The Civil Right of Tithes, Ecclesiastical tract · Chapter 15
CHAP. XVII.
COME we next on this ſide the bloody battel, and Sanguelac conveys us over to no leſs aſſurance or clearneſs of ſtrength on this ſide that ſtrangly ſucceſsful invaſion. Non-revocation is firſt aſſured: for who ever heard of ſuch a prevailing vote as this ſince the Conquerors dayes, quickned to life and power, that no tythes ſhould be paid; Then for poſitive confirmations we have many: Ever and anon ſome new ſinews of ſtrength having been added to thoſe were before, and repeated aſſurances of them comming in ſo thick and plentifully that they had need for their multitude to be ſorted into parcels to avoid confuſion.
1. And whereas of K. Edwards Laws Tythes were a part, as but now, our firſt ſearch would be therefore, what notice and allowance is of Them, and Tythes in Them.
2. Next when and how the Conſiſtory was erected, with its lawful powers, the proper ſcaen where theſe dues had motion and tranſlation both as to ſtating their right and helping their Recovery.
3. What were the Collateral impreſſions of ſtate in this interval, chiefly ſince the beginning of the printed ſtatutes; as in Magna Charta, Articuli Cleri, Circumſpectè agatis, &c. to the Petition of Right.
4. What is elſe abroad of Private ſtamp, but Publike allowance, as among the great Lawyers, Cooke, Fleta, Bracton, S. German, Natura Brevium, Book of Entrys, &c. On each of which heads is like to be found at leaſt ſomething and all hoped will be abundantly enough. In any whereof yet we ſhall not ſo much tie our ſelves to follow our method as our buſineſs, rather chuſing to let our matter lead us, then we forcing it; and always eſteeming our method ſuch a line of our own making, as that the compaſs thereof we may at any time without offence upon occaſion tranſgreſſe.
Firſt then to King Edwards Laws, renewed, repeated, confirmed, and ſworn as they were, (a good part of the accompt that is of thoſe are very ancient being ſpent in the mention of them,) and ſome wonder it is to ſee and conſider for ſome Ages how peoples hearts were not ſo much bent towards, as ſet upon, and wedded to them. Fickle men! that uſe to love and hate in a breath; with no more conſtancy then the winde blowes from ſuch a ſet point of the Compaſſe, Now for this, and Then for that; Yet ſuch was their Immutable and Immortal love to their Avitae Conſuetudines, as they called them, that they would not admit of any divorce from them; the ſword of a Conquerour could not terrifie from their embraces, and any reſtraint for a time did but quicken their appetite & awaken & inrage their thirſt to call for them ſo much the more earneſtly after, & indeed undeniably. It was harder to conquer Theſe then the whole Nation beſides: The peoples hearts were ſoon quieted or ſubdued by one great Battail and a few other: But their affection to theſe was ſuch, that ever and anon they were up in bloudy Inſurrections; They would not be denyed their Laws upon peril of their lives, and ſtill whatſoever bonds of agreement were made, none would hold; whatſoever peace was agreed on, none would laſt and be firm, unleſs Theſe King Edwards Laws were the ſoder and braces as it were to keep all from falling back again to factions and fractions. So in K. Williams time, ſo in Hen. 1. & Hen. 2. So in K. Johns, ſo in others, till they were planted in the Coronation Oath, and there I believe lately they were in the laſt that was taken.
See of K. William firſt, whoſe Laws bear this title:
The1Leges boni Regis Edovardi, quas Gulielmus Baſtardus poſtea confirmavit. Laws of good K. Edward which William the Baſtard afterward confirmed.
