Latimer Cook Pet. Martyr Sir John Cheek John a Lasco Mr. Peter Mr. Cecyl Sir Tho. Smith Mr. Taylor of Hadley Dr. May Mr. Traheron Dr. Lyel Mr. Skiner Justice Hales Justice Bromley Goodrick Gosnal Stamford Carel Lucas and Brook Recorder of London These were the Flowers of the English Reformation and Men eminent for Sacred and Polite Literature And I think the Judgment of such a valuable Sett of Men deserves a Particular Regard And therefore wonder with what Confidence some can pretend to have such a mighty Veneration for our first Reformers when yet they so zealously defend and are so eager for retaining what the Old Reformers thought better abolisht and quite remov'd Thus you have th' express Opinion of many great and good Men against your erecting a pair of Devotional Organs in the Christian Church But if you think that you can't attain the Supremacy of Bliss without Converting the Church into an Organical Quire e'en go on and let your well-instructed Organist begin his Anthem of O be joyful while the rest of the Parish are devoutly Praying like ' mselves From all blindness of Heart from Pride Vain-Glory and from all the Deceits of the World the Flesh and the Devil and Contempt of thy Word and Commandment Good Lord deliver us And for once I 'll suppose my self in the AMEN-Officer's Desk and presume to say A m e n But before you begin you 'd do well to take Advice from those that are able to give it and who more fit to Counsel you in this Grand Affair than 3. The Church of England it self whose Judgement comes next to be consider'd and if you 'll not be advis'd by her for my Part I shall give you over as a pack of obstinate Sons of the Church But what saith the Church of England Why to be brief She utterly Condemns the Use of Organs in Divine Worship as unlawful and Thanks God She was rid of 'm in the Infancy of the Reformation as appears by the following Passage out of her Homilies Alas Gossip said a Woman to her Neighbour What shall we do at Church Since all the Saints or Images are tak'n away since all the goodly sights we were wont to have are gone Book of Homilies of the Time and Place of Prayer Part II. p. 131. Lond. Prinsed 1621. since we cannot hear the like Piping Singing Chanting and playing upon the Organs that we cou'd hear before To this the Church very gravely Replies But dearly Beloved we ought greatly to rejoice and give God thanks that our Churches are deliver'd out of all those things which displeased God so sore and filthily defil'd his Holy House Take Notice here 1. That 't was the Opinion of the Church of England in Queen Elizabeth's days that Organs in Churches did greatly displease God And are they more acceptable in God's account now Or are our Ecclesiastical Engineers grown more wise than their famous Ancestors 2. That Organs did filthily defile God's House and therefore she thanks God for the removal of this Organical defilement among other Superstitions But least you shou'd Question the Authenticalness of the good Old Homilies and to look upon the Evidence as weak and impertinent I 'll add 3. That the Thirty Fifth Article of the Church of England confirms the Doctrine of the Homilies as good sound and wholesome Whoever therefore asserts this New or rather Old Romish mode of Worship by Organs directly contradicts the Judgment of the Renowned Church of England And yet these Organical Hot-spurs wou'd be thought her only true Sons tho' at the same time they publickly and cotumaciously Rebel against her Maternal Authority The Church of England in another place saith * Of Ceremonies why some be abolisht and some retain'd in the Preface part of the Common Prayer That some Ceremonies enter'd into the Church by indiscreet Devotion and such a Zeal as was without Knowledge And for because they were winked at in the beginning they grew daily to more and more abuses which not only for their unprofitableness but also because they have much blinded the people and obscur'd the Glory of God are worthy to be cut away and clean rejected Injenuous Confession Monstrum horrendum The Mother and Children so very unlike What pitty is it that so Excellent a Mother shou'd have such a degenerate Brood but corruptio optimi pessima 4. As to the Popish Churches I shall only declare the Sentiments of some of their learned Men touching the concern in debate We 'll begin 1. With Thomas Aquinas †Instrumenta Musica sicut Cytharas non assuâ—it Ecclesia in Divinas laudes nè videatur judaizare Aquin. Sum. 2a. 2ae Qu. 91. Art 2. Obj. 4 ta who liv'd about the Year 1270 he tells us that Organs were not receiv'd into the Church in his time The Church saith he does not take Musical Instruments into the Divine Praises least it shou'd seem to judaize And it 's observable that Cardinal Cajetan ‖ Notandum tempore Thomae Cajet in eund loc sum Tho. Aquin. upon Aquinas saith Take notice that in the times of St. Thomas the Church made no use of Organs And Gregory de Valentia is of the same Opinion It 's manifest from hence that the Gallican Churches which boast so much of Antiquity had no Organs in their Churches about 500 Years ago 2. Others of the Romish Stamp look upon Organs to be really prejudicial to the Devotion of the Holy Church tho' they may accidentally excite the Mind Cornelius Agrippa who was Counsellor to Charles the V. and a Papist as appears by his Reflections on Luther vehemently †De Vanitate Scient Cap. 6. 