'Dirtlfions wl1at pttrt of our l!ft~tes we jhotlld de'l!ote to charitable ufes. 3• In thofc places where Church, and Statt and poor, are all to be maintained by free gift there the Ttnth of our incrcafe is far too little, for tho{e that have any thing confidcublc to fparc, ~0 give to all thefe ufcs. · This is appartnt in that the 1tHths alone were not thought enough even in the time of rhcL 1 w ro ~ive towards rhepublick r»orjhip of God: For btfide the 1tnthl, there were the firll fruits, and ~bladons, and many foru of facrifi,cs; and yet at rhcfametime, the P1or were to be maintained by liberal gifts bcfidc the Tenths; And though we read nor of much given to the maintenance ot their Rulers and Magillrates, before they chofe to have a King, yet alicrwatds we read of much ; And before, the charges of wars and publick works, lay upon all. In moll places with us, the publick Miniflry. is maintained by Glebe and Tythes, which are none of the"Peoples gift at all ; for he that fold, or leafed thtm their lands, did luppofe that Tythts were to be paycd out of it, and therefore they paid a Tenth partlefs for it, in Purcha[t, Finu, or ReJttJ, rhan othcrwife they lhould have done; fo that I reckon, that moll of them give little or nothing to the Minificr at all. Therefore they may the better give fo much tbt mort to the nwJy, and to other charitable ufe~. Bmwhere Minijlrr, and Poor, and all are maint.tinc:d by the peoples contribution there the 'Itntbs arc too little for the whole w"r~; but yet to nwjl, or vtry m.tny, the 1tttths to th; Pooralont, befidu, the maintenance of the Minij1ry and Sutt, may poffibly be more than they are able to give. The Tenths even among the Heathens, were: given in many places to their Sicritit:es, Priefis, and to 1\.tligious, PubJicJt, C.ivUwork._.r, befides all their privatt Ch•rity to the Poor. I find in Diog. LaertiU<, lib. r. ( mihi) 32· thar PijiftratuJthe Alhtnian Tyrant, proving to Solon (in liis Epillk to him) that he had nothing againfl God or man to blame him for, but for raking the Crown; tcl1ing him, rhac he eaufed them to keep the fame Laws which Solon gave them, and that bcrttt th.m the popular Government could have done, doth infiance thus: A•henitn/ium fiHguli deei– mas frugJtm {lfarum [tpartJHI, non in uf,u noftros coH[tt~mtndas, vtrMm facriftciis JUbfitir, '"mmodifqHt CommunibuJ, & fi quand11 ht/Jum contra nos ingruerit, in [umptus Jep•tandt~s; that is, Every ont ()f tht Athenians Jg fep:~ratr tbe-'Tythesof their fruits, not tobe confumetl to 011r u[ts, but to drfray tbe charge in publicJt{acriftctJ, and in thecammonprofits, t~ndifw•rst a11y timeinvatle,r. And Plaut1u faith, Vt decimam folvti'et Hrrculi. Indeed u among th~. Heathens the Tythcs were conjunCfly given for RtligiouJand Civil ufc;, lo it feems that at fir(\ the Chriflian Emperours fctled them on the Bi!llops for the ufcof the P'"'• as well as for the Minijlm, and Chutc"·firviet, and fHtnji/s. For to all thcfe they were to be divided, and the Bilhop was as the guardian of the poor: And the glebe or farmcs thlt were given to rhe Church, were all tmployed ro the lame ufes : And rhe Canons required that the Tythes lhould be thus difpofed of by the Clergy ; non t•nq•am propri.r, Jid d.mi•o obl••.r : And the Emperour Juj!inian commanded the Bilhops, nt to qu1 tctlt}iil rtti/Ja font jibi adfiribant fid in nwffarins Eccltjie ufus imptndant; J. ~· c. dt Epifi. &Citr. vid. A/bm. R•nu:;. Mt1r.p. /. r.c. 2• & r-~- 1. 6. c. 52• And Hitrom (ad D•maf. ) faith, ~oni•m q•icquid habtHt cltrid paupmtm tjl ; & tkmus illorum omnibus tltbtnt tfft comm~mts; fufuptioni pertgrinllfHm & b~[pilum invigilr~rt debtnt; Maxime cur11ndum tji illi1, ut deeltcimis & obl,litmib,J, c.tn(Jbiis &Xtnodochiis qlfaltm voiHtrint Et- potuk.,. rint {ufttntationem imptndant. · Y« <h n rne paying of Tythcs did notexcufe the people from all othercharity to the poor : Au]Un fa~rh) ~~i fibi 1111t prttmium cornpr~rat, a11tptcclllorlfm defiderat ind~lgtnlian: promtrtri,.rtddat dtcimam, tiJam de mrocm partihHJ ft•dtat elttmojjnam d11re pa"PtribMJ, And m our times there ts ldS reafon that Tythes fhould tx:cufe the people from their works of charity, bmh becaufe the Tythes are now more appropriate to the m:~intenancc of the Clergy, and becaufe (as is aforefaid ) the people givt tlum not out of their own. I confeiS, ifwe contider how Decimation was u(Cd befor_e the Law by Ahrah:Jm and Jacob, and t}lablijhed by 1he Lawunto rhc ]I'"'• and how commonly it was ufed among theGwilu, and lafl of all by the Church of Cbrijl, it will make a confidcrate man imal\iJ'<, that as there is flill a Divine Dirc:tl:ion for one day in fc-vcn, as a nccefi"ary proportion of Tirrje, to be ordinarily confccu.tecl to God, befides what we can fparc from our other daycs; fo that theJ< is fomcthing of a Divine Ca· non, or direction for the Tenth of our revcncws or increafe, to be o!,d'marily conf(crated to God, be... fides what may be fpued from the reil. And whether thofe Tythes that arc none of your own, and cofi you nothing, be now to be reckoned to private men, as any of their Tenths, which they thcm– felves Chould give, I leave to your confidcrarion. Amongfi Aui11]iines works:, we find an opinion that the Devils were the Tenth pall of the Angels, and that man is now to be the '1emh order among the Angels, the Saints filling up the place that the Devils fell from, and there being nine orders of Angels 10 be above us, and that in chis, 'here is fome ground of our paying Tenths ; and therefore he faith, that, H~c eft Vumini j~tftiffimr~ confoetudo; ut fi '" iUi decim.;m nondtt:ltril, '" ad dtcirnam revotabtris ; id eft, dttmotti~lll, qui {unt dtcimapars angtlorHm affoci~Jbtris. Though I know not whence he had this opinicn, iL kunuh rhar the dc\tming of a ,tHth put ordinarily ro God, is a m1tter that we have more ahan a humane DirlCbon for. J 5• In times of cx:traordiniry Ilcccffities o( the Cb,.cb, or State, or Poor, there mull be extraordi– nary bounty in ou1 Conrributions; As if an encrrly be ready ro invade the Land, or if fome cxuaor· dinary work of God ( as the Converfion of fame Heathen Nations) do rt:quire it, or fame extraor~ dinary pertecution, and difircfs befall the Pafiouxs, or in a yen of famine, plague, or war, when the necc:ffitit:s of the poor :arc extraordinary,: The cenths in iuch cafes will not {utfict, ftOm thofe_that have more to give; The1eforc in fuch a time, the Primitive Chrifiians fol<l their poffeffions, and laid down the prioc at the f, ct of the Apo~l.,, ' In
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