2Poſt acquiſitionem Angliae praefatus Rex Anglie Gulielmus, quarto anno regni ſui, Conſilio Baronum ſuorum fecit ſummoniri per univerſos Angliae Conſulatus Anglos nob les, ſapientes, & lege ſua eruditos, ut eorum leges, & jura, & conſuetudines audiret. Electi igitur de ſingulis totius patriae Com…tatibus viri duodecim, jurejurando eoram Rege primùm confirmaverunt, ut quoad poſſent recto tramite incedentes, nec ad dextram nec ad ſiniſtram d…vertentes, legum ſuarum & conſuetudinum ſancita patefacerent, nihil praerermi…ttentes, nihil addentes, nihil praevaricando mutantes. A Legibus igitur ſanctae matris Eccleſiae ſumentes exordium, quoniam per eam Rex & Regnum ſolidum habent ſubſiſtendi fundamentum, leges, libertates, & paces ipſiu… concionatiſunt, dicentes.The firſt Chap. After the Conqueſt of England, the ſaid William in the 4 year of his reign, by the advice of his Barons, cauſed through all the ſhires of England, the Nobles and other the3Omnis Clericus, &c. Lambard. Arch. pa 138. Spelman. Concil. pa. 619. Wiſe-men and Lawyers of the Land to be ſummoned, that of them He might know what their Laws & Cuſtoms were:(4) See M. Seldens Review of Cha. 8 Of Tythes, pa. 982. Theſe being met, twelve of every ſhire; and having firſt taken their Oaths to deal ſincerely, not turning to the right hand or to the left, adding nothing, detracting nothing, changing nothing, began with the Church: Quoniam per eam Rex & Regnum ſolidum, ſubſiſtendi habent fundamentum; Becauſe this was the Baſis and firm ſettle whereon all the Reſt was ſeated, and her Laws and Liberties were (they ſay) as followeth;
2. Let every Clerke and Scholar, and their poſſeſſions whereſoever, have the peace of God and the Church: And ſo on to the eighth Chapter; for every tenth ſheaf, tenth fole, tenth fleece, &c. as before, which is the5And the ſame limb is alſo of the ſame body, but under another head, as if the whole compoſition were Glanvils▪ in Hoveden. Annal part. poſt pa. 600. particular Law we ſeek for here. That which might occaſion this ſtrict Survey, may have been, when he ſaw what was, to ſuperinduce or conjoyn his Norway orders;6Proferebat enim quod anteceſſo es ejus, & omnium Baronum ferè Normannorum, Norwegienſes extitiſſent, & quod de Norweia olim veniſſent. Et hac authorita…e leges eorum cum profundiores & honeſtiores omnibus aliis eſſent, prae caete…is regni ſui legibus aſſerebat ſe debere ſequi, & obſervare, Lambard. …bi ſ…pra …. 149. & Vid. Spelman. Gloſſar pa 4…6. & Chron. Lichfeld. apud Lambard. pa 158. As well becauſe they were his, and he was willing to govern by his Own, as becauſe they were better and honeſter, as he pretended; But chiefly for that their admiſſion7Selden▪ ib. pa. 484. would have removed one rub which lay in his way, and hindred the evennes of his path to the Crown by ſucceſſion, which was his unfitneſſe thereto by reaſon of his illegitimation; which, as Laws were here under the Church, ſcarce left him in a ſucceeding condition (to his Couſen Edward, for he entred not meerly by Conqueſt,) whereas the Northern were in this regard more pliable and favourable. But when1Quo audito mox univerſi compatriotae Regni qui leges edixerant, triſtes effecti, unanimiter deprecati ſunt, quatenus permitteret ſibi leges proprias, & conſuetudines antiquas habere in quibus vixerant patres eorum, & ipſi in eis nati & nutriti ſunt, quia durum valde foret ſibi ſuſcipere leges ignotas, & judicare de eis quas neſciebant. Rege vero ad flectendum ingrato exiſtente, tandem eum proſequuti ſunt deprecantes, quatenus per animam Regis Edwardi, qui ſibi poſt diem ſuum conceſſerat coronam & regnum, & cujus erant leges, &c. Lambard, Vbi Supra. the people heard hereof, their rage was up preſently, their ſwords by their