Man else can give an instance of any Church in the World from the Apostles times to these our days but what had a set Form of Prayers for though all have not used the same yet there is no Church but has used some Form or other 4. You condemn the Example and Practice of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ himself for it is evident that he himself made use of a Form of Prayer Matt. 26. v. 44. E. D. I will not undertake now to return you a particular Answer to what you have here alledged but shall onely say that Praying by a Form has by experience been found a hindrance and obstacle to true fervent Prayer in the Spirit and to deal plainly with you this seems to be one great reason why the Ministers of the Church of England are so dull and ignorant in this point and so little acquainted with spiritual Prayer F. P. I am not a little surpriz'd at this your Answer for having but just now proved to you that the Prophets and Apostles the Holy Catholick Church and Christ himself made use of Forms of Prayer you after all this come and tell me that Praying by Forms is a hindrance to Praying by the Spirit which is as much as to say that neither the prophets Apostles the Catholick Church nor Christ himself prayed by the Spirit because they made use of a set Form which is a near step to Blasphemy E. D. I did not design to say so much neither though I must confess that Praying by a set Form seems to me for I find it so by experience to be a great Obstacle to true spiritual Prayer F. P. Though it may seem so to you yet your Charity should lead you rather to question your own Judgment than to pass so rash a Censure upon the Saints of the Old and New Testament yea upon Christ himself besides you ought to be very wary of exposing your self to the derision of all men by supposing your self wiser than all the Prophets and Apostles than the whole Christain Church and Christ himself since it is most certain that they made use of Forms and not onely so but our Saviour himself prescribed a Form of Prayer to his Disciples commanding them when they prayed to use the same which he would never have done had it indeed been so great a hindrance to servent Prayer by the Spirit as you pretend E. D. If it be not a hindrance to others I am sure 't is so to me F. P. I hope I shall understand you better if you please to explain to me what you mean by praying by the Spirit E. D. I suppose no true Christian can be ignorant of what Praying by the Spirit is and therefore I can't see any necessity there is of explaining a thing so obvious to the understanding of all F. P. Since you seem unwilling to give me your meaning I am very free to give you mine to pray by the Spirit is as I take it to pray by the help and assistance of the Holy Ghost so as to have our hearts and minds deeply affected with the sense of our wants and all our Faculties and Affections inflamed with the Love of God and stedfast Faith in his Promises E. D. I perceive we do not disagree at all in the meaning of the words F. P. I am glad we are so far agreed for it is evident that according to this meaning of the words a set Form of Prayer is so far from being a hindrance that indeed it is a great help to fervent praying by the Spirit and on the contrary Extemporary Prayer must needs be a great impediment to it To convince you of this I desire you would consider that when we pray by a Form we have more time to study the import of our Requests and to weigh and examine every Petition with greater attention we have more leisure to understand and discern our wants and to present them before God we can the better prepare and dispose our selves for so holy a Duty and in a word we can be more intent and recollected to improve the motions of the Spirit having nothing else to doe but to fix our mind wholly on God whilst we are praising of him and have our hearts suitably affected with the things we pray for Whereas in Extemporary Prayer the mind of the Minister or whoever else it is that prayeth is taken up in hunting for expressions to utter his thoughts and for fear of being put to a stand he is forced to follow not the motions of the Spirit or the dictate of his understanding but the fluency of an acquired habit of Praying and by this means doth often begin where he should end and end where he should begin And those very men that speak so much against the necessary and edifying Repetitions that we use in our Common-prayer do very frequently in their Extemporary-prayer repeat the same things over and over again though it may be in different expressions And as for the People that hear a Minister pray an Extemporary-prayer as they do not know before-hand what he will say they must first attend to what he saith in the next place they must consider whether what he prayeth be according to the Word of God and fit for them to join with but whilst the Hearer is thus employ'd he that prays is got to another thing and leaves his Hearers behind to overtake him as they best can which according to my apprehension makes the way of praying extempore so difficult and uneasie that it is morally impossible for both Minister and People to pray so devoutly or at least so understandingly as they ought to doe If you please well to weigh and consider what I have here offered I question not but you will be convinced that a set Form of Prayer is so far from being a hindrance that it is a great furtherance to zealous praying by the Spirit whereas the Prayer you are so much taken with is