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england_n	book_n	church_n	common_a	3,108	5	6.3089	4	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A45736	Parish churches turn'd into conventicles by serving God therein, and worshiping him otherwise then according to the established liturgy and practice of the Church of England in particular, by reading the communion service or any part thereof in the desk, or plain reasons and undeniable authorities alledged for the reading of the second service, or the communion service when there is no communion at the altar or holy table ... / by Richard Hart, a friend to all the conformable clergy and laity of the true and apostolical Church of England by law established.	Hart, Richard, Friend to all the conformable clergy and laity of the true and apostolical Church of England.	1683 (1683)	Wing H962; ESTC R21744	13,899	26

PARISH CHURCHES turn'd into conventicles BY Serving God therein and worshiping him otherwise then according to the established Liturgy and Practice of the Church of England IN PARTICULAR By reading the Communion Service or any part thereof in the Desk OR Plain Reasons and undeniable Authorities alledged for the reading of the second Service or the Communion Service when there is no Communion at the Altar or Holy Table in an Epistle dedicated to all the Reverend Clergy of the Church of England who read it in the Desk By Richard Hart a Friend to all the conformable Clergy and Laity of the true and Apostolical Church of England by Law Established 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Damascen LONDON Printed by Ralph Holt for Obadiah Blagrave at the Bear in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1683. Reverend Fathers TO seek out an Excuse of this my Boldness and to arm the Acknowledgment of a Fault with the Reasons for it might better shew I knew I did amiss than any way diminish the Attempt therefore I intend to carry no other Olive-Branch of Intercession than a cleer manifestation of the Truth of such things wherein I do humbly conceive you Err some of you not wilfully perhaps yet for want of a due and serious Consideration of the great Obligation of humane Laws in things which in their own nature are indifferent One of which is the place for reading of the second Service which place without all doubt is a thing in its own nature indifferent But when a lawful Authority appoints a certain place although in its own nature the place remains still indifferent yet the use of that place is not indifferent but becomes necessary by reason of the command to which the necessity of Obedience is inseparably annexed If this be a false Position I have nothing more to say but if it be true then do you err in point of Practice which is not according to the establish'd Rule our Church appointing one certain place and you reading in another and so by this means teaching the People this dangerous Principle that things indifferent in their own Nature remain so as to their use after a lawful Command for the doing or not doing of any such indifferent things as they were before such Command or Prohibition A Principle which undermines the Foundation of the whole Church and being once admitted leaves us naked and defenceless against all the Weapons that are or may be formed either by the Papist or Puritan against the most glorious Church in the World And if we who prosess our selves to be Sons of the Church of England should embrace this mischievous Tenet our Church will be so much militant againsgt her self that her Enemies will in a very short time become Triumphant They seeing your practice evidently built upon this sandy Fo●ndation do on all sides hit us in the Teeth with these things and laugh us to scorn Why do you charge us with Nonconformity and Disobedience to humane Laws which are but things indifferent notwithstanding the Command say they for do not most of your Clergy esteem them as such when they omit what Rite and Ceremony they please though never so strictly injoined by the supreme Authority Do these things oblige our Consciences and are theirs only free If it be so then we perceive plainly that the only way to enjoy liberty of Conscience is to be a Clergy-Man of the Church of England Now what shall we say to these things If we deny the matter of Fact our Church Enemies charge us with Impudence if we confess it as to keep our selves from lying we are forc'd to do then they charge our reverend Clergy with the same Crimes we usually appropriate to the greatest Phanatick viz. Disobedience to the lawful Magistrate and Non-conformity to the establish'd Orders of the Church How to avoid the Horns of this Dilemma I do sincerely declare I know not I should be very glad if any of you would be pleas'd to tell me a full Answer that I may give to these troublesom People who have gagg'd me so often with these things that I am altogether become dumb and am ashamed to receive so many Baffles from those Fools who make a mock of Sin I thank God I can defend my self well enough against all the frivolous and captious Exceptions which have been either made or taken by the Recusant or the Dissenter against the established Doctrine Discipline and Worship of the Church of England but if they talk to me of any thing that is said or done in our Churches which is not warranted by the XXXIX Articles by the Book of Canons by the Book of Common Prayer or by the constant universal Practice of the Catholick Church of Christ they had as good talk to me of the Roman Breviary or the English Directory and I can as soon justify the saying either of them in our Churches as any thing I have before mentioned True it is that we have a most excellent Liturgy established by the Law of the Land but in very many places little or no care had that the Subjects may have it whole and intire without mangling and curtailing in such a shameful manner that by these sacrilegious ways our sacred Book of Common Prayer is become contemptible and the People are come to this pass even downright to declare their abhorrence of our religious Assemblies when instead of paying that solemn Worship to God which by the Laws of our Nation are devoted to him we worship him after our own Imaginations and hereby offer him the Sacrifice of Fools which he will in no wise accept Although I could instance in sundry Particulars yet at this time I shall onely name one which is reading the Communion Service in the Desk whereby you take upon you to break an authorised Order of our Church and to make a new one The appointment of which Order pertaineth not to private Men as our Church saith very truly therefore no Man ought to take in hand or presume to appoint or alter any publick or common Order in Christ's Church except he be lawfully called and authorized thereunto Either you believe this to be true or false if true then you wilfully and contemptuously transgress and break a common Order and Discipline whensoever you omit or alter a Rite or Ceremony appointed by the Church which though in its self considered is but a small thing yet by reason of the Contempt that is inseparably annexed to the Offence in a Person knowing and being verily perswaded of the Truth hereof it is no small Offence before God that is in plain English it is a very great Sin Now if it should so happen that any of you are of another Perswasion and so you are Dissenters in your Judgment as well as in your Practice why then did you subscribe to the second Article mentioned in the XXXVI Canon and play fast and loose with God Almighty and put Tricks upon your own Mother the Church of England Do

you think that God will be mocked or permit his holy Spouse to be cheated How can you or any other be said to use the Form prescribed in publick Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and none other which you have promised to do by your Subscription which is a sacred Tie and yet immediately after willingly omit or alter any one Rite or Ceremony without a great perfidiousness As to the Point of reading the Communion Service when there is no Communion I do positively assert that it is appointed by our Church to be read at the North side of the Holy Table and that whosoever reads it at any other place breaks the Order of our Church and if he doth it through his private Judgment willingly and purposely as he cannot be presumed to do otherwise who is fully convinced that the Church hath so appointed it he doth not only offend against the common order of the Church but hurteth the Authority of the Magistrate and woundeth the Consciences of the weak Brethren Herein I have two sorts of Persons to deal withal one plainly confessing that ' tis-commanded by the Church and thereby saving me the trouble of a Proof but saying withal that he is at liberty notwithstanding the Command and he offers some seeming Reasons for his altering the appointed Place and says they are sufficient to justify his Practice both before God and Man and whether they be so or no you will see by and by There is another sort of men who knowing not how to justify their present Practice contrary to a plain Injunction of Authority are forced to make use of an Index Expurgatorius and having thereby in their own Conceit quite expung'd the Rubrick as to this Purpose confidently tell me there is no such Command when there is no Communion therefore no disobedience to that Authority which they own and are both ready and willing to obey To every one of you dear Sirs who own the thing which others deny I must answer with an ex ore tuo te Judico for you ingeniously confess that 't is commanded by the Church and yet at the same time most disingeniously prefer a corrupt Practice of some ill principled men before your known Duty And for this you make several Pleas. First you say 't is the Custom of most Parish Churches to read the second Service in the Desk and Custom in the major part of any Society hath the force of a Law and a Law which is introduced by Custom is as much a Law as any Statute Law of the Land because a Law doth not recipere magis minus and if you do obey that Law which Custom hath made so you are as much obedient to the Law as he that obeys an Act of Parliament But how weak and insufficient this Plea is judg you your own selves when you have well considered the false Notions of such a Custom which you too fast do run away with not making any distinction between corruptela and consuetudo and little regarding the small force such a Custom setting aside the Corruption hath to sway any Mans Judgment who is rightly informed of the truth of this matter Now certainly most true it is that a constant universal Custom or Practice of a whole National Church hath the force of a Law and ought without all doubt to be observed but then you must take this along with you provided that no positive Law of the Kingdom intervene to annul that Custom Practice or what you will call it otherwise the Rule is false For to plead Custom against positive Law is to plead that which was the Law against that which is the Law the sole intent of all positive Laws being to take away the binding power of all customary Laws to the contrary otherwise there would be two Laws in being at one and the same time commanding the one contrary to the other which would certainly breed that confusion which all positive Laws are designed to prevent I Pray Gentlemen be pleased to consider what Mischief you do both to Church and State by preferring such a Custom as this before an established Law to the contrary Do not you by this means turn our golden Liturgy into a leaden Directory and the best of Churches into the worst of Conventicles You may laugh as much you please but this is a great Truth because it is neither the Place nor the Number of Persons meeting together that makes a Conventicle for these may be Riots Routs or unlawful Assemblies but that which doth constitute it a Conventicle and from which it receives its true Denomination is the meeting in any Place above such a limited Number and Serving God otherwise than according to the established Liturgy and Practice of the Church of England which may be done in a Church as well as a Barn as sad Experience tells It is only the Observation or non-Observation of all the Orders Rites and Ceremonies and none other which are appointed in and by the Common Prayer and Book of Canons which gives it the Denomination of a Church or Conventicle If all the Orders be regularly observed without Addition or Diminution either in Matter or Form 't is a true Church and a right Church but if any thing be Said Sung or done in Church or in private Houses where there are above such a Number as the Law appoints as the publick Worship of God which is not warranted by the Book of Common Prayer or by some Law of the supreme Governour both in Church and State although hereby it ceases not to be a true Church yet it ceases to be a right Church and commences to be a true Conventicle for I know no Medium between a right Church and a true Conventicle every Meeting upon the pretence of the Exercise of Religion being the one or the other And so every Person in Holy Orders that officiates at Divine Service is either a thorough Conformist or a Non-conformist I know no medium in an Established Church as ours is but if there be I desire to be informed of these things to wit how many or how few of the established Prayers may be said How many of the Rites and Ceremonies may be used Which may be omitted which altered Which neither omitted nor altered And yet the same Person doing or omitting any of these things may be and remain a true Conformist for if they be not limited to a certain number then he that uses only the Lords Prayer uses part of the Book of Common Prayer and the most material part too and may as truly be esteemed as true a Conformist as he that uses a great deal more and yet falls short of the whole either as to Matter of Form for whosoever he be that alters or diminishes willingly in either he is so far a Nonconformist and how much farther he will proceed no body knows but himself but this we know by common Experience break Ice in one place it will crack

by little and little this ancient Custom was altered and in those places first where the Emissaries of this Faction came to Preach And now if any one in Authority offer to reduce this ancient Course of the Church 't is by and by called an Innovation Secondly with this the Rubricks of the Common Prayer-Book agree for the first Rubrick after the Communion tells us that upon Holydaies though there be no Communion yet all else that 's appointed at the Communion shall be read Shall be read that 's true but where Why the last Rubrick before the Communion tells us that the Priest standing at the North side of the Holy Table shall say the Lord's Prayer with that which follows So that not only the Communion but the Prayers which accompany the Communion which are commonly called the Second Service are to be read at the Communion Table Therefore if this be an Innovation 't is made by the Rubricks not by the Prelates Now let us see what the Right Reverend Bishop of Norwich Dr. Sparrow say's to this Matter In his Rational of the Common Prayer p. 239. thus he say's Private and solitary Communions of the Priest the Church allows not and therefore when other cannot be had she appoints only so much of the Service as relates not of necessity to a private Communion and that to be said at the Holy Table and upon good Reason The Church thereby keeping as it were her Ground visibly minding us of what She desires and labors towards our more frequent Access to that Holy Table Mark the several Reasons and weigh the great Authority of this famous Triumvirate of the Church of England and then Read the Second Service hereafter in the Desk if you can There be some others of no mean Credit in the Church of England who have positively asserted the same thing viz. Dr. Heylin in his Introduction to Arch Bishop Laud's Life p. 22. Mr. Elborow in his Exposition of the Book of Common Prayer p. 98. Hammond le Strang in his Alliance of Divine Offices p. 122 123. to which I may add a fourth which is Dr. Combers in his Companion to the Altar the Page I have forgot though the Matter I very well remember Now if after all these Reasons and Authorites there remains any Doubt as I believe there may do with those that are resolved to doubt that they may have some Colour for their restless Opposition to the Churches wholesom Institutions I have one thing more to say which because it hath wrought upon some and not only Convinced them but Converted as obstinate as they seemed to be I am in good Hopes it may have the same Operation upon some others Let me intreat all you that have any Kindness left for the distressed Church of England to cast an impartial Eye upon the Forms of Common Prayer upon several Occasions of Fasting and Thanksgiving set forth by Authority shall I say since the King 's happy Restoration or since the blessed Reformation Peruse them all if you please and you shall find that in none of them all is there a Communion appointed nor any appears to be intended but only so much of the Communion Service is therein prescribed to be Read as on other Holydays is by the Common Prayer Book appointed to be Read when there is no Communion and yet 't is said expresly The Priest standing at the North side of the Table shall say c. What more clear than this to tell us the meaning of the Rubrick in the Book of Common Prayer unless it be the Practice of the Prime Churches in England the King's Chappel the Cathedrals the two Universities and many Orthodox Parish Churches to wit that of Dr. Hicks that of Dr. Sherlock that of Dr. Dove and if I be not Misinformed that of Mr. Pelling all Famous Reverend and Worthy Divines within the City of London and I question not but the pious Example of such conscientious Men hath had an Influence upon some parts of the Country some I am sure I know and others I have heard of I pray God increase their Number not by confounding the Persons of any who do otherwise but by converting their Judgments and confounding those Devices they make use of to hinder all manner of Impression that can be made upon them either by Reason or Authority the chiefest of which I find to be a Ne videamur semel errâsse A Principle too bad to be own'd and yet too true to be denyed Recommending you to God's Grace I take my Leave of you all leaving this short saying with you Veritas est magna praevalebit Christianus mihi Nomen est Catholicus Cognomen R. H. FINIS

Altar and if they be audibly and distinctly read they may be heard as well at the Table as in the Desk So that the Fault if any be is not occasioned by the distance of the Place so much as through the indiscretion of the Reader which he may help himself But suppose this Inconvenience were general and as great as you seem to make it yet we cannot suppose that the Governours of our Church should be so short-Sighted as not to discern it nor yet so imprudent as not to provide a Remedy for it But howsoever be it never so inconvenient this may be debated in a regular way by those who are authorised thereunto and the Inconvenience taken away by those who are vested with a legal Power for that Purpose if they think fitting so to have it But for any private Parish Curate to take upon him not only to Dispute but to Judg of the Conveniency and Inconveniency of a Law firmly established by the Consent of the whole Nation and thereupon to alter the Law after his own Model is no less a piece of Insolence then to take upon him to be King Bishop and Priest of his own Parish by imposing his own Laws upon the People and cancelling those of his Superiors Some of you say that it is very indecent for the Priest to go out of the Desk up to the Altar in his Surplice and to come back again with his Surplice still on to the Homily or Sermon which by the way being part of Administration of the divine Service is to be performed with the Surplice on and to return back again to read the Prayer for the Church Militant as they are appointed to do In Answer whereunto although my former Answer to the Plea of Inconvenience might serve very well yet by the way I cannot but observe that these very Men who have been so Eagle-sighted as to spy out this great Indecency yet when the same thing is done at another place they cannot discern the Indecency For when a Child is to be Baptized at the Font they can go out of the Desk in their Surplice after the second Lesson and return to the same place without any Blushing as if the going up to the East end of the Church in a Surplice were a very unseemly Posture and yet going down to the West end in the same Garment were a very comely Gesture Risum teneatis Have you any more to say in your own defence I pray let me hear it that I may leave no Objection unanswered For if I cannot Answer all that can be supposed against my Assertion I had better say nothing and if there be the least colour of Reason or Argument on your Behalfs I am willing to admit it and stop my Pen as soon as you have stop'd my Mouth with a convincing Reason You say that our Governours connive at the Omission of your Duty they wink at your Practice and take no notice of your doings the Laws are not executed upon you as they are upon other Persons you hear of no Inditements at the Assizes or Sessions no Information in the Crown Office and this to you is esteem'd a sufficient Warrant for your present Practice this seems to you a tacit Declaration that the supreme Power doth not desire his Law should be obey'd in this particular And by reason of this Impunity you fancy that 't is his Majesties Pleasure that you should take this Liberty against his Laws and therefore than I am justly to be Blam'd who being but a private Person have expressed greater Severity against you than the Magistrate himself because I have charged you with the Guilt of Sin when the Magistrate doth not so much as punish you Whereas in truth 't is not I that lay any such thing to your Charge but the Church of England whose Words I have only quoted that the wilful and contemptuous Transgression and breaking of a common Order and Discipline as this is whereof we now Treat is no small Offence before God as I told you before Is not this the full Substance of your Plea and is not this your Logick You are not punished for your Disobedience Ergo 't is lawful to Disobey You fancy 't is his Majesties Pleasure that you should not Obey Ergo it is so His Majesties Law is not Executed Ergo 't is no binding Law What a many Nonsequiturs are here What kind of Syllogism will you make of this There is such a Steeple as Tenterden Steeple Ergo 't is the cause of Goodwin Sands as good an Ergo as any of the former But I must not let this pass thus You say 't is his Majesties Pleasure you should enjoy your Liberty in this Matter it may be so for ought I know but if it should prove otherwise as it is more than an even lay that it doth then have you been overbold with his Sacred Majesty by pretending to be of his Cabinet Councel which is more than probable that you are not We his poor Subjects are satisfied with his known Will and Pleasure publickly declared in his Laws without listening at the Privy Council Door to know what his secret Will is before it is his Pleasure to make it known And as soon as his Majesty graciously vouchsafes to declare any thing in Opposition to that which is established by Law I shall obey it with all Submission and Reverence humbly and silently acquiescing in the Determination of his Will and Pleasure which to me is and shall ever be a Law as binding as any Act of Parliament since the Conquest In the mean time if his Majesty hath whispered this so softly that none could hear it but your selves blame not me who know nothing of the matter and yet notwithstanding have great cause to think that my Knowledg is not inferior to yours in this Particular If his Majesty hath communicated his private Will to you speak it out and let us know it and you silence me for ever But I pray have a care how you make it an Argument to justify what you do by saying that the King takes no notice of that Licence you have given your self and do not perswade your selves that 't is as good as if you had a Licence from his Majesty himself for your unlawful Practice for so I must make bold to call it until I know further of this matter I see no Proof so much as offered at for his Majesties Pleasure in this Affair except it be the Non-execution of his Laws which may be imputed to the Neglect of his Officers and Ministers in the Discharge of their Duty But if to serve your turn you will say 't is an Argument of his Will and not of their Neglect you must unavoidably serve somebodie 's Turn besides your own therefore you had better let this Argument alone lest some others take it out of your Mouths and make use of it against your selves Another pretty sort of Argument others make use of which