ſides, and ſpears in their hands, beſeeching they might not be ruled by they knew not what; and when he denyed, reinforced their bold requeſts, conjuring him by S. Edwards ſoul, who left him the Kingdom, (and this was a part of his title, glanced at before,) and whoſe the ſo much deſired Laws were, that he would not force a yoak on them they were not able to bear, and like to gall their necks ſo much the more, becauſe they knew not how neither to wear it. This he had in part2Vid. Th…. Spot. prout citatur in Gloſſar. ad Lambard. Arch. pa. 222. in vocab. Terra ex Scripto. & Speed. Hiſt…r. lib 9. cap. 1. ſect. 8. in Wil. 1. promiſed before to the two greateſt of the Hierarchy of Canterbury before they would lay down with their boughs their ſwords, but ſoon forgat his words as Conquerours uſe to do; But howſoever now no remedy, He muſt yeeld, and did once for all: Thomas of Cant. and Maurice another Biſhop, writing them out with their own hands, and ſo they were taken up, Decima Deo debita, with the reſt, and they ſhall be now obſerved for ever. Such they may be, it is harder to conquer Laws then Men, and rooted uſages having had time to ſpread and like, may contract ſuch a kinde of Connaturality with the place by conſent, that though a generation of men may be cut off, Theſe will not. I will not ſay, There is a Climatical fitneſs, and in ſuch a place ſome love to grow; As of other things, There do influences produce and cheriſh, what being There proſpers, being Away languiſhes, being removed ſighs out fainting deſires to return, like the Vine that by the Elme thrives beſt, (yea, mutually they cheriſh each other,) or the plants of Trinacria, which when that Iſland was cut off from Italy, (as ours thought from France) reclined lovingly back to the place from whence they had been taken. No1Nullum ibi reptile videri ſoleat, nullus vivere ſerpens valeat. Nam ſaepe illò de Britannia allati ſerpentes, mox ut proximante terris navigio; odore aëris illius adtacti fuerint, intereunt. Quin potius omnia penè quae de eadem inſula ſunt, contra venenum valent. Denique vidimus, qu buſdam à ſerpente percuſſis, raſa folia codicum, qui de Hybernia fuerunt, & ipſam raſuram aquae immiſſam, ac potui datam, talibus protinus totam vim veneni graſſantis, totum inflati corporis abſumpſiſſe ac ſedaſſe tumorem. Beda. Eccleſ. Hiſtor. lib. 1 cap. 1. poiſoned thing, they ſay, will live in Ireland: Creatures, their very nature is2The Indian Ounees, What be they but extract from the Cats of Europe? Spaniſh dogs, in New Spain, in the ſecond Litter do they not become Wolves? Good Melons tranſplanted into a baſe and barren ground, t…n quickly to ordinary e…cumbers. So there in Ca…mannia) the Iackals may be of the dogs of Europe, by diverſity of air, and ſoil varying in ſpe…ie from that they were formerly Herb Trav. pa. 124 in Carmannia. troubled, and they like to degenerate, when they change ſoil and climate: Some Northern Beaſts are reported to alter (in time) removing to the South, and when from us to any other Countrey, againſt reaſon, yet more: As things, may not then Laws naturally love ſome Countreys, deſire to be there, proſper in that Region beſt, and thitherward therefore recline being ſeparated? bewraying a kinde of ſympathy with the place, by that the place ſeems to want them, and they deſire and make to it, reſting and having a ſtrange kinde of complacency and delight (mutually) in that approximation! Many things we ſee we can give no reaſon of: but we Do ſee and know Native Laws ſettle (as in love) towards ſome places, Ours alſo ſo paſſionately called for Here, as to a deſpite of oppoſition, a ſcorn of denial; May there not then be a kinde of ſympathy, and Connaturality of Them with Us, we underſtand not?
