coming to pafs upon the first day of the week, the chriftian Lord's day was accordingly from thenceforth kept on the first day of the week, which we call Sunday. Therefore one day in feven must be yielded unto the Lord, and fet apart for the exercife of religious duties, both in public and private. For

We must not only reft from the works of our calling, but How to be our time must be employed in all fuch religious exkept. ercises as tend to the glory of God and the falvation of our own fouls. We must regularly frequent the worfhip of God in the public affemblies, from which In public. nothing but sickness or abfolute neceffity should detain us and there we are not to talk or gaze about us, but to join in the prayers of the church, hear his most holy

See the worship of God in his house, page 45...

word,

word, receive the bleffed facrament, when administered; and contribute to the relief of the poor, if there be any collection for their support: that we may thereby openly profess ourfelves chriftians, which is one great end of public affemblies in the service of God. We ought in private to enlarge our ordinary devotions, and to make the subject of In private. them chiefly to confift in thanksgivings for the works of creation and redemption, recollecting all those mercies we have received from the bounty of Heaven through the course of our lives: to improve our knowledge by reading and meditating upon divine subjects; to inftruct our children and families; to vifit the fick and the poor, comforting them by fome feasonable affiftance; and if we converse with our friends and neighbours, to season our discourse with prudent and profitable hints for the advancement of piety; and to take care that no fourness or morosenefs mingle with our serious frame of mind. In a word, it is to be spent in works of neceffity, and in works of charity; and in whatsoever tends, without fuperftition and without affectation, to the real honour of God, and to the true interest and promoting of religion and virtue in the world. The extremes to be avoided are: on the one hand, that habit of spending great part of the Lord's day in gaming, and in other loose and debauched practices; which has to numberless perfons been the corruption of their principles, and the intire ruin of their morals; on the other hand, an affected judaical or pharifaical preciseness, which usually proceeds from hypocrify, or from a want of understanding rightly the true nature of religion. And

From hence we may collect the great advantages of a religious obfervation of the Lord's day it keepeth Its advanup the folemn and public worship of God; which tages. might be neglected, if left to depend upon the will of man: it preferveth the knowledge and vifible profeffion of the christian religion in the world; when, notwithstanding the great differences there are among christians in other matters, they yet all agree in obferving this day, in memory of our Saviour's refurrection: and it is highly useful to inftruct the ignorant by preaching and catechifing, and to put those in

mind of their duty, who in their profperity are apt to forget God. Moreover, by fpending this day in religious exercifes, we acquire new ftrength and refolution to perform God's will in our several stations for the future.

manner.

: IV. Befides this weekly day of the Lord, there are other In obferving principal times or days fet apart by the church, eithe feafts of ther for the remembrance of fome special mercies the church. of God, fuch as the birth and refurrection of Chrift, the coming down of the Holy Ghost from heaven, &c. or in memory of the bleffed apoftles, and other faints; who were the happy instruments of conveying to us the knowledge of Chrift Jefus, by preaching his gospel through the world, and most of them attesting the truth of it with their blood; which ought to be obferved in fuch a manner, as may After what answer the ends for which they were first appointed; that God may be glorified by an humble and grateful acknowledgment of his mercies; and that the falvation of our fouls may be advanced, by believing the myfteries of our redemption, and imitating the examples of thofe primitive patterns of piety that are fet before us. Therefore on those days we should be fo far from looking upon them as common days, or making them inftruments of vice and vanity, or spending them in luxury and debauchery, intemperance, excefs, and fenfuality, as the manner of fome is, who look upon an boly-day as defigned for a loofe to their paffions and unbounded pleafure; that our greatest care fhould be to improve our time in the knowledge and love of God, and of his fon Jefus Christ our Lord, by conftantly attending the public worship, and partaking of the bleffed facrament, if it be administered, and in private by enlargingour devotions, and withdrawing ourselves as much as poffible from the affairs of the world, particularly expreffing our rejoicing by love and charity to our poor neighbour. If the holy-day is fuch as is intended for our calling to mind any mystery of our redemption, or article of our faith, we ought to confirm our belief of it, by confidering all those reasons upon which it is built, that we may be able to give a good account of the hope that is in us. We fhould from our hearts offer to God the facrifice of thanksgiving, and refolve to perform all thofe du

ties,

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