17. declaims against Organs as abus'd ad fornicariam pruriginem and filling the Church with such a loud noise that the Worshippers can neither hear nor attend to what is spoken He looks upon Church-Musick to be a Lecherous licentious sort of Devotion and resents it ill that the Holy Mysteries shou'd be chanted out by a Company of wanton Musicians who 're hir'd with a great Summ of Money * Ibid. And Aquinas in th' above quoted Question †Aquin. Sum 2a 2ae Qu. 91. Art 2. Resp 4ta ad 4t Objectionem saith out of Aristotle That those sort of Musical Instruments do rather Create in the Mind a sensual Delectation than Form in the Mind a good Disposition Another Learned Papist who resolv'd not t' approve all he saw and heard in the Romish Synagogue saith in these Words Let a Man be a greater Worldling than Crassus a greater Reviler than Zoilus yet is he accouned a Devout Man because he Sings Service well tho' he understands nothing of it Nor are they Content with this but we have also brought into Churches a Laborious and Theatrical Musick a tumultuous pratling of divers Voices such a one as I think was ne'r heard upon any Stage among the Romans or Graecians All Places roar with Pipes Eras. in 1 Corinth
Church-Pageantry DISPLAY'D OR Organ-Worship Arraign'd and Condemn'd As inconsistent with the Revelation and Worship of the Gospel the Sentiments of the Ancient Fathers the Church of England and several Eminent Divines both Protestants and Papists That it may please Thee to bring into the Way of Truth all such as have Erred and are Deceived We beseech Thee to hear us good Lord. Amen! The best Musical Instrument for God's Praise is an upright Heart Bishop Cowper's Works Printed at London 1621. Page 371. By Eugenius Junior In ANSWER to a Letter about ORGANS Nitimur in vetitum semper cupimusque negata Is any Merry Let him sing Psalms LONDON Printed for A. Baldwin at the Oxford-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1700. CHAP. I. The Introduction The Patriarchal and Old Testament-Church about Three Thousand Years without Organ-Worship An Account of other Instrumental Musick us'd in Divine Praises Organs and other Musical Instruments under the Legal Dispensation Parts of the Ceremonial Law instituted by Divine Authority are not obligatory under the Gospel no more than other Branches of the Ceremonial Law which by the Confession of Organical Advocates are abrogated SIR THERE 's no Request of yours but is equivolent to a Command with me Whereas in your Letter to the 20th Current you earnestly crav'd my Sentiments about the use of Church-Musick because a Friend of yours was going to erect a Pair of Organs in his Parochial-Church I have comply'd with your Desires and in the following Observations have deliver'd my own Thoughts and the Judgment of many oothers touching it's unlawfulness under the Evangelical Oeconomy Before I go on I must beg the favour of you as to give Place to calm and sober Thoughts and impartially to weigh the force of my Evidence And in order to that I hope you 'll be so just as to read over the whole Essay before you proceed to a judicial definitive Censure I am perswaded you are of a candid Temper and therefore I can the more freely communicate my Sentiments to you and that I may the more effectually set the Affair in debate in it's true Light I 'll begin with the first Rise and Use of Musick and Musical Devotions 1. 'T was about Three Thousand Years after the Creation before any Organs were us'd in Divine Worship That they were invented in the Infancy of the World we readily grant Gen. 4.21 Jubal he was the Father of all such as handle Harp and Organ but if one of the Posterity of Bloody Cain was the Contriver of these paltry sidling Pipes will it therefore follow that their use in Sacred Services was equally Ancient with their first Invention But it 's doubtful whether the Organs mention'd in this Scripture be the same with ours for the Hebrew Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for Organs which comes from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lusit adamavit signifies quodvis instrumentum Musicum quasi amabile dictum Schindl The Chaldee renders it he was Master of all that Play on the Psaltery and knew Musick And the Greek Version reads it this was he that show'd the Psaltry and the Harp We have no Account of 'm as us'd in the Devotions of the Antediluvian Patriarchs and 't was about Seven Hundred Years after the Deluge before any sort of Instrumental Musick was us'd in Divine Worship The first