Well: this formal Conceſſion was upon this importunity howſoever made, but how kept? M. Foxe 3Martyrol. in the Life of Will. 1. pa. 171.ſays the truculent ſoldier feared not to perjure himſelf: (whence we learn, he had ſworn:) Upon which endeavour of revocation, the people were ſoon up again4Speeds Hiſt. lib. 9 cap. 2 ſect 21 Selden ad Eadmer. nos. pa. 194. under Edgar Etheling, Englands Dearling as they called h…m, Fretherick The ſtout Abbot of S. Albanes, and Aldred BP of York being their Chief Councellours, Edwin and Morcar their Chief Generals. Theſe would not bear their forced change of Laws; though Governours they ſtuck not ſo much at, neither was there any remedy but gratifie their diſcontents with a re-Conceſſion. The King enters parley with them at Berkehamſted in Hartford ſhire, where loth to hazard by the chance of an houre, what he had got not without the expence of bloud, treaſure, and ſo long continued induſtry; He condeſcends to hearken, as Rehoboam ſhould, to his wiſe Councellour (the Arch-Biſhop of Canterbury) to yeeld to grant what 'twas dangerous to deny, and to be pliable for once to thoſe muſt be his ſubjects for ever: Non tam libenter itaque quam ſapienter, 1Tho. Spot. Vbi Su.as was ſaid of him in another caſe, not ſo much willingly as wiſely he made Conceſſion, and being alſo of carriage fair, and of ſpeech courteous, he ſo wan upon the old Abbot Fretherick, and all that were with him, that they were again content to put their neck into his yoake, ſo it might be the gentle one they liked of K. Edwards making. So ſaid, ſo done: an agreement was thus made which ratified by Oath and vowed upon the reliques of S. Albane, All were ſatisfied, and every one went to his own home. Though this were not the onelyonly time or courſe of affairs that brought about the eſtabliſhment of theſe loved decretals: Elſewhere alſo they were put into2Hoc quoque praecipimus ut omnes habeant & teneant leges Edvardi Regis in omnibas rebus, adauctis hiis quas Conſtituimus ad utilitatem Anglorum. Lambard. Arch. pa. 172. l. 63. Selden. ad Aedmet. not. pag. 192. K. Williams Code, which willed them to be ſtrictly kept by all, with onelyonly ſome additions in favour of the Engliſh, as in the Red Book of the Exchequer, lately publiſhed. Next him was William 2. of whom we have little account, but very like his truculent nature would put on for a return of his fierce Norway uſages. More then like he did; for at the coming in of his Brother Henry, He was fain3Eadmer. Hiſtor. Non. lib. 3. pag. 55. to ſtroak the people with a promiſe to releaſe their heavy burdens, and that all things introduced contrary to K. Edwards Laws, ſhould be removed, with a Re-Reconceſſion of them in their full force and vertue. 4Promiſit emendationem legum, quibus oppreſſa fuerat Anglia tempore patris ſui & fratris nuper defuncti;—Adhaec Clero reſpondente et magnatibus cunctis: quod ſi animo volente ipſis vellet concedere & Charta ſua communire illas libertates & Conſuetudines antiquas, quae floruerunt in Regno tempore ſancti Regis Edwardi, in ipſum conſentirent & in Regem unanimiter conſecrarent. Henrico autem hoc libenter annuente, & ſe id facturum cum juramento affirmante, conſecratus eſt in Regem apud Weſtmonaſterium, &c. Matth. Pariſ. ad an. 1100. p 51.A Monk of S. Albanes who was likeſt to know, tells us: He ſooths the headleſſe people, deſiring he might be their Governour, and all hard Laws ſhould be amended: They ſpecifie, that if they might be S. Edwards Laws, and he would allow them by his Charter (after made out into the great Charter no doubt) they would ſtick to him againſt his elder Brother Robert, now in the holy Wars at a diſtance. With all his heart; for he muſt, or no Crown: So he ſwore them preſently, and was not after worſe then his word: for he ſoon directed his Letter to the Sheriffe of every Shire, acknowledging his Election, and confeſſing oppreſſions paſt, and promiſing relaxation to come, grants the Church her liberties, &c. and that all ill cuſtomes ſhould be amended, &c. And coming to particulars, that all paſt murders ſhould be pardoned, and future tried by K. Edwards Law, He after reaches in the whole:1Lagam Regis Edwardi vobis reddo, cum illis emendationibus quibus pater meus …am emendavit Conſilio Baronum Angliae. Id. ib. The Law of K. Edward I reſtore you, ſaith he, with all amendments mado by my Father with the conſent of his Barons: which is the more like to be true, becauſe beſides this private Authour, there is agreement of the publike Tables in two Copies (with ſome ſmall variation,) in2Lately publiſhed and annexed to Lamb. Arch. p. 175. the Books of the Exchequer,3Ib. Pa 176. the title of whoſe ſecond Chapter is, De Confirmatione Legum Edwardi Regis, as if that were the onelyonly buſineſſe. Afterwards Robert came home, and they parlying of the great buſineſs4Matth. Par. ad an. … 106. pa. 59. at Northampton, fearing the peoples revolt, he knew no better means to retain them, then by pleaſing them with ſugared words, telling them, His Brother was a Military man, He addicted to Peace: His Brother a new-comer, Himſelf known to them: The ſtranger was like to prove truculent, as arriving to them with his hands bloudy from Syria, but He had granted them King Edwards Law, had ſworn it them, had kept it them; It was his joy to remember the day when that firm and pleaſing bond of friendſhip was contracted between them firſt, which alſo he wiſh't everlaſting: And if they liſt to deſire any thing more in the ſame buſineſſe, they need but ask and have; and thus were they inchanted to be his, almoſt againſt Juſtice: Parva Ieves animos capiunt; Good words go far with the multitude.
