The Civil Right of Tithes, Ecclesiastical tract · Chapter 24
CHAP. XXVI.
AS to Perſonal Tythes then, (to lay the whole under one view,) two things very material are to be obſerved to have been laid down before in the boſom of the alledged Law: 1. That they were not now ſet up, but the Statute in making them payable ſayes they ſhall be paid where for fourty years paſt they had been: (which if it had not been here averred, without any great difficultymight have been made good from the condition of things, But we take that is.) 2. There was not only an Uſage but a Right: So are the words; All perſons ſhall pay where for time paſt they have paid, or of Right they ought to pay. A Right then, and an Uſage, a Title and a Poſſeſſion are already ſecured. Thus from the Statute, and beyond the Statute; but we muſt go much higher to ſearch how. And we may not ſeaſonably urge the Patern of Abrahams ſpoils to Melchiſedek, nor what I finde1By Dr. Tildeſley e… his Ani… madvetſion on Mr. Seldens Preface to his Hiſtory At this day. Qui Religioſiores ſunt inter Iudaeos, loco decimarum eleemoſynam pendunt de omnibus l…cris; decem aureos de ce…um, centum de mille, &c. Pirki Abboth. remembred by Mr. Selden in his review of cap. 2. p. 455. urged, Decimas & primitias manuum tuarum; Deut. 12. And Bring ye All the Tythes into the Lords ſtore-houſe, (not ſome but All,) Mal. 3. Or, which is moſt pertinent, Give the Lord his honour with a good eye,—and dedicate thy Tythes with gladneſs: Give unto the most high as he hath enriched thee (as 'twere howſoever,) Ecclus. 35. 8, 9, 10. Da ſecundum Donatum ejus, is the vulgar there: whence Alenſis nimbly, Si ergo ex dono Dei poſſidentur omnia quae acquiruntur justo negotio vel arte, de illis decimae dandae erunt: If we muſt render of all God gives, and he give what ever we get, then of all we gain in what juſt way ſoever: nor yet may I inſiſt upon Councels and Fathers, as Hierom, Chryſostome, Gregory, Ambroſe, Augustine, &c. the latter of whom2De tempore Serm. 219 Tom. 10. pa. 169. ſpeaks out fully indeed, Quod ſi decimas non habeas fructuum terrenorum quod habet agricolas quodcunque te paſcit ingenium Dei est, & inde decimas expetit unde vivis: (good Reaſon and Divinity both;) De militia, de negotio, & de artificio, redde decimas; Aliud enim pro terra dependimus, Aliud pro uſura vitae poſtulamus. If thou haſt no Land, Render of that thou haſt, of Gods guift whatſoever, is the ſhort of it. But all theſe are without my pale. And ſo it may be is alſo that of the1Demilitia, de negotio, de artificio redde decimas. Cauſ 16. queſt. 1. C. Decimae. Quid eſt fideliter decimas dare? niſi ut nec prius, nec minus aliquando Deo offerat aut de grano ſuo, aut de vino ſuo, aut de fructibus arborum, aut de pecoribus, aut de ho…o, aut de negotio, aut de ipſa venatione ua. Cauſ. ead. Quaeſt. 7. Ca. Quicun que . De vino, grano, fructibus arborum, pecoribus, hortis, negociatione, de ipſa etiam militia, de venatione, & de omnibus bonis, decimae ſunt miniſtris Eccleſiae tribuendae, ita ut qui de his eas ſolvere neglexerint, Eccleſiaſt ca diſt…ictione debeant percelli. Decret. Greg. lib 3. tit. de decimis, cap. 22. Decrees and Decretals; and yet perhaps not neither, by reaſon of the laſt Proviſo of 25 Hen. 8. 19. which ſpeaks doubtfully, and whether all Canons before of force remain not yet ſo here, (that are not againſt the Temporal State,) as well as our Provincials, is at leaſt from the words very dubitable. But our own binde ſtrongeſt, like our Engliſh Oak which admits no compare; So nor for ſtrength and certainty to us our Engliſh Conſtitutions. Look then at firſt far back, and even ſo far as before the Conquerour, ſomewhat was thought on here tending this way. Some Canons I finde or Rules of good credit digeſted and left to us under the Title of Excerptiones Egberti, who lived about the year 750. (ſoon after the firſt faith of the Nation,) and had it ſeems for his own uſe and others laid together ſundry Rules which he judged moſt expedient to be followed; among which, (after for Tythes in general) for Perſonal. 2Vid. Exce…pt. Egherti, can. 100. in Spelman.Decimae igitur tributa ſunt Eccleſiarum, (ſaith he) & egentium animarum. O homo, inde Dominus expetit decimas unde vivis. De militia, de negotio, de artificio redde decimas. Tythes are a Tribute due, Therefore pay of all thou liveſt by: of thy ſpoiles, of thy work, and of thy handicraft. Of about K. Knouts time were alſo ſome other3Capitula incertae editionis. cap. 35. in cod. p. 610. affording reaſon again with command, and equity mixed with true piety. Admonendi ſunt qui negotiis ac mercationibus rerum invigilant, ut non plus terrena lucra quam vitam cupiant ſempiternam. Merchants and Tradeſmen are to be minded that they look not more after gain then godlineſſe, their eſtates then their ſouls: and a little after, Sicut ab his qui labore agrorum, & caeteris laboribus victum atque veſtimentum quaerunt, & neceſſaria uſibus humanis acquirere inhiantes inſtant, decimae & eleemoſynae dandae ſunt; ita his quoque qui pro neceſſitatibus ſuis negotiis inſiſtunt faciendum est. Ʋnicuique enim homini Deus aedit artem qua paſcitur, & unuſquiſque de arte ſua, de qua corporis neceſſaria ſubſidia habet, animae quoque quod magis neceſſarium eſt, ſubſidium adminiſtrare debet. As of Husbandmen and day-labourers Tithes and Almes are to bee ſpared, ſo of thoſe that deal in any Trade; for God gives to every man how to live, and what from his gift man ſo uſes to provide for his body, much more ought he therewith to be at coſt to provide for his ſoul. But the moſt obſervable of this intervall was that given before from King Edwards Law,1In cod p. 621. cap. 9. De hortis & negotiationibus, & omnibus rebus quas dederit Dominus, decima pars, &c. of merchandiſe, and All the Tenth to be returned to God that gave: which yet becauſe it was there both given and repeated needs not here again to be tranſcribed and recited. Remembered be it that whereas before the Common Law was ſaid to be made up of certain pre-exiſtent materials, They as to this particular may have been ſuch Laws as theſe: Whereas alſo thoſe parts were after made up into one common body by King Edward, in giving this he may ſeem to have given the extract of Thoſe (of this Nature before him:) Laſtly, whereas thoſe ſo diſtinguiſhed Laws had after ſeverall Scenes whereon things within their ſeveral charges were acted, what was Eccleſiaſticall being ſeparate for the Conſiſtory, what Temporal left to the Shire Court, &c. Therefore we may not now reaſonably hereafter look for any thing more of theſe perſonal Tythes but where they were, that is, among the Synodals and Provincials, and there indeed we finde, nay we have both found and already given them before remembred and recited: as, What ſaid2Lindwood lib. 3. tit. de decimis cap. Quoniam propter. Rob. Winchelſee? Statuimus etiam quod decimae perſonales ſolvantur de artificibus & mercatoribus, ſc. de lucro negotiationis. We appoint perſonal Tythes be paid by handicrafts-men and merchants. Similiter etiam de Carpentariis, Fabris, Caementariis, Textoribus, &c. and of Carpenters, Smiths, Maſons, Weavers, and all workmen. What3Ib. Cap. Sancta Eccl. ſia. ſaid he again? Decimam lactis, &c. venationum, artificiorum, & negotiationum: of hunting, handicrafts, and merchandiſe. What ſaid Simon Mepham and Jo. Stratforth, but to confirm and inforce what before he had before ſtated? and as well might then thoſe that were predial and acknowledged due have been denied as theſe, They ſtood both on one bottom. So Edward 6. found them, and did by no means