remarkable Instance that occurs we have in Exod. 15.20 21. Where it 's said that Miriam the Prophetess took a Timbrel in her Hand and all the Women went after her with Timbrels and with Dances There are Three Things that shew the invalidity of this Instance in reference to the Point in debate 1. You must Note that this Woman was a Prophetess and what she did was by an extraordinary impulse now Sir when any of our Organical Friends are actuated by a Prophetick Spirit e'en let 'm use all the Cymbals Timbrels Tabrets and Harps upon the Terrestrial Globe and spare not and I do assure you I 'll never interrupt their Musical Mirth only let 'm stay till then 2. You must observe that these were Women who plaid and sung but Paul has been so kind to the Female Sex in our Days as to tye their Tongues at Church tho' now and then notwithstanding his Apostolical Injunction many of 'm will have their full share in iouncing and racketting David 's Psalms and be as clamorous in their Responses as any of their Masculine Neighbours and therefore if you 're inclin'd to follow the Miriamite Pattern you may soon find a parcel of brisk singing Girls for the Purpose without going as far as Billingsgate for ' m. 3. These Musical-Women danced at the same time so that Sir you may see without the help of a pair of Canonical Spectacles that Dancing in Divine Worship is of the same Age with Instrumental Musick A cap'ring Devotion can pretend to as great Antiquity in the Church as any sort of Instrumental Musick And therefore I know no Reason why you shou'd graciously receive the Musical Part of the Old Service into the Church and utterly reject the Dancing part 2. It 's acknowledged that Organs and other Instruments of Musick were Parts of the Ceremonial Law or things peculiar to the Jewish Pedagogy as Circumcision Passover Sacrifices Trumpets Cymbals were Now if these and other Parts of the Legal Ceremonies are perfectly abolisht how comes it to pass that Organs are continu'd Why shou'd not the same Arguments conclude against the Ecclesiastical Use of Organs as conclude against the Church-use of other Jewish Musical Instruments Why shou'd the worshipful Organs forsooth be readmitted into the Bosom of the Church when other famous Instruments of Musick are totally excluded What warrant have you to restore and retain one Part of the Ceremonial Law more than another Part Why a pair of Organs and not a brace of Timbrels I believe neither you nor the Parson wou'd Consent to have the Jewish Harps Dances Tabrets Trumpets Cymbals and Psalteries us'd in the Divine Service and yet all these may be warrantably introduc'd into our Church if your Arguments for Organs hold Water Pray good Sir e'en let 's have a parcel of Ecclesiastical-Trumpeters Church-Dancers Canonical-Harpers and Tinkling-Cymbalists as well as a cumbersome Herd of expenceful jovial Organists The Greek Churches ‖ Vid. Monsieur Lortie de Coen â—om p. 1. Cap. 6. have upbraided the Papists for using a Roasted Lamb in the Lord's Supper because 't was Part of the Ceremonial-Law But I 'll not insist upon the monstrous Effects of Superstitious Love and Testy Zeal because both of 'm are Blind which if you 'll believe Scarron made Eneas once when he went to Sacrifice mistake a black curl'd Spaniel for a black Ram. 3. But under the Law the Musical Instruments in the Church were appoined by the Infallible Directions of Heaven 2 Chron. 29.25 He set the Levites in the House of the Lord with Cymbals with Psalteries and with Harps according to the Command of David and of Gad the Kings Seer and
Nathan the Prophet for so was the Command of the Lord by his Prophets But pray Sir where is your Command for Organical Worship under the Gospel You 've neither the Command of God nor of the King nor of the Parliament nor of any Convocation nor of any Canon or Rubrick and yet maugre all these awful Powers you 'll be meddling with your Pipes and hank'ring after the forbidden Fruit. Tho. Aquinas * Nihil debemus assumere in Divinum cultum Praeter ea quae nobis autoritate traduntur Aquin. Sum. Qu. 91. Art 1. Typ Mand. Ven. MDLXXXVI that grand Master of Church-Ceremonies even he cou'd say That nothing ought to be introduced into the Divine Service but what may be warranted by Scripture-Command But lest you shou'd take it as an Affront to be corrected by a Catholick Friend while you have a Mother alive I 'll therefore bring you under the righteous Sentence of her Maternal Censure Saith She †Homilies Serm. of good Works Part 3. p. 38. Such has been the corrupt Inclination of Man ever superstitiously given to make new honouring of God of his own Head and then to have more Affection and Devotion to keep that than to search out God's Commandments and do ' m. The Jews us'd 'm by Divine Order and therefore they were blest for the great End they were design'd for but that therefore God will bless 'm now to the same Ends when they are not commanded is such a Consequence that all the Espousers of the Organical Cause can never make good What they did was the matter of a Divine Command but being Ceremonial 't was abrogated by the Death of Christ and therefore can't bind us under the Gospel Upon which account you must produce some new Proof Order or Commission or be Content to own your selves guilty of adding the Traditions of sinful Men to the Sacred Canon Because the stiff-necked Jews of Old us'd Organs Psalteries Trumpets and Cymbals pursuant to the Heavenly Command may you therefore do 't now without a Command This is most wonderful Logick and it may be may pass for good arguing among a prophane Crew of singing Boys and their passionate Admirers We are not under the Law but under the Gospel So the Church of England speaks ‖ Her Discourse about the Abolition of Ceremonies Christ's Gospel is not a Ceremonial Law but it 's a Religion to serve God not in Bondage of the Figure or Shadow but in the Freedom of the Spirit That is God is to be worshipp'd now under the Gospel in Spirit and in Truth and not with the antiquated Ceremonies of the Law such as Cymbals Organs Sacrifices Trumpets Psalteries Now will any Man of common Sence plead for the use of a Thing as lawful under the Gospel because 't was made of Old a part of the Legal Service 4. And it 's certain the New Testament makes no mention of any Instrumental Musick us'd in Divine Worship and had it been really profitable wou'd the Holy Jesus and his faithful Apostles pass it by in such profound Silence Now Mr. Chorister I challenge you or any of your Musical Tribe to prove that ever Christ or his Apostles us'd recommended or encouraged the Practice of Instrumental Musick in the Sacred Assemblies of Christians It 's remarkable in Matth. 9.23 24 25. that Christ does no Miracle till he turns out the Pipers and Fidlers But suppose for once we humour your Fancy about Organs will you then tell me when and where you 'll stop If this be allow'd may you not by Parity of Reason introduce the whole Body of Romish Paganish Judaical and Mahometan Ceremonies into the Church If you are empower'd to bring in so considerable a thing as a pair of Devotional Organs why mayn't you 〈◊〉 the same Power fill the Church with a great many more new fangl'd Ceâ—â—â—â—nious Superstitions And at this rate why mayn't we expect a 〈…〉 of Articles and new Schemes of Religion ev'ry new Year 〈…〉 spawning of Novel Creeds and equipping out of Organical Confessioâ—â— every Spring CHAP. II. No Organs in the Primitive Church They were first introduc'd into the New Testament Church by Pope Vitalian about Six Hundred Years after Christ their use in Divine Service a Popish Practice in the Opinion of some Church-Men Many of Opinion they were not Churchify'd as soon as Vitalian's Time For there were no Organs in France and Germany in Aquinas's Time which was about Five Hundred Years ago The Fathers as Clemens Alexandrinus St. Chrysostom Isidore P. Theodoret Ambrose Austiu against the use of Organs in the Church SIR 1. IF what is wanting in the Sacred Text cou'd be made good by Authentick Primitive Records I shou'd not have attended this Musical Business I must needs say that I owe the Fathers of the Church the Debt of an Honourable Memory and therefore if you had fled for Refuge into the abstruse receptacles of venerable Antiquity I wou'd not have presum'd to haunt you out of your Burroughs but upon a little search into the Ancient Ecclesiastical Registers you 'll soon find that the Primo-Primitive-Christians never made use of Organs in their Applications to the Heavenly Throne The Ancient Fathers in their Writings are wholly silent they give us not the least hint that they approv'd of or had Organical Worship in the Church but we have a new Generation of Pipers that are wiser than their Fore-Fathers and able to fathom the Indian Gulph and if need be reach the twinkling Stars with a Jacob's Staff These are the evaporating Wits of the Age with whom alone if you 'll believe 'm the Chrystal Springs of Knowledge dwell No doubt but these Musical Gentlemen drew their first breath in Tempe or Parnassus and had Appollo himself for their Progenitor and the Harmonious Spheres for Nurses for their first and last Notes are nothing else but Lispt Meeter and Castalian Lays But see how this sidling humour draws me out o' th' way 2. Say some 't was about Six Hundred Years after Christ before Organs were introduc'd into the Christian Church The †Tandem Anno 666. pleno numero Bestiae Apoc. 13. Cantum Latinum cum Organis Ecclesiae a Vitalino Pontifice susceperunt missamq deinde Magdeb. Centur. Cent. 7. Cap. 6. Centuriators tells us That at last in the Year Six Hundred Sixty Six in the full number of the Beast in Revel 13th the Churches receiv'd Latin singing with Organs from Pope Vitalian and from thence began to say Latin Mass and to set up Altars with Idolatrous Images And of this Opinion are Balaeus Platina ‖ Plat. in Vital and others You may Note hence that this Theatