The Civil Right of Tithes, Ecclesiastical tract · Chapter 2
CHAP. II.
Propoſ. 2.
THere may be impaling2Though to neceſsity all is ſtill l…oſe poſitive, yet for Dominion, only negative, ſc. that they are not actually divided, ſed tamen permiſſum eſt ut dividerentur, ſi id ipſi generi humano videretu expediens. Quemadmodum cùm paterfamilias moritur, & f…ios in commune relinquit haeredes. haereditas quidem eſt eis ex teſtamento Communis, ſed negativè, non poſitivè: Et ideò nihil prohibet, quo minus eam inter ſe dividant & una pars unius, altera alterius efficiatur propria. Bellarm. de b…n. oper. in partic. lib. 3. cap. 11. propriety; for elſe much of the Good even of Good things would be loſt; the ſtrong ('tis like) would tyrannize over the weak, the lazy partake as much fruit of his vice, as the induſtrious of his dilgence; at Harveſt, he that laboured ſhould reap no more then he that loytered; and ſuppoſing the moſt evidently ſeene corruption of our nature, that 3Minimè autem utile hominibus fuit quod hujuſmodi habuerint in Omnia jus Commune. Nam effectus ejus juris idem paenè eſt, ac ſi nullum omnino jus extiterit. Quanquam enim quis de …e omni poterat dicere, Hoc meum eſt, Frui tamen ea non poterat propter vicinum. qui aequali jure & aequali vi praetendebat idem eſſe ſuum. Th Hobbius de Cive, cap. 1. Sect. 11. & vide cap. 2. Sect. 3.which ſhould be Every ones, (to take care of and enjoy) would be No ones: Nor could confuſion but be the fruitfull mother, bringing forth many daughters worthy her ſelfe. Beſides, argue as Chriſtians: The Law would be ſuperfluous, the Commandement evacuated, Thou ſhalt not ſteale, Nothing; for there would be nothing to ſteale, or have. No poverty, no riches, no purloyning, no reſtoring, no fraud, no injury, no wrong, no right, which are all founded in Meum & Tuum, & would be taken away even beyond the very roots, to an impoſſibility, if theſe be taken away. No charity to Neighbours, no hoſpitality to Strangers, no bounty to Friends, no more then moſt magnificent Chriſtian bounty in relieving Enemies, if &c. Yea, the exerciſe of all Chriſtian and morall vertues, that act about giving and receiving, were not only ſuſpended, but preſently deprived of their very being. No making bags which wax not old, which our Saviour counſelled:Luke 12. 33. no collection for the poor Saints which are at Hieruſalem, 1 Cor. 16.which the Corinthians uſed: no laying of a good foundation for the time to come by rich diſtribution, which Paul counſelled;1 Tim 6. 17. & he was himſelf ſuperfluouſly carefull of paying that of debt Oneſimus to Philemon; Philem. v. 18, 19.he neither did, nor, as things were, could pay, becauſe he, nor any body elſe, had any thing to pay. A hard word for Creditors, there could be no paying of debts: An impoveriſhing word for States, farewell all Tributes: The rich mans gold Ring and coſtly Apparell had been nothing elſe but a crime, or a gracing encroachment upon others Rights, which yet St James blames not,Iam. 2. 2. but preferment in Religion hereby: And, the poor man an impoſſibility, and empty name, a Nothing, foraſmuch as poverty is by compariſons, (felix nemo niſi comparatus, nor yet miſerable:) and this muſt be with the Rich, which yet is not, nor indeed One nor Other, not Any one that has Any thing. In a word, all Sentences, Admonitions, Exhortations, Rules, Deciſions, ſuppoſitions of Scripture everywhere could nowhere take place, unleſſe the Community left by God and Nature, might be aſcertained and ſevered by the following prudent conſtitutions of men, and after-Lawes; and a good part of the Book of God would bee but an empty Letter, without ſentence or ſence, if all thoſe words ſtood voyd of meaning, which doe not require, but ſuppoſe appropriations. Take together what Mr Rogers has, plaine but ſubſtantiall upon the 38 Article of the Church: The Article it ſelfe, is in direct affirmation of what we ſay, That the riches & goods of Chriſtians are not common, as to the right title and poſſeſſion of them, as the Anabaptiſts vainely talk, though every man be bound to diſtribute largely: (agreeing herein with the 65 Article of the Church of Ireland:) upon the firſt poſition, whereof thus he: Againſt Community of Goods & Riches be all thoſe places (which are infinite) of holy Scripture that either condemn the unlawful getting, keeping or deſiring of Riches, which by 1If any that is called a brothrr be a fornicator, or covetous, &c. with ſuch eat not, 1 Cor 5 11. Covetouſneſſe, let it not be once named among you, as becometh Saints, Eph. 5. 3. Beware of Covetouſneſſe, Luke 12. 15. which is Idolatry, Col 3. 5. the root of all evil, 1 Tim. 6. 10. Let your Converſation be without it, Heb. 13. 5.Covetouſnes, 2Let none of you ſuffer as a Th…ef, 1 Pet 4. 15. Servants, no purloyners, Tit 2 10.Theevery, 3With a brother extortioner eat not, Cor. 5. 11. Nor thieves, nor cove…ous nor extortione…s ſhall inheri…e Gods Kingdom, 1 Cor 6. 12.extortion, and the like wicked means many do attain: or doe commend 4Bleſſed to give, rather then to receive, Acts 20. 35. yea and that thing ye doe to all the Brethren throughout Macedonia, 1 Theſ. 4. 