raiſe and impoſe this perſonal burden, but bound it on to continue faſt where it had been, and was; inſomuch that in ſtead of barren words, and empty lines, a ſpecial emphaſis is to be acknowledged in that part of the clauſe laden with much Truth, where Every perſon exerciſing merchandiſes, &c. being ſuch perſons, and in ſuch places as have within fourty years paſt uſed to Pay Perſonal Tythes, or of Right Ought to pay (ſave day labourers) is commanded yearly before Eaſter to bring in their Dues. They were uſed to be paid: Then as Now, and Now as but Then, they muſt and ought. To make the Payment whereof more ſure, or ſupply the defect, there was appointed a diſtinct1Si decedens tria vel plura cujuſcunque generis in bonis ſuis habuerit animalia, optimo cui de jure fuerit debitum reſervato, Eccleſiae ſuae à qua ſacramenta recepit dum v…ve…et ſine dolo, fraude, ſeu contra dictione qualibet pro recompenlatione ſubtractionis decimarum perſonalium & oblationum ſecundum melius animal reſervetur poſt obitum, &c. tit de conſuetud cap. ſtatutum, per Simon, Laughan. mortuary, of thoſe that were not very poor, for compenſation of ſuch perſonal Tythes ſubtracted. The force of all which things, and particularly the two Conſtitutions before mentioned was ſuch, even before the ſtatute, that as grave a2St. Germane, lib. 2. Dial. ult. fol. 172, 173. Lawyer (as I believe) any lived in H. 8. time, though he wonders at ſome particularity here, that they may be demanded, and if denied, ſued for, whereas in other places they are left it ſeems to the Debtors conſcience, yet he avers their Dueneſſe, deſcribes their Nature, ſpeaks of them as of known Right, no more queſtionable then predial; And what ſhould have been done about them if the intended Reformation, ſo often ſpoken of, had proceeded to maturity, might be gueſſed by that which was. For3Magnam indignitatem habet à tenuibus & laborioſis agricolis decimas annuas Eccleſiarum miniſtris ſuppeditare, mercatores autem opibus affluentes, & viros ſcientiarum & artificiorum copiis abundantes, nihil fermè ad miniſtrorum neceſſitates conferre, praeſertim cum illis miniſtrorum officio non minùs opus ſit, quàm colonis. Quapropter, ut ex par… labore par conſequatur merces, conſtituimus ut mercatores, pannorum confectores & artifices reliqui cujuſcunque generis, ac omnes qui ſcientia vel peritia qualecunque lucrum percip…unt, hoc modo decimas perſolvant: pro domibus nimirum atque terris quibus utuntur, & illarum ratione decimas prae…iales non ſolvunt, quol bet anno dabunt annuae penſionis decimam partem. Reform. L. Eccleſ. tit. de decimi, cap. 14. p. 122, vid. etiam cap. 13. 15, 16. four ſeverall Chapters are taken up there about the diſpoſition of them, the heads whereof were given before, and into the Contents of one of them this very Statute is taken and authorized; If there had been a new Canon Law, thoſe Chapters ſhould have been part of it; As there is none, the old is of force, and in all its power beſide the Statute, and that again by Statute. Neither had the thing onelyonly conſideration in Books; we finde regard given to it in the Acts of Men, and the World buſied, not to ſay very much troubled about the Wealth that came in by them. The great and vexed Controverſie in Oxford, in Henry 6. time about Fr. Ruſſell and his Doctrine which took up the learned Diſputes of the Univerſity there, and ſmoother Conſultations alſo of the Convocation at London, and after was tranſmitted to Rome, and there not ended, was onelyonly about the neceſſary and fit Receiver of perſonal Tythes; while he maintained, it ſeems, to his own advantage, and againſt the Secular Prieſts, that they might be given as well to the poor as the Church, as we ſay, to the Monk as to the Prieſt, (and then he ſtood ready as a Mendicant, as the