indeed a great obstacle to it E. D. However Sir I suppose you will grant me that it is this tying themselves up to a Form that hath made the Ministers of the Church of England so dull and devoid of the Gift of Prayer that they cannot pray without Book and may rather be compar'd to those Dumb dogs whom the Prophet reproves than be look'd upon as Ministers of the Gospel F. P. Though I am a Stranger here yet I have very good reason to believe that I am better acquainted with the Ministers of the Church of England than you are and am better inform'd of their parts and abilities than you can be for I have made it my business to be acquainted with them not maliciously to slander and abuse them but to the end I might the better understand and value them and profit by them And if you will give me leave to speak my Judgment which is not grounded upon hear-say but upon good knowledge of and converse with
to stem the violent torrent of the Mobile and to hold out against the Persecutions of all the wicked Now that they might be qualified and capacitated for this strange and wonderfull undertaking God was pleased to indow them with many miraculous Gifts and Powers as of Prophecying speaking all sorts of Languages working of Miracles c. in order to which the Holy Ghost who is the true and alone Spirit of Prayer came down upon them in a visible and miraculous manner Which things being so for you to fetch an Argument from the Example of the Apostles either in respect of their Person Mission or extraordinary and miraculous Gifts and apply the same to your Ministers is every-whit as improper as if you should go about to prove that you or I can stop the Sun in his Course because Joshua did so E. D. I never intended by producing the Example of the Apostles to prove our Ministers equal to them as to their extraordinary gifts and graces neither do I suppose will you dare to compare the Coiners of your Liturgy or Common-prayer with those holy Men the Apostles of our Lord and Saviour F. P. I never did I onely said that the Compilers of our Liturgy were some of the most Pious and Learned men that ever England did afford E. D. They were no better than bigoted Papists F. P. How can that be when it is known that they suffered Perscution nay Martyrdom it self in the defence of the Protestant Religion and sealed and ratified the Common-prayer they had composed with their Bloud E. D. But pray Sir who gave them the power to compose the Common-prayer-book F. P. They had their Power and Authority from God and the King E. D. I shall be glad to hear you prove it F. P. That I will Sir for it is no such difficult matter as you may suppose I say therefore first that they had their power from God for they being Bishops and Governours of the Church had an unquestionable Power and Commission by virtue of their Charge and Office to redress and reform whatsoever was amiss in the Divine Service and forasmuch as in some foregoing Ages the Prayers of the Church had been corrupted and adulterated by inserting doubtfull Stories and Legends with a superfluous multiplicity of Responsals Prayers to the Blessed Virgin and other Saints Frayers for the Dead vain Repetitions Commemorations and Synodals c. they very wisely and prudently cast away all that was Popish and Superstitious retaining onely what was sound ancient and edifying and added fâ—â—â—e Prayers that were truly Apostolicâ—â— and Primitive And besides they had a special Order and Command from King Edward VI. authorizing them so todoe E. D. I find all your Discourse comes to this that the Compilers of your Common-prayer-book onely chop'd and chang'd the Romish Liturgy and out of it with some Additions of their own patch'd up the Liturgy which is now used by the Church of England and which you do so much admire Now you know the Popish Liturgy is no other than their mass-Mass-book which I think might to much better purpose have been quite laid aside than reform'd and patch'd up again F. P. I am not of your opinion and the Reasons that hinder me are these First Those Holy Men we are speaking of had no Power or Authority committed to them to plant or institute a new Religion but onely to reform the Abuses that were crept into the Church and the Corruptions of the pulick Worship of God which is the chiefest part of the Christian Religion now in this case it is evident that it was none of their duty or office to take away the whole publick Service or Liturgy which indeed at that time was very corrupt though not to that degree but that some good was still found amongst it but onely to change what was amiss to supply the defects of it and cast away whatsoever was corrupt or superfluous Secondly It was great wisedom in them to observe the mean between two extreams by shunning on the one hand a Spirit of bitterness and hatred against the Party they reformed from and on the other hand avoiding a sinfull compliance with the corruptions of those who were so unwilling to part with their Idolatry and Superstition And farther to illustrate my Argument I must tell you that the Reformers of our Church acted according to this commendable Maxim of Christian Charity and Moderation viz. That in love and condescention to the Church of Rome we ought not to reject any thing used by them but what is found contrary to the Word of God whereas the Reformers of your Party proceed according to this Rule That in hatred and detestation of Popery we ought not to admit the least thing the Papists make use of in their Divine