ossessed. No right
however was alleged to such a proportion of their income, nor was
coercion ever spoken of. These tenths also were for holy uses, which
chiefly included the benefit of the poor. They were called the Lord's
goods in consequence, and were also denominated the patrimony of the
poor.

Another change took place within the period assigned, which I must now
mention as of great concern. Ministers of the Gospel now living wholly
out of the tenths, which with legacies constituted the fund of the poor,
a determined portion of this fund, contrary to all former usage, was set
apart for their use. Of this fund, one fourth was generally given to the
poor, one fourth to the repairs of churches, one fourth to officiating
ministers, and one fourth to the[30] bishops with whom they lived. Hence
the maintenance of ministers, as consisting of these two orders, and
the repairs of churches, took now the greatest part of it, so that the
face of things began to be materially altered. For whereas formerly this
fund went chiefly to the poor, out of which ministers of the Gospel were
provided, it now went chiefly to the church, out of which there came a
provision for the poor. Another change also must be noticed with respect
to the principle on which the gifts towards this fund were offered. For
whereas tenths were formerly solicited on the Christian duty of charity
to the poor, they were now solicited on the principle, that by the law
of Moses they ought to be given for holy uses, in which the benefit of
the fatherless, the stranger, and the widow, were included. From this
time I shall use the word tithes for tenths, and the word clergy instead
of ministers of the Gospel.

[Footnote 30: In process of time, as the bishops became otherwise
provided for, the fund was divided into three parts for the other three
purposes just mentioned.]

In the eighth century, matters were as I have now represented them. The
people had been brought into a notion, that they were to give no less
than a tenth of their income to holy uses. Bishops generally at this
time, and indeed long previously to this, lived in monasteries. Their
clergy lived also with them in these monasteries, and went from thence
to preach in the country within the diocese. It must be also noticed,
that there were, at this time, other monasteries under abbots or priors,
consisting mostly of lay persons, and distinct from those mentioned, and
supported by offerings and legacie