Prieſt for his Pariſh:) They on the contrary to the Church onelyonly, and ſo He and His were excluded. The determinations it ſeems ſettled (the major part) againſt him, and he for his errour was injoyned to recant publickly at Pauls Croſſe, leſſe then the performance whereof would not ſerve the turn, and all the Pulpits in England commanded to ring of what an Hereſie Fr. W. Ruſſell had maintained (indeed againſt the Pulpits) about perſonal Tythes, now to be cried down by all opportunity, and the utmoſt of poſſibility. The Particulars I finde1By Mr. Selden in his Hiſtory of Tythes, cap. 7. Sect 5. related at large; the uſe I make of them is onelyonly this, that Theſe things Have been of Real conſideration, not an empty Book Order, but ſuch as had influence upon things and produced viſible effect, the Conſultations of Men having been taken up about the diſpoſall of the ſeen fruit of them, much buſying, yea not a little troubling the World, for long ſince, and ſo long together, and ſo no doubt things ſtood to Edward 6. time, and ſo he found and left them. Whereupon, and that ancient rooted Right (ſpreading likely further, as might be found by further inquiry, if it were alſo needful,) he ſettled his new vote and order of confirmation as it were: What, to make perſonal tythes due! to give them life and raiſe them to being! Nothing leſs: to revive and quicken the Law, that dull men that were to pay, and had wont, might be rouzed up to a ready and obedient performance of that which was their ancient known duty, to awaken juſtice, and force backward men to bring in their publick tribute, which though for Gods ſervice their worldlineſs had rather perhaps were left out or let alone: Due they were before; This vote of publick power onelyonly cleared the channel that the in-come might be it ſelf, and come in freſh and free, without impediment, for which His words and Act reach, we ſee, fully his meaning.
By occaſion of which clauſe of ſuch import, thus much: Thus much of Perſonal Tythes, And thus much alſo for that laſt binding Act of State both for perſonal and predial, in 2 & 3 Edw. 6. Behither which is little but the implying Petition of Right, (in the grant of All mens, without doubt meaning Theſe,) That other was the laſt, clear, full, expreſſe, purpoſed and direct binding order. Not yet of no force; Even for it ſelf; though the chief ſtrength (beſide the Legiſlative power of the Land, here drawn into Act) is in abroad and before; The Root that ſupports and cheriſhes moſt powerfully (both predial and perſonal ſtill,) laying farther in the Right created by ancient Conſtitutions, deeper then poſſibly can be thought by any new declaration. For we ſhall ſeldome meet with a tree that planted the laſt year hath attained much ſtrength; It muſt have time to root and ſettle, before it can be able to endure the ſhock of a tempeſt, or make good its being againſt any forceable oppoſition: So the beſt and uſefulleſt Conſtitutions of State are thoſe experienced firm ones, that have lived, ſummered and wintered with us, as we ſay, and given approbation of their agreeing with the ſoil by having ſafely endured there all influences; Settling and gathering ſtrength, (as it uſes to be, and Muſt) by degrees, and in and with time claſping in faſt to be made one, & co-incorporate with the ſoil of a Re-publick. Raſh decrees uſe to be as ſoon revoked almoſt as made, beſpeaking little but uncertainty at firſt both to themſelves, and all things and perſons that they are converſant about: Bleſſed are the days when the Aged decree Judgement, the ancient and experienced good Laws, I mean, are made the ſure and conſtant rule of Righteouſneſs. And even this Humane Ordinance hath ſo much in it of Divine, that it partakes of toward his nature who is Conſtancy and Immutability.