Service and onely for this reason because they use it Now I would fain know of you which of these two you take to be the most Christian and Charitable method and whether the Principle our Reformers went by be not preferable to that of your Party The Reason is evident beyond dispute because our Reformers by retaining what was good and of primitive Purity in the publick Service of the Romanists and rejecting onely what was manifestly corrupt and superstitious they left a door open for them and as it were friendly invited them to leave their Adulterous Church and to enter into our Communion E. D. But pray tell me what great or good effect this Condescension did ever yet produce for I never understood that this their moderate and designing way of Reforming the Church has been a means to persuade the Papists to leave their Idolatry and Superstitions and to become Converts to their Church F. P. If I should grant you that the number of Popish Converts to our Church is not very considerable will it follow from thence that the means used for so good and charitable and End were undue or unlawfull For though God hitherto hath not been pleased to bless these good means with the greatest success that might be wish'd for yet we know not how soon he may especially considering that we had never more reason to expect the total downfall of Popery which according to outward appearance can no way so probably be brought about as by the Papists embracing the Protestant Religion Let us therefore take heed of deriding as you seem to do those lawfull moderate and Christian-like methods the Church of England hath made use to facilitate the Papists Conversion E. D. I find then you take your Common-prayer to be a lawfull moderate and Christian-like method or means to facilitate the Conversion of the Papists F. P. I do so and I question not but in due time it will prove very effectuall that way to the stopping of the mouths of all gain-sayers E. D. Ay you may look for it long enough I suppose and if by great chance it should ever prove to be an effectual means I dare say for all that
as a Confirmation and further assurance of the Absolution of our Sins and now we repeat it as the ground and foundation of our following Petitions Besides the frequent repetition of it ought not to be called vain since as hath been before observed Christ himself prayes thrice using the same words and certainly the best of Prayers cannot be used too often E. D. But I dare say if so be the Protestants in France made use of the Lord's-prayer at all yet they did not repeat it so often as you do F. P. I have taken notice before that you are very ready to entertain false Notions concerning our French Protestants and the same befalls you in this particular for certain it is that we always had so great a veneration for the Lord's-prayer that we believ'd all our Prayers whether publick or private were deficient and imperfect without it and therefore we did always both in the Church and at home conclude all our Prayers with the Lord's-prayer adding most commonly the Apostle's Creed and concluding all with the Solemn Blessing E. D. But when your Ministers used it in the Church I suppose they did not repeat it often as you do but were content with saying of it once onely F. P. You are still mistaken for our Ministers do repeat it most commonly thrice and sometimes more before they come down from the Pulpit and according to the Discipline or Canons of our Church they are bound so to do E. D. This I confess seems strange to me But let us proceed to what follows next and that cursorily too for I begin to be tiâ—ed with speaking so long to no purpose for I find ready at hand to dash my Objections F. P. That I may not tire you altogether I shall dispatch what remains in as few words as possible The next part of the Liturgy that offers it self are some interlocutory Petitions taken out of Holy Scripture both Ministers and People in these short and devout Ejaculations striving by turns who shall most move God favourably to incline and hearken to their Petitions and after these the whole Congregation do in a humble posture with united hearts and voices supplicate our heavenly Father for his grace and favour for his help and aid for his safeguard and protection for the acceptation of their Prayers and his Divine Blessing not onely for themselves but also for the King and Queen and Royal Family for the Church both Clergy and People and lastly for all Mankind and this in few words is the design and contents of the following Collects But I must not forget to observe to you that upon Wednesdays Fridays and Sundays we reade the Litany E. D. Pray waht is the use of this Litany or what is it good for F. P. I must not it seems for fear of trespassing upon your patience enlarge my self too much in representing to you the Excellency of this Prayers and therefore shall tell you as briefly as I can the substance and import of it there is no Vice nor Lust which therein we do not pray to be deliver'd from nor any Grace or Virtue but we desire God to bestow it upon us and in a word whatsoever is fit to be pray'd for or deprecated in publick is contained in this Prayer After which follow some Prayers of Thanksgivings to be used upon particular occasions being extreamly well suited to those pious Ends they are intended for as for Rain Fair-weather c. E. D. But I am sure there is more than this contain'd in your Common-prayer and therefore pray do not shut up your Book so soon F. P. There