Preaching I do not mean therefore a loose and careless way of Talking in the Pulpit which will neither profit you nor those that hear you He that once gets an ill Habit of speaking extempore will be tempted to continue it by the Easiness of it to himself and the Plausibleness of it to less judicious People There is on the other side a Closeness and Strength of Reasoning which is too elaborate for common Understandings and there is an affected Fineness of Expression which by no means becomes the Pulpit but it seems to be like stroaking the Consciences of People by Feathers dipt in Oil. And there is a way of putting Scripture Phrases together without the Sense of them which those are the most apt to admire who understand them least But for those who have not improved their Minds by Education the plainest way is certainly â—he best and hardest provided it be not flat and dry and incoherent or desultory going from one thing to another without pursuing any particular Point home to Practice and applying it to the Consciences of the Hearers And give me leave to tell you That mere general Discourses have commonly little Effect on the Peoples Minds if any thing moves them it is particular Application as to such things which their Consciences are concerned in And here I must recommend to you the pursuing the Design of His Majesties Letter which hath been some time since communicated to you by it you are required to Preach at some Times on those particular Vices which you observe to be most prevalent in the Places you relate to such as Drunkenness Whoredom Swearing Profaning the Lord's Day c. If ever we hope to reform them you must throughly convince them that what they do is displeasing to God And there are two sorts of men you are to deal with 1. Profane Scoffers at Religion These seldom trouble you but if any Good be to be done upon them it is by plain and evident Proofs of the Good and Evil of Moral Actions For as long as they think them indifferent they will never regard what you say as to the Rewards or Punishments of them 2. Stupid and sensless People whose Minds are wholly sunk into the Affairs of the World buying and selling and getting gain It is a very hard thing to get a thought into them above these Matters And whatever you talk of mere Religion and another Life is like Metaphysicks to them they understand you not and take no Care to do it but if you can convince them that they live in the Practice of great Sins which they shall certainly suffer for if they do not Repent they may possibly be awakened this way if not nothing but immediate Grace can work upon them which must work on the Will whatever becomes of the Understanding III. After preaching let me intreat you to look after Catechising and instructing the Youth of your Parishes He that would Reform the World to purpose must begin with the Youth and train them up betimes in the Ways of Religion and Virtue There is far less probability of prevailing on those who have accustomed themselves to vicious Habits and are hardened in their Wickedness It seems strange to some that considering the shortness of Human Life Mankind should be so long before they come to Maturity the best Account I know of it is that there is so much longer time for the Care of their Education to instil the Principles of Virtue and Religion into them thereby to soften the Fierceness to direct the Weakness to govern the Inclinations of Mankind It is truly a sad Consideration that Christian Parents are so little sensible of their Duties as to the Education of their Children when those who have had only Natural Reason to direct them have laid so much Weight upon it Without it Plato saith that Mankind grew the most unruly of all Creatures Aristotle that as by Nature they are capable of being the best so being neglected they become the worst of Animals i. e. when they are brought up without Virtue Education and Virtue saith he is a great thing yea it is all in all and without it they will be much worse than Beasts The main Care of the Education of Children must lie upon Parents but yet Ministers ought not only to put them in mind of their Duty but to assist them all they can and by publick Catechising frequently to instruct both those who have not learned and those who are ashamed to learn any other way And you must use the best means you can to bring them into an Esteem of it which is by letting them see that you do it not merely because you are required to do it but because it is a thing so useful and beneficial to them and to their Children There is a great deal of difference between Peoples being able to talk over a Set of Phrases about Religious Matters and understanding the true Grounds of Religion which are easiest learned and understood and remembered in the short Catechetical Way But I am truly sorry to hear that where the Clergy are willing to take pains this way the People are unwilling to send their Children They would not be unwilling to hear