saving only in respect of them, who being as yet unjoined unto this conspiracy, may be haply somewhat stayed, when they shall know betimes what it is to see thieves, and to run Psal. I. 18. on with them, as the prophet in the psalm speaketh; "When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers."

which bi shops enjoy, the propriety belongeth unto God

For the better information therefore of men which carry true, honest, and indifferent minds, these things we will endeavour to make most clearly manifest.

First, That in goods and livings of the church, none hath propriety but God himself.

Secondly, That the honour which the clergy therein hath, is to be, as it were, God's receivers; the honour of prelates, to be his chief and principal receivers.

Thirdly, That from him they have right, not only to receive, but also to use such goods, the lower sort in smaller, and the higher in larger measure.

Fourthly, That in case they be thought, yea, or found to abuse the same, yet may not such honour be therefore lawfully taken from them, and be given away unto persons of other calling.

That of ec- XXII. Possessions, lands, and livings spiritual, the wealth clesiastical goods, and of the clergy, the goods of the church, are in such sort the Consequent- Lord's own, that man can challenge no propriety in them. ly of the lands and His they are, and not ours; all things are his, in that from livings him they have their being: "My corn, and my wine, and mine oil," saith the Lord. All things his, in that he hath absolute power to dispose of them at his pleasure. "Mine (saith he) are the sheep and oxen of a thousand hills." All things his, in that when we have them, we may say with Job, "God hath given ;" and when we are deprived of them, "The Lord," whose they are, hath likewise "taken them away" again. But these sacred possessions are his by another tenure: his, because those men who first received them from him, have unto him returned them again, by way of religious gift or oblation. And in this respect it is, that the Lord doth term those houses, wherein such gifts and oblations were laid, "his treasuries."

alone.

Hos. ii. 8.
Psal. 1. 10.

Job i. 21.

Mal. iii. 10.

The ground whereupon men have resigned their own interest in things temporal, and given over the same unto God, is that precept which Solomon borroweth from the law of Prov. iii. 9. nature, "Honour the Lord out of thy substance, and of the

:

chiefest of all thy revenue: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and with new wine the fat of thy press shall overflow." For although it be by one most fitly spoken against those superstitious persons, who only are scrupulous in external rites; "Wilt thou win the favour of God? Be Seneca. virtuous. They best worship him that are his followers." It is not the bowing of your knees, but of your hearts; it is not the number of your oblations, but the integrity of your lives; not your incense, but your obedience, which God is delighted to be honoured by: nevertheless, we must beware, lest simply understanding this, which comparitively is meant ; that is to say, whereas the meaning is, that God doth chiefly respect the inward disposition of the heart, we must take heed we do not hereupon so worship him in spirit, that outwardly we take all worship, reverence, and honour, from him. Our God will be glorified both of us himself, and for us by others to others because our hearts are known, and yet our example is required for their good; therefore it is not sufficient to carry religion in our hearts, as fire is carried in flintstones, but we are outwardly, visibly, apparently, to serve and honour the the living God; yea, to employ that way, as not only for our souls, but our bodies; so not only our bodies, but our goods; yea, the choice, the flower, the chiefest of all thy revenue, saith Solomon. If thou hast any thing in all thy possessions of more value and price than other, to what use shouldest thou convert it, rather than to this? Samuel was dear unto Hannah his mother: the child that Hannah did so much esteem, she could not choose but greatly wish to advance; and her religious conceit was, that the honouring of God with it, was the advancing of it unto honour. The chiefest of the offspring of men, are the males which be first born and for this cause, in the ancient world they all were by right of their birth priests of the Most High. By these and the like precedents, it plainly enough appeareth, that in what heart soever doth dwell unfeigned religion, in the same there resteth also a willingness to bestow upon God that soonest, which is most dear. Amongst us the law is, that sith gold is the chiefest of metals, if it be any where found in the bowels of the earth, it belongeth in right of honour, as all men know, to the king: whence hath this custom grown, but only from a natural persuasion, whereby men judge it decent, for the highest persons always to be honoured

Mal.

i. 8.

Psal. 1.

with the choicest things? "If ye offer unto God the blind, saith the prophet Malachi, is it not evil; if the lame and sick, is it good enough? Present it unto thy prince, and see if he will content himself, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hosts." When Abel presented God with an offering, it was the fattest of all the lambs in his whole flock; he honoured God not only out of his substance, but out of the very chiefest therein, whereby we may somewhat judge how religiously they stand affected towards God, who grudge that any thing worth the having should be his. Long it were to reckon up particularly, what God was owner of under the law; for of this sort was all which they spent in legal sacrifices; of this sort, their usual oblations and offerings; of this sort, tithes and firstfruits; of this sort, that which by extraordinary occasions they vowed unto God; of this sort, all that they gave to the building of the tabernacle; of this sort, all that which was gathered amongst them for erecting of the temple, and the adorning of it erected; of this sort, whatsoever their corban contained, wherein that blessed widow's deodate was laid up. Now either this kind of honour was prefiguratively altogether ceremonial, and then our Saviour accepteth it not; or, if we find that to him also it hath been done, and that with Divine approbation given for encouragement of the world, to shew, by such kind of service, their dutiful hearts towards Christ; there will be no place left for man to make any question at all whether herein they do well or no.

Wherefore, to descend from the synagogue unto the church of Christ, albeit sacrifices, wherewith sometimes God was highly honoured, be not accepted as heretofore at the hands of men, yet, forasmuch as "Honour God with thy riches," 13, 14. is an edict of the inseparable law of nature, so far forth as men are therein required by such kind of homage to testify their thankful minds; this sacrifice God doth accept still. Wherefore as it was said of Christ, that "all kings shall worship him, and all nations do him service;" so this very kind of worship or service was likewise mentioned, lest we should think that our Lord and Saviour would allow of no such thing: "The kings of Tarshish, and of the isles, shall bring

Phil. iv. 18.

Psal.

lxxii. 11.

a Because (saith David) I have a delight in the house of my God, therefore I have given thereunto of my own, both gold and silver to adorn it with. Chron

ii. 5.

presents, the kings of Sheba and Seba, shall bring gifts." And, as it maketh not a little to the praise of those sages mentioned in the gospel, that the first amongst men which did solemnly honour our Saviour on earth were they; so it sounded no less to the dignity of this particular kind, that the rest by it were prevented; "They fell down and worship- Matt. ped him, and opened their treasures, and presented unto him ii. 11. gifts; gold, incense, and myrrh.”

xxvi. 13.

Of all those things which were done to the honour of Christ in his lifetime, there is not one whereof he spake in such sort, as when Mary, to testify the largeness of her affection, seemed to waste away a gift upon him, the price of which gift might, as they thought who saw it, much better have been spent in works of mercy towards the poor, "Verily Matt. I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, throughout all the world, there shall also this that she hath done be spoken of, for a memorial of her." Of service to God, the best works are they which continue longest; and, for John permanency, what like donation, whereby things are unto him xv. 16, for ever dedicated? That the ancient lands and livings of the church were all in such sort given into the hands of God, by the just lords and owners of them, that unto him they passed over their whole interest and right therein, the form of sundry the said donations, as yet extant, most plainly sheweth. And where time hath left no such evidence as now remaining to be seen, yet the same intention is presumed in all donors, unless the contrary be apparent. But to the end it may yet more plainly appear unto all men, under what title the several kinds of ecclesiastical possessions are held, "Our Lord Aug. cap. himself (saith St. Augustine) had coffers to keep those things 15. de which the faithful offered unto him. Then was the form of the church treasury first instituted, to the end that withal we might understand, that, in forbidding to be careful for tomorrow, his purpose was not to bar his saints from keeping money, but to withdraw them from doing God service, for wealth's sake, and from forsaking righteousness through fear of losing their wealth."

The first gifts consecrated unto Christ after his departure out of the world, were sums of money; in process of time other moveables were added, and at length goods unmoveable; churches and oratories hallowed to the honour of his glorious name; houses and lands for perpetuity conveyed

menda.

cap. 15. et

16.

unto him: inheritance given to remain his as long as the C. 12. p. 1. world should endure. "The apostles (saith Melchiades), they foresaw that God would have his church amongst the gentiles, and for that cause in Judea they took no lands, but price of lands sold." This he conjectureth to have been the cause why the apostles did that which the history reporteth of them.

The truth is, that so the state of those times did require, as well otherwhere as in Judea. Wherefore, when afterward it did appear much more commodious for the church to dedicate such inheritances; then, the value and price of them being sold, the former custom was changed for this, as for the better. The devotion of Constantine herein, all the world, even till this very day, admireth. They that lived in the prime of the Christian world, thought no testament christianly made, nor any thing therein well bequeathed, unless something were thereby added unto Christ's patrimony. Touching which men, what judgment that the world doth now give, I know not; perhaps we deem them to have been herein but blind and superstitious persons. Nay, we in these Prov.iii. cogitations are blind; they contrariwise did with Solomon plainly know and persuade themselves, that thus to diminish their wealth was, not to diminish but to augment it; according to that which God doth promise to his own people by the prophet Malachi, and which they by their own particular experience found true. If Wickliff therefore were of that xxxi. 10. opinion which his adversaries ascribe unto him (whether

10.

Mal.

iii. 10.
2 Chron.

truly, or of purpose to make him odious, I cannot tell, for in Th. Wald, his writings I do not find it), namely, "That Constantine, and

tom. i. lib. iv. c. 39.

Gen.

ror.

others following his steps. did evil, as having no sufficient ground whereby they might gather, that such donations are acceptable to Jesus Christ; it was in Wickliff a palpable erI will use but one only argument, to stand in the stead of many. Jacob, taking his journey unto Haran, made in this sort his solemn vow, "If God will be with me, and will keep xxviii. 20. me in this journey which I go, and will give me bread to eat, and clothes to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in safety; then shall the Lord be my God, and this stone which I have set up a pillar shall be the house of God, and of all that thou shalt give me, will I give the tenth unto thee." May a Christian man desire as great things as Jacob did at the hands of God? May he desire them in as earnest