is something more behind I confess but because I am loath to abuse your patience I hope you will think this general account to be sufficient What remains unmentioned are the Collects Epistles and Gospels which you cannot but like as to the matter because they we the Word of God And as for their Order it is admirable as being to well suited to the particular Days they are appointed for that by means of them the Mysteries commemorated upon those days are unfolded the History represented or the Example applied to the great benefit and edification of those that truly fear God and desire to improve themselves in saving knowledge and are willing to imitate the holy Examples of those faithfull Servants of God who are departed this life in his Faith and Fear E. D. Is this all then F. P. No for besides all this our Liturgy contains a Form for the Administration of the Lord's-Supper another for the Publick Baptism of Infants another for such of riper years as likewise a short Catechism the Order of Confirmation a Form for the Solemnizing of Matrimony the Order for the Visitation of the Sick with the Form of Administring to them the Holy Communion the Order for the Burial of the Dead and the Thanksgiving of Women after Child-birth and lastly a Commination of God's Anger and Judgment against Sinners E. D. Ay here 's a multiplicity of Forms indeed but I am confident if you would speak sincerely and from your heart you will grant me that all these Forms are very useless and unnecessary F. P. If I should grant you this I must not onely speak against my Judgment and Conscience but also condemn our French Reformed Churches since it is most certain that they also have Forms appointed for most of the foresaid occasions For instance we have set Forms for Celebrating of the Holy Communion for the Baptizing of Children for the Solemnizing of Matrimony c. And lastly I should condemn and oppose the general sense of our French Protestants who have always had and still have a great respect and veneration not onely for those Forms last mentioned but for the whole Body of the English Liturgy E. D. You are pleased to say so F. P. And you will be forc'd to say so too if you please onely to take the trouble to reade Dr. Durel's Treatise in Defence of the English Liturgy for there you will meet with unquestionable Records of the Opinion and Judgment of all the ablest and most learned Divines amongst the French Protestants who have in all times and upon all occasions as far declared themselves for the English Common-prayer and spoken as highly and favourably of it as any of the Divines of the Church of England ever did E. D. I have not Dr. Durel's Book and therefore cannot satisfie my self by perusing of it but if you will be pleas'd to inform me what he saith concerning the Judgment of your French Divines with respect to our English Liturgy I shall be glad to hear it F. P. Dr. Durel amongst other Testimonies produceth a Letter of the Reverend Monsieur de l' Angle at that time one of the Ministers of the Reformed Church of Roan a Person of great Worth and Fame wherein upon occasion of the happy Restauration of King Charles II. he saith Taht his heart leaped for joy when he was told that
the English Liturgy and antient Discipline was like to be restor'd He alledgeth another Testimony of Monsieur Gache's then Minister of Chearenton one of the most eloquent and zealous Preachers the French Reformed Churches ever had who in one of his Letters declares That he had read the English Liturgy and had been wonderfully edified by it He produceth also a Letter of Monsieur du Bosc the Minister of Cane an extraordinary Person for Learning Eloquence and true Piety where he declares That he as much approves of a minister performing Divine Service after the way of the Church of England as he that officiates according to the manner of the French Reformed Churches Besides these he sets down the Testimony of Monsieur Bochart the Minister of Alancon a Man of great Repute and Learning who declares he found the Liturgy to be very good and well order'd as also that of Monsieur Goyon Minister of Bordeaux one of the most greave and learned Divines of all the Province of Aquitain and greatly versed in Antiquity in these words There is not one Minister saith he in all the Province of Aquitain that thinks his Conscience offended by using of the English Liturgy and declares that those people dream and dote who are of that Opinion and those Gentlemen amongst you do extreamly wrong us when they quote us for to foment their Schism which cannot but be very scandalous But that I may not be further tedious I shall refer you to the foresaid Book of Dr. Durel where you will find enough to convince you that all our worthy Divines such as Peter du Moulin Monsieur Drelincourt Monsieur Daillé Monsieur Amyraut c. have express'd no less Esteem for the English Liturgy than any Son of the Church of England ever did To all which Testimonies I will add that of Spanhemius a French Divine and sometimes Preacher and Divinity-Reader at Geneva in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Lord Primate of Ireland prefixed to the Third Part of his Dubia Evangelica where commending the Publick Worship of God in the Church of England he declares that the like is scarcely to be found elsewhere E. D. According to what you tell me I cannot believe your French Divines to be Calvinists for I am confident Calvin was not of their opinion with regard to the English Liturgy F. P. To the end you may be able to judge what Calvin's opinion was about this matter I shall refer you to a passage of his in an Epistle Dedicatory to the Duke of Somerset Lord Protector during the minority of King Edward VI. which will convince you I suppose that he was of the same judgment with the rest of our French Divines his words are these Quoad formam Precum Rituum Ecclesiasticorum valde probo ut certa illa exstet à qua Pastoribus discedere in functione sua non liceat tam ut consulatur quorundam simplicitati imperitioe quam ut certius ita constet omnium inter se Ecclesiarum consensus postremò etiam ut obviam eatur desultoriae quorundam levitati qui novationes quasdam affectant Which may be englished thus As touching the form of Prayer and Ceremonies of the Church I do extremely approve that it be set and fixed so as it may not be lawfull for the Ministers to recede from it in their function as well to help and assist the simplicity and unskilfulness of some as to give a fuller evidence of the consent and uniformity of all the several Congregations and finally that by this means the changeable humour of those that affect novelties may be check'd and obviated E. D. I always thought Calvin had been of the same judgment that we are though you would seem to persuade me to the contrary But to make an end of our Discourse at this time I shall onely ask you one question more and then I have done which is this What your French Divines judge concerning us who for Conscience sake refuse to make use of the Liturgy in our Assemblies or to frequent the Congregations of those that do F. P. What you desire you may find in the forementioned Discourse of Dr. Durel where he sets down this Letter of the Reverend Monsieur Goyon Minister at Bordeaux which is thus translated SIR I Have received your Letter with an extreme satisfaction as having been informed thereby both of your own condition and of that of the Church of England I must confess that we have been strangely deceived in this Countrey by what hath been related to us touching the English Presbyterians I did always imagine them to be a People that followed the same order we observe in our Churches of France but it seems they are very far from it The Description you give of them shews them to be a strange Sect not fit to be tolerated and I conceive that the best remedy of this disorder and confusion would be to reduce them all to the Episcopal Government for I hold it impossible that the Church of England should ever be quiet or flourish otherwise The Convocation comes in a very fit time for this purpose and I question not but that Assembly will take order about it which will be a great satisfaction to me for otherwise you will be continually in trouble and the Adversaries will take advantage thereby either to blemish and slander our Religion or to contrive and foment Plots against the State I beseech the Lord that he would be pleased to rule and govern that Holy Assembly and pour his Blessings upon their Determinations for the Advancement of his Kingdom E. D. Though this Man saith too much yet he saith nothing in particular to the point of our refusing to reade the Common-prayer in our Assemblies and to frequent the Churches where it is read F. P. If you think that Monsieur Goyon doth not speak home enough to the matter in question be pleased to reade what Ludovicus Capellus Divinity-Professor at Saumur saith to it in the Body of Divinity published by him and his two Collegues Moses Amyraldus and Joshua Placoeus in which Book this Learned Man having at large proved the Lawfulness Vse and Necessity of a set Form of Liturgy in opposition to the then newly started Directory which the Presbyterians endeavour'd to establish instead of the Common-prayer It is also worthy our noting that he maintain'd a publick Dispute on this Subject in the Divinity-School wherein he defended the Common-prayer of the Church of England as good sound and expedient against the Cavils and Objections of the Presbyterians even at that very time when the Opposers of set Forms were in the greatest power in this Kingdom and that it was generally believed the Liturgy of the Church of England would never have been restored E. D. But what saith he in particular of us for if you don't tell me I shall scarce take the pains of reading over his Book to inform my self F. P. I am unwilling to give you his
whether young or old Kings or Subjects Nobles or Commons in prosperity or adversity in a wealthy and comfortable or in a pinching and afflicted condition and they are proportioned with that exactness to these several circumstances as if they had been made on purpose to express and represent every one's particular state and condition E. D. I must own there is somewhat of truth in what you have said concerning the Psalms but one thing I find that spoils all which is your silly way of reading them by turns the Minister reading one Verse and the People answering another which certainly is a consus'd if not a scandalous way of praising God F. P. What you are pleas'd to call confus'd and scandalous is in my opinion very edifying and heavenly and my opinion is grounded upon Reason for this way of reading or singing Psalms by turns as hath been partly already hinted is extremely well suited to excite each others Affections and to encrease our Emulation making us as it were to strive to outvie each other in Zeal and Devotion and to contend who shall worship and praise God with most earnestness and fervency Now this holy Emulation cannot but be very profitable and edifying yea and Heavenly too because it comes nearest to the Pattern of Heavenly and Angelical Adoration for thus we reade that the Seraphims cry to each other by turns Holy holy holy Lord God of Hosts c. Isai 6.3 E. D. Well but I have another Objection against your way of reading the Psalms and that is that at the end of every one of them you repeat the Gloria Patri Glory be to the Father and to the Son c. which certainly is a very vain repetition F. P. I am not of your opinion for if you observe this Doxology is not applied twice to the same subject for though we repeat it constantly at the closing of every Psalm yet because they most commonly differ and vary in their subjects for you will hardly find two Psalms together of the same Argument some being Psalms of Doctrine and Instruction some of Confession of Sins some of Profession of Faith some of Supplication and Prayer some of Praises and Thanksgiving And forasmuch as every one of these Arguments contain sufficient and powerfull motives to stir up our Hearts and Affections to bless and glorifie God therefore the closing of every Psalm with this Doxology Glory be to the Father c. cannot be judged vain and improper but rather very proper and edifying After the reading or singing of the Psalms we proceed to reade the Lessons the one out of the Old Testament and the other out of the New which order affords this great conveniency amongst several others that by this means the Old Testament is read over once and the New Testament thrice every Year E. D. This is a great mistake of yours whether wilfull or no I shall not enquire for the Book of Chronicles is never read as well as many particular Chapters of some other Books F. P. I confess the Books of Chronicles are not read but the reason of it is plain and evident because for the most part they are but a repetition of the Books of Kings which are read in their course and if any Chapters of other Books be omitted 't is either because they contain little else but a repetition of what is gone before or because they treat of the Genealogies Ceremonies and Laws of the Jews which chiefly concern'd them as being now antiquated and of little use under the Gospel E. D. Pray why do you reade the Apocryphal Books then which certainly are of as little use and concern as those Books and Chapters you omit in the course of your Lessons F. P. I don't think so for though they be not Canonical they are such as may be read with Profit and Edification in that they contain many true and pious Histories or Relations of the Lives and Actions of several great and excellent Persons whose worthy and glorious Examples are very proper to affect our Hearts and raise up in us an ardent Desire and holy Emulation to imitate their transcendent Virtues to express their untainted Innocence and copy their unshaken Constancy Courage and Magnanimity Moreover we find there most exquisite Precepts of Morality directing and informing of us in the Practice of all vertuous Actions teaching us how to order our Lives Manners and Conversation and recommending to us the loveliness and excellence of Vertue as well as representing the deformity and misery of Vice and Wickedness E. D. But if I be not mistaken you do not reade the first and second Lesson immediately one after another F. P. True for after the first Morning Lesson we say or sing the Te Deum We praise thee O God c. or the Benedicite O all ye works of the Lord Bless ye the Lord c. both of which are the most excellent and heavenly Hymns that ever were fram'd by Men each of them being a most complete Form of Thanksgiving Praise and Adoration After the second Morning Lesson we repeat the Song of Zacharias or else the 100 Psalm both of which are not onely Divine and unquestionable but also extremely proper to inflame our Hearts with Love and Gratitude to God for all his unutterable Goodness bestowed upon us In the Evening Service after the first Lesson the Church appoints the Song of the Blessed Virgin or the 98 Psalm and after the second Lesson the 67 Psalm or the Song of old Simeon all which for the Reasons just now mentioned cannot but be acceptable to God and edifying to those that attend his Worship E. D. But what probable reason can you give for inserting and intermixing these Songs of Praise with your Lessons F. P. The Church has appointed the Repetition of these Sacred and Seraphick Hymns to be us'd as a solemn Form of Thanksgiving for those unspeakable Mercies and heavenly Blessings and good things revealed and promised to us in his Word newly read to us and it is but fitting and seemly that after we have heard God graciously speaking to us we should in gratitude eccho forth our Praises and Thanks to him and this we do in the Hymns now mentioned E. D. Some of these Hymns I think might be allow'd but there be two thrust in amongst them which seem to me very improper and that is the Song of the Virgin Mary for bearing Christ in her Womb and that of Old Simeon for seeing Jesus Christ in the Flesh and holding him in his Arms Now since these are extraordinary Cases which reach none of us therefore I conclude the use of them somewhat strange and extravagant F. P. To begin with your first Objection I readily own that we have not the same occasion to use this Hymn as the Blessed Virgin had for God the Word his taking Flesh in her Womb was a priviledge peculiar to her alone Yet pray consider that when we in all humility with Obedience and