10. If a Brother or a Siſter be naked and deſtitute of daily food &c. and yee give them not th…ſe things are needfull for the body, what profiteth? Iames 2. 15, 16. & Vide 1 Corinth. 9▪ 6.liberality, 5If there be any that provide not for his own, and namely thoſe of his own houſhold, he denyeth the faith, and is worſe then an Infidel, 1 Tim. 5. 8.f…ugality, 6From him that would borrow of thee turn not away, Matth. 5. 42. Lend, looking for nothing again, Luke 6. 35.free and friendly lending, 7Let him that ſtole ſteal no more, but rather labour that he may have to give, Epheſ. 4 28. Wee warned you, that if any would not work, hee ſhould not eat, 2 Theſ. 3. 8.honeſt labour, and lawfull vocations to live and 8Theſe hands have miniſtred to my neceſſities, and thoſe that were with me, Acts 20 34. Wee laboured day and night, that we might not be chargeable unto any of you, 1 Theſ 2. 9.thrive by: All which do ſhew that Chriſtians are to have goods of their own. Thus far Mr Rogers according to his Text, of which thing there was ſo much regard that a little before the compoſition of thoſe Articles, it was intended to have been marked for an Hereſy to be of a contrary opinion: ſc. in the intended Canon Law by vertue of ſome Statutes in Hen. 8. & Edw. 6. time: where if the 32. had proceeded, as in part they did, and their conceptions received life, and quickning power by ſetting to the Seale of due and lawful Authority, it had been then9Excludatur etiam ab eiſdem Anabaptiſtis inducta bonor…m & poſſeſsionum commun…as, quam tanto…ere urgent, ut nemini quicquam relinquant proprium & ſuum: In quo mirabiliter loquuntur, cùm furta prohibere divina ſ…riptura cernant, &c. Reform. Legum Eccleſ tit. de Haereſibu…, cap. 14 pag 14. the 14th of the hereſies there to be condemned, to maintain Community. But thoſe Canons were onelyonly caſt, not mounted, not ever yet of power to do any Execution in this Church or State: But others have plainly, fully, and actually10In his Sermon called, The righteous Mammon, not far from the Beginning. ſpoke it out both heterodox and heretical. Biſhop Hall long ſince preached with applauſe enough upon 1 Tim. 6. 17. that certain Hereticks, called the 11Vide Epiphan. haereſ. 6…. pag. 506. August. ha…eſ. 20.Apoſtolicks, before St. Auſtines time, in his time our Country-man12Auguſt Epiſt. 89. contra Pelag. & Manich. Q…aſt. 4. tom. 2. pag. 15…. & Epiſt. …06. contra Pelag. page …85. Pelagius (or13Nam Mor aequor, pelagus; …an apud vel juxta ſignificat. Spelman Concil pag 46. So Pelagius in Latine gives and is given by Morgan in We…ſh, or, as wee would call him, …t Sea▪ in Engliſh: which name is contracted and uſed frequently enough at our Sea Coaſts. Morgan, for that was his true name here, becauſe he dwelt by the Sea, at leaſt the name imports ſo much) and ſince divers Separatiſts have maintained Community, al-ſufficiently confuted by the word of his Text, Charge the Rich. 'Tis alſo laid to the charge of the Manichees by S. Auſtin 14Lib. de Moribus Eccleſ. cap. 35. tom. 1. pag. 331.of Julian the Apoſtate, by Gregory 1Orat. 1. contra Iulian.Nazianzene, of Dulcinus and Margarita among the Novatienſes, by2In the Life of Clem. 5. f…l. 432. Caranza, and the Familiſts and 3Th. Muncer cryed it up ſtrongly in Germany, Schl. Comment. lib. 5. in Princip.Anabaptiſts, all Sects, or names of hatred and averſation enough that they would down with all Fences, remove all Boundaries, unſettle the Land-marks, and reſtore all Incloſures again to their firſt and natural Community: which certainly they could nor can others ever do without bringing themſelves within the compaſſe of thoſe foreign, ungoverned men, 1 Tim. 1. 9. foreign, meerly croſs to lawfull power, Rom. 13. 2. foreign, in 4By whom they are alſo ſtiled Dreamers, (whoſe great pretence of quicker reaſon then ordinary is ſcarce yet half awake) that defile the Fleſh, (and yet pretend the Spirit) ſleighting not onelyonly Dominum, but Dominium, the civil Magiſtrate, and the Magiſtracy, blaſpheming Dignities, and yet Moſes did not raile at the Devil, ver. 8, 9 So notoriouſly bad that as a great Mountane that is onelyonly viſible at a diſtance Enoch the ſeventh from Adam could fore-ſee, and did fore-ſhew of them then: foreign diſcontented men, alwaies finding fault with their lot or portion, (be it what it will) walking after their own luſts, or greedy covetouſneſſe, and yet confident, that will ſpeak any thing, &c. ver. 16.St. Jude's phraſe, that regard not Authority a ruſh: yea, foreign, men out of their wits, as well as out of their duty, as St. Paul to Titus That the corrupt, ſelf-loving, deceitful, unjuſt world keeps it ſelf either ſafe, honeſt, or quiet, refers it ſelf chiefly to theſe binding, and to every man his own bounding laws and appropriations, and, by conſequent, to remove and tear them up, can be nothing elſe but to betray the world to miſery and unquietneſs, and all the effects of, worſe then Poverty, Deſolation and Confuſion.
Thus are we advanced two ſteps, and 'tis hoped on firm ground: that partitions or proprieties are not of nature, yet (of much need, and by Religion) they may be: How? is the next enquiry; and this makes way to a third Propoſition, ſcil. that