them instructed as early as might be in the way to get an Estate but would be very thankful to those who would do them such a kindness and therefore it is really a Contempt of God and Religion and another World which makes them so backward to have their Children taught the way to it And methinks those who have any Zeal for the Reformation should love and pursue that which came into request with it Indeed the Church of Rome it self hath been made so sensible of the Necessity of it that even the Council of Trent doth not only require Catechising Children but the Bishops to proceed with Ecclesiastical Censures against those who neglect it But in the old Provincial Constitutions I can find but one Injunction about Catechising and that is when the Priest doubts whether the Children were Baptized or not and if they be born eight days before Easter and Whitsuntide they are not to be baptized till those days and in the mean time they are to receive Catechism What is this receiving Catechism by Children before they are eight days old It is well Exorcism is joyned with it and so we are to understand by it the Interrogatories in Baptism and Lyndwood saith the Catechism is not only required for Instruction in Faith but propter sponsionem when the Godfather answers De Fidei Observantiâ It is true the Canon Law requires in adult Persons Chatechising before Baptism but I find nothing of the Catechising Children after it and no wonder since Lynd. wood faith the Laity are bound to no more than to believe as the Church believes nor the Clergy neither unless they can bear the Charges of Studying and have Masters to instruct them This was good Doctrin when
their Parochial Visitations Lyndwood saith the Ancient Procuration here was a Day and Nights Entertainment which after came to be a customary Payment But however it was paid it is an evident Proof of the Right of the Bishops Visitations by the ancient Ecclesiastical Law and by such a Custom as is allowable by the Rules of our Common Law III. There are some Faults which make the Clergy lyable to Deprivation by Virtue of the Ecclesiastical Law which was here received I shall name only some of them and conclude these being sufficient for my present purpose I. Excessive Drinking All drinking ad Potus aequales was absolutely forbidden to Clergymen on pain of Suspension after Admonition not only by a Synodical but by a Provincial Constitution under Edmund Arch-Bishop of Canterbury The Canon Law saith in that Case ab Officio vel Beneficio suspendatur But our Constitution is more severe à Beneficio Officio The Council of Oxford not only strictly forbids all Clergymen whatever tends to Gluttony and Drunkenness but it requires the Bishops to proceed strictly against those who are guilty according to the Form of the General Council i. e. the Lateran 4. viz. by Admonition first and then Suspension Lyndwood complains that this was not so much looked after as it should be because it brought no Profit I hope that Reason will not hold among those who pretend to Reformation which will be very defective if it extend not to our Lives as well as our Doctrines For there can be no greater Reproach than to see those loose and dissolute in their Conversations who think it their Honour to be Ministers of a Reformed Church It was a stinging Reflection upon our Church by the Arch-Bishop of Spalato who was no very strict Man himself that he saw nothing Reformed among us but our Doctrines I hope there was more of Satyr than of Truth in it for I do not question but there were many then as there are now of Exemplary Lives and unblameable Conversations but if there be any others it will be the more shame not to proceed against them since even before the Reformation the Canons were so strict and severe in this matter In the Council at Westminster in Henr. II. time under Richard Arch-Bishop of Canterbury all Clergymen are forbidden going into Taverns to eat or drink unless upon Travelling and the Sanction of this Canon is aut cesset aut deponatur The same was forbidden in the Council at York in the time of Richard I. in the Council at London under Hubert in the time of King John And since the Reformation the same Canon is renewed That no Ecclesiastical Persons shall at any time other than for their honest Necessities resort to any Taverns or Alehouses And there have been Instances of the Severity of our Ecclesiastical Censures against Drunkenness in Clergy-men In 8 Jac. Parker was deprived of his Benefice for Drunkenness and moved for a Prohibition but it was denyed him In 9 Jac. another was deprived for the same Fault and the Judges at Common Law allowed the Sentence to be good No doubt there are other Instances but we had not known of these if they had not been preserved in Books of Reports II. Incontinency Lyndwood saith those who are proved to be guilty of it are ipso Jure privati but he thinks a Declaratory Sentence of the Ecclesiastical Judges necessary for the Execution of it Since the Reformation we have Instances of Deprivation for Adultery in our Law Books One 12 Eliz. another 16 Eliz. a third 27 Eliz. These are enough to shew that the Ecclesiastical Law is allowed by the Judges of Common Law to continue in sufficient force for Deprivation in this Case III. Simony Which is the Name given by the Ecclesiastical Law to all Contracts for Gain in the disposing or obtaining any Ecclesiastical Promotion or Ministry It is true these do not come up to the very Sin of Simon Magus which related to the immediate Gifts of the Holy Ghost but because the whole Ministerial Office in all the Parts of it especially the Cure of Souls is of a Spiritual Nature and all Bargains are so repugnant to the Design of it therefore the Ecclesiastical Law hath fixed that detestable Name upon it For all contractus non gratuiti in these things savour of turpe lucrum and tend to bring in turpe Commercium into the Church which would really overturn the whole Design of that Ministry which was designed for the Salvation of Souls And therefore it was necessary that when Persons had received by the Favor of Temporal Princes and other Benefactors who were Founders of Churches such Endowments as might encourage them in their Function that severe Laws should be made against any such sordid and mischievous Contracts And such there were here in England long before the excellent Stat. of 31 Eliz. c. 6. although it seems the force of them was so much worn out as to make that Statute necessary for avoiding of Simony which is there explained to be Corruption in bestowing or getting Possession of Promotions Ecclesiastical In a Council at London under Lanfranc in the Conqueror's time Simony was forbidden under the Name of Buying and Selling of Orders And it could be nothing else before the Churches Revenue was setled But in the time of Henr. I. Ecclesiastical Benefices were forbidden to be bought or sold and it was Deprivation then to any Clergy-Man to be convicted of it and a Lay-Man was to be out-law'd and excommunicated and deprived of his Right of Patronage And this was done by a Provincial Synod of that time In the Reign of Henr. II. it was decreed that if any Person received any Mony for a Presentation he was to be for ever deprived of the Patronage of that Church and this was not merely a Provincial Constitution but two Kings were present Hen. 2. and his Son and added their Authority to it This was not depriving a Man of his Freehold by a Canon as a learned Gentleman calls it for here was the greatest Authority Temporal as well as Ecclesiastical added to it But we are told these Canons were of as little effect as that of Othobon which made all Simoniacal Contracts void but some of the most judicious Lawyers have held that Simony being contractus ex turpi causâ is void between Parties All that I aim at is to shew that by our old Ecclesiastical Law Simoniaeus incurred a Deprivation and Disability before the Stat. 31. Eliz. and therein I have the Opinion of a very Learned Judge concurring with me IV. Dilapidations By which the Ecclesiastical Law understands any considerable Impairing the Edifices Woods and Revenues belonging to Ecclesiastical Persons by Virtue of their Places For it is the greatest Interest and Concernment of the Church to have things preserved for the Good of Successors and it is a
the Design was to keep People in Ignorance For Learning is an irrecøncileable Enemy to the Fundamental Policy of the Roman Church and it was that which brought in the Reformation since which a just Care hath still been required for the Instruction of Youth and the fifty ninth Canon of our Church is very strict in it which I desire you often to consider with the first Rubrick after the Catechism and to act accordingly IV. After Catechizing I recommend to you the due Care of bringing the Children of your Parishes to Confirmation Which would be of excellent use in the Church if the several Ministers would take that Pains about it which they ought to do Remember that you are required to bring or send in Writing with your Names subscribed the Names of all such Persons in your Parish as you shall think fit to be Presented to the Bishop to be Confirmed If you take no Care about it and suffer them to come unprepared for so great so solemn a thing as renewing the Promise and Vow made in Baptism can you think your selves free from any Guilt in it In the Church of Rome indeed great Care was taken to hasten Confirmation of Children all they could Post Baptismum quam citius poterint as it is in our Constitution Provincial in another Synodical the Parochial Priests are charged to tell their Parishioners that they ought to get their Children Confirmed as soon as they can In a Synod at Worcester under Walter de Cantilupo in the time of Henry III. the Sacrament of Confirmation is declared necessary for Strength against the Power of Darkness and therefore it was called Sacramentum pugnantium and no wonder then that the Parochial Priests should be called upon so earnestly to bring the Children to Confirmation and the Parents were to be forbidden to enter into the Church if they neglected it for a Year after the Birth of the Child if they had opportunity The Synod of Exeter allowed two Years and then if they were not Confirmed the Parents were to Fast every Friday with Bread and Water till it were done And to the same purpose the Synod of Winchester in the time of Edw. I. in the Constitutions of Richard Bishop of Sarum two Years were allowed but that Time was afterwards thought too long and then the Priest as well as the Parents was to be suspended from entrance into the Church But what Preparation was required None that I can find But great Care is taken about the Fillets to bind their Heads to receive the Unction and the taking them off at the Font and burning them lest they should be used for Witchcraft as Lyndwood informs us But we have no such Customs nor any of the Reformed Churches We depend not upon the Opus operatum but suppose a due and serious Preparation of Mind necessary and a solemn Performance of it I hope by God's Assistance to be able in time to bring the Performance of this Office into a better Method in the mean time I shall not fail doing my Duty have you a care you do not fail in yours V. As to the Publick Offices of the Church I do not only recommend to you a due Care of the Diligent but of the Devout Performance of them I have often wondered how a fixed and stated Liturgy for general Use should become a matter of Scruple and Dispute among any in a Christian Church unless there be something in Christianity which makes it unlawful to pray together for things which we all understand beforehand to be the Subject of our Prayers If our common Necessities and Duties are the same if we have the same Blessings to pray and to Thank God for in our solemn Devotions why should any think it unlawful or unfitting to use the same Expressions Is God pleased with the Change of our Words and Phrases Can we imagine the Holy Spirit is gi ven to dictate new Expressions in Prayers Then they must pray by immediate Inspiration which I think they will not pretend to lest all the Mistakes and Incongruities of such Prayers be imputed to the Holy Ghost but if not then they are left to their own Conceptions and the Spirits Assistance is only in the Exciting the Affections and Motions of the Soul towards the things prayed for and if this be allowed it is impossible to give a Reason why the Spirit of God may not as well excite those inward Desires when the Words are the same as when they are different And we are certain that from the Apostles times downwards no one Church or Society of Christians can be produced who held it unlawful to pray by a set Form On the other side we have very early Proofs of some common Forms of Prayer which were generally used in the Christian Churches and were the Foundations of those Ancient Liturgies which by degrees were much enlarged And the Interpolations of latter times do no more overthrow the Antiquity of the Ground-work of them than the large Additions to a Building do prove there was no House before It is an easie matter to say that such Liturgies could not be S. James's or S. Mark 's because of such Errors and Mistakes and Interpolations of things and Phrases of latter times but what then Is this an Argument there were no ancient Liturgies in the Churches of Jerusalem or Alexandria when so long since as in Origen's time we find an entire Collect produced by him out of the Alexandrian Liturgy And the like may be shewed as to other Churches which by degrees came to have their Liturgies much inlarged by the Devout Prayers of some extraordinary Men such as S. Basil and S. Chrysostom in the Eastern Churches But my design is not to vindicate our use of an excellent Liturgy but to put you upon the using it in such manner as may most recommend it to the People I mean with that Gravity Seriousness Attention and Devotion which becomes so solemn a Duty as Prayer to God is It will give too just a Cause of Prejudice to our Prayers if the People observe you to be careless and negligent about them or to run them over with so great haste as if you minded nothing so much as to get to the end of them If you mind them so little your selves they will think themselves excused if they mind them less I could heartily wish that in greater places especially in such Towns where there are People more at liberty the constant Morning and Evening Prayers were duly and devoutly read as it is already done with good Success in London and some other Cities By this means Religion will gain ground when the publick Offices are daily performed and the People will be more acquainted with Scripture in hearing the Lessons and have a better esteem of the Prayers when they become their daily Service which they offer up to God as their Morning and Evening Sacrifice and the design of