Grant, in a more folemn Manner. Dedicating and Vowing the Tythe of All the Lands in England, In Sempiterno Graphio, in Cruce Chrifti; as it is Exprefs'd, and was the Manner, at that time, of the most Solemn Vow: And Tender'd the Charter, by him fign'd, upon his Knees, offering it up, and laying it upon the Great Altar of St. Peter's Church in Winchester, the Bishops receiving it from him on God's Part. And this was done, not only with the Confent of both Lords and Commons, of whom an Infinite Number was Prefent; But all the Bihops, Abbots, Earls, and Nobles, did Subfcribe it; with the Greatest Applaufe of the People. And it was fent and Published in every Parish-Church throughout the Kingdom.

4. This Ethelwolf was the firft Hereditary Monarch of the EnglishSaxons, who held the whole Nation under his Subjection, in Peace, and without Contradiction: and confequently he was the first who cou'd effectually make a Lam to oblige the whole Nation.

And

And this Law and Vow of his, and of the whole Nation, by their Confent given, as aforefaid, was Confirm'd and Renewed, by almost every King and Parliament that fucceeded, in the Reigns of Alfred, Edward, Athelstan, Edmund, Edgar, Ethelred, Canutus, and Edward the Confeffor, before the Conquest and from William the Conquerour down all the way to Hen. VIII. in many Parliaments; with folemn Curfes and Imprecations upon Themfelves or Pofterities who thou'd Detract any of the Tythes fo Vowed and Granted; And fuch Curfes and Excommunications were Pronounced in the most Solemn and Dreadful Manner, by the Bishops, with Burning Tapers in their hands, in Prefence of King, Lords, and Commons, in Parliament Affembled, and All Confenting and Confirming the fame, in Name of Themfelves and their Pofterities. And, as it is exprefs'd in the Act of Parliament made in the Reign of King Edmund, A. D. 940. Wherein All the Spelin. People are Charged, upon their Chri- Concil. T.1. Stianity, to Pay their Tythes; and thofe H. Jo who Neglect it, are Declar'd Accurfed, val. Col K 4

i. e.

F. 420.

858,

ff. lib. de

Policit. 1.2.
Quif. §. 2.

i. e. Excommunicated: and they were Efteem'd as Men who had Renounced their Christianity; and not to Deferve the Name of Chriftians. And these Grants and Vows are Confirm'd by Magna Charta, and all the rest of our Laws, both before and after it.

5. Now it is a Receiv'd Maxim in the Civil Law, as well as a Dictate of Reafon, That Votum tranfit in Heredes, A Vow do's Defcend and Oblige our Heirs. And in the Law of Justinian, which he Receiv'd from Ulpian, it is Particularly apply'd to this of Tythes. Si forte, qui Decimam vovit, Decefferit ante Sepofitionem, Heres ipfius, Hæreditario nomine, Decima obftrictus est. Voti enim obligationem ad Hæredem tranfire conftat. i. e. If any that had vowed Tythes, fhould Dye before they were Pay'd, his Heir is oblig'd to Pay them; because it is a known Rule, That the Obligation of a Vow do's Defcend to the Heirs. How much more then, if any not only Voweth, but actually Executeth his Vow, and has Already Given the Tythes which he Vowed out of his own Poffeffion to thofe to whom his Vow did oblige

him to give them; how much more is his Heir obliged in this Cafe, not to Recall or Take back fuch Tythes out of their Poffeffion, to whom they were fo Vowed and Given?

If a Man cannot Annul or Make void his own Vow, without a manifest Mocking of God; how can he Re-call or Difannul the Vow of Another ?

If a Man's Grant of his own Estate, when Duly Executed, cannot be Recall'd, tho' to the Prejudice or Ruin of his Family; And tho' it was a Wrong in him, and very Unjust to make fuch a Grant: fhall not his Grant of Reftitution stand, whereby he only Gives back, what he had Un-justly taken from Another? What he had Robbed from God, of His Tythes and Offerings? Muft ther be a writ of Enquiry to Examin into the Justice and Equity of the Original Grant, And to Recall it, because it was too Much? Shall we think that too Much, which God has Referved as Holy unto Himfelf? And for which He has Promised to Blefs us, in All that we fet our Hand unto? Is not He Able to make us Amends, and Encrease our store

an

25.

an hundred fold? Is not He Able to Punish our Distrust of Him, And take away our Nine Parts, who Grudge to Give Him the Tenth? Is not this a Snare of the Devil to throw us out of God's Favour, and make us Forfeit His Protection? Is it not a Snare to the Prov. xx. Man who Devoureth that which is Holy, and after Vows, to make Enquiry? If it is not Lawful to make Enquiry, to Grudge, or Snip from what I have Vowed, tho it be of things which I was not Obliged to Vow, or to Give away: How much more Unlawful is it, to make Enquiry after I have Vowed that which was God's Due before I Vowed; and which I was Obliged to Pay, tho I had not Vowed it at all?

If Ananias and Sapphira were ftricken Dead upon the Place, for keeping back but Part of the Price which they had not formally Vowed, no nor Promifed, for ought Appears; but only Thought of, or Refolved in their Minds to Give; even of Their Own,and which cou'd not have been Exacted from them; Shall they Efcape who keep back, not a Part, but the Whole of thofe Tythes, which God had Refer