At King Stephens coming to the Crown, we finde not much, but5Id. in vita St… phan. Reg. in prin. pa. 71. he ſwore the Liberties of the Church, and gave Charter of them, &c. 6Speed Hiſt. lib 9. ca 5 ſect. 3.He promiſed to reform the over-hard Laws of his Predeceſſors, and to mollifie extreams under his Seal and Charter: which words conſidered, ſeem much of the import with the1And Will. Malmsbury, ſpeaking of K…outs ſeverity, and picking from K. Ethelreds Laws, and eternizing them, whereof before: In quarum Cuſtodia (ſaith he) etiam nunc tempore ſub nomine Regis Edwardi juratur, non quod ille ſtatue rit ſed quod obſervaverit. De Geſt. Reg. Angl. lib. 2 cap 11. pa 75. He lived in this K▪ Stephens …worf…. former. But before his reign was out,2Florent. Wigorn. in Gloſſar. D. H. Spelman pa. 440. the Londoners were up, and made earneſt requeſt to Maud the Empreſſe, then, it ſeems, recovered to ſome power, and gotten thither, that theſe Laws of K. Edward might be reſtored expreſly: quia optimae erant, & non patris ſui Henrici, quia graves erant: whereunto ſhe giving an unadviſed anſwer, there roſe preſently ſuch a ſtorm of mens paſſions and arms both together, that ſhe was glad, with diſgrace enough to leave the Town, without taking ſo much as her Trunks along with her. In Hen. 2. (her ſons) time, R. de Glanvilla was made Chief Juſtice. His Book intituled, Tractatus de Legibus & Conſuetudinibus Angliae tempore Regis Hen. 2. compoſitus, has, for reaſons I ſhall alledge hereafter more ſeaſonably, little of Tythes, Nothing of King Edwards laws, as that Book is come to us: But3Videturque Hovedenus leges Edovardi Confeſſoris à Gulielmo emendatas, & ab Henrico ſecun. do denuò reſtitutas, reſtituenti attribuere. Id. pa. ead. col. 2. to the ſame Henry as Authour, and the fame Glanvil as under him Compoſer, are aſcribed this very Body whereof I ſpeak, and under the ſame Head given by Ro. Hoveden the Hiſtorian; Though he▪ was yet, I take it, but the4Vid. Hoveden. Annal. part. poſter. ad an. 26 Hen. 2. pa. 600. Compiler of them.
But now in K. Johns time aroſe thoſe terrible tempeſts, were like to ſhake and overwhelm all, the noiſe whereof was heard all over Chriſtendom; Neither was there any appeaſing the ſtorm, or ſettling toward peace and quietneſs, but by ſo far as theſe Laws had approbation. Matth. Paris 5Ad. an. 1213. pa. 229, 230.tels us, that at the end of ſome broyles, when the King was abſolved at Wincheſter, he ſwore upon the holy Gospels that he would defend the Church and Church-men, &c. and revive all good Laws, especially King Edwards, abrogating all that were unjuſt: which I take it, was done not long after at S. Albanes, when peace was reſtored to all, and on behalf of the King commanded, that the Laws of6This was, being ſtrictly taken, Henry the ſecond: but a judecious Conjecturar rather …aſtens it on Hen. 1. as if it were, Proavi ſui. (Spelm. in Gloſſ. pa. 436.) which is the more likely, becauſe this was word for word that K. Iohn ſware, and is here found▪ remembred and recited: as may be ſeen in Matth. Paris. his Grandfather Henry (of him we had but now) ſhould be obſerved, and all hard Lawes repealed throughout England: which when after upon diſpleaſure it was endeavoured to be revoked, the Archbiſhop follows the King to Notingham, and ſo deals that that unjuſt purpoſe was revoked; and after, having found a Copy of Hen. 1. Charter (of which before) He takes aſide many of the Peers, and thus beſpeaks them: Ye may remember what was done at Wincheſter; How I abſolved the King, and he ſwore to revive and preſerve K. Edwards Laws: I have lighted upon a Copy of them; here it is, Hear it read, and let us make our ſelves happy once for all by a combination that it Shall be obſerved. Hereupon he produces the Charter, word for word, the ſame as from Hen. 1. even to the particulars of a double mention and confirmation of K. Edwards Laws; and having read it and ſworn to it and the Combination together, by the next1Id. pa. 233. news we hear of K. John, he is like to turn Mahumetan to ſhift himſelf of thoſe troubles his inconſtancy to theſe good Laws had wrapped him in. Nor ended the buſineſſe ſo:2An 1214. id. pa. 243. The year following was a great meeting at Saint Edmundſbury, to force the King again to make good the liberties and 3They produced the Charter. Continebat autem Charta quaſdam libertates, & Leges Regis Eadwardi Sancti, Eccleſiae Anglicanae par…ter & Magnatibus conceſſas, exceptis quibuſdam libertatibus, quasidem Rex de ſuo adjecit ib.thoſe Laws: ſoon after Ch…iſtmas the year following, they come boldly enough upon him and demand the obſervation of them, and performance of his promiſe; when he craved time to deliberate; and meant but to delay, they ſmelt it, and aſſembled a great Hoaſt at Stanford, and coming after to Brackley, where they had a parley, offered a Schedule of their demands, containing the old Laws and Cuſtomes of the Land, and thoſe are4Capitula quoque legum & libertatum quae ibi Magnates confirmari quaerebant, partim in Charta Regis Henrici ſuperius ſcripta ſunt, partimque ex legibus Regis Eadwardi antiquis excerpta. Id pa. 244. after ſaid to be partly out of K. Henries Charter, (of which before) and partly out of K. Edwards Laws ſtill. So that thus far plain and even way till among the Charters, and in Treaties and Conſultations, Acts, Orders, Grants, and Demands, ſtill theſe were a conſiderable part, the onelyonly ſoder to combine the diſagreeing parts, of the brittle body Politique; and when the rage and fury of the people was up, nothing was ſo effectuall as this, like cool water to ſprinkle upon their raging fiery paſſions; Stroak them with a Conceſſion of theſe, and they were calmed preſently. I confeſs we are yet ſhort of Hen. 3. whoſe was the ratification and renewed allowance onelyonly, not firſt grant of that our preſent laws take chief notice of, by the name of The Great Charter; But withall it is to be obſerved, that This was chiefly an extract of Thoſe, and that which K. John confirmed by Oath, and his Barons contended for, and would not be denyed to have made good in Deed, was but Hen. 1s. Of which one that had ſearched and was like to know, tells us: Verè 1Sir Roger Twiſden, in his Preface to the Laws of Will. 1. pag. 157. Cook has the ſame in his marginall notes on the Charter in his Inſtit 2 cha. 1.itaque haec (Henrici 1.) dici poteſt baſis & fundamentum ipſius Magnae Chartae, quae ex parte maxima leges antiquas & Regni Conſuetudines continebat, quamque Hen. 3. non confirmavit antequam per milites 12, vel legales homines uniuſcujuſque Comitatus per Sacramentum inquiri feciſſet quae fuerant Libertates in Anglia tempore Henrici avi ſui. So the Great was but taken out of the other Charters, renewing (with ſome variation) what they had granted before, and there is urged authority for that derivation, which their compariſon and conſent will well enough make good. Thus having brought theſe Laws among the Charters, thorough them, and to the laſt and Great; They now with eaſe and pliableneſs enough come along and have a place in the Petition of Right, where That was owned ſufficiently, and as many Ratifications as there were intercedent, even Parliamentary, ſo many-muſt be acknowledged to fall in by the way (at leaſt by implication) Hither: Of that great Law of Tythes I mean, which having ſo fair and eminent a place in K. Edwards, muſt alſo have as full and frequent a ratification all along in that bulk of laws ſo ratified, which juſtly occaſioned this Narrative; And by it we ſee a a part of that ſtrength the Law of Tythes hath on this ſide the Conqueſt, even in the Common Law ſtill, by that it was part of it at firſt, and a very remarkable part of that is taken to have been the foundation and firſt riſe of the beginning of the Common Law, and ſince hath, as now, been ſeen, allowed, and approved with it all along, with impetuous rage and violence called for by the people of the land, and they would never be quiet but under this Regiment, or without theſe beloved orders whereof Tythes were a conſiderable and eminent part. If they had been preſſed upon them by thoſe were intereſſed by profit, or the tyranny of command from above had ſettled, or kept them upon their weak and declining ſhoulders, as unwilling as unable to bear, Reaſon would there ſhould be at leaſt ſome more colour of ſtrugling to free themſelves from the force, and their hands have leave to looſe their necks from the yoak of unjuſt impoſition; But ſith they deſired them, beſpake them, contended for them, and would not be denyed, but fought that they might pluck and keep that Burden upon themſelves; what can be more equall then that▪ as their own act binde themſelves, ſo their inheritours and ſucceſſours alſo, and that whether to gain or to loſſe, yea, to loſſe as well as to gain, they ſtand to them, and every good man with his own whether Act or Right, ſit down and Reſt ſatisfied and very well contented?
Moſt things indeed finde ſome oppoſition; few are ſo happy to eſcape altogether free, and ſome Perſons may perhaps think good to doubt of All here: As, whether theſe references disperſed and repreſented as before, point to King Edwards Laws, or ſome other? which latter If, All hitherto would ſeem beſide the Cuſhion. But in anſwer would be conſidered, 1. That no ſuch thing appears as miſ-application, neither are other with much probability ſuborned in their place. 2. The title, the old title, and that from as far as Roger Hovedens time, ſpeaks for them, and plain, Hae ſunt leges boni Regis Edovardi, &c. 3. Divers paſſages alledged, glanced at, and extant beſide can hardly be underſtood but to contribute the ſtrength of their Teſtimony this way. 4. To this alſo the likelieſt guides have led us: M. Lambard, in his Edition; M.1Hiſt. of Tythes cha 8: pa 224. Selden, in his Allegations;2Animadverſon that Chap. pa. 164. D. Tildeſley, 3Concil. Tom. 1. p. 620. and of Tythes, chap. 27. pa. 131.Sir Henry Spelman, 4View of the E…cleſ. Laws, Par. 3 chap 2. ſect. 1. pa. 141.Sir Tho. Ridley, and of late5In his late E…dition of M. Lambards Archa…on. Anno 1644. D. Wheloc of Cambridge. Could all have been miſtaken? Were they all in the wrong? Shall we take in a point of doubt the whole world of Learned men to be nothing elſe but a flock of ſheep, wandring from the truth themſelves, and leading others unto errour that follow them? Take what we finde: They are generally reputed His, clearly ſtyled His, have continued to be reputed and ſtyled ſo long enough, and nought appears clear to the contrary; and Why Then may we not Therefore embrace them for His, and Genuine, crediting the voice of the world? Which how, and why taken into the Coronation Oath, we may by theſe things, as they were, in part alſo conjecture. But of this hereafter, or as ſhall be occaſion: In the mean time, of them, and of this Branch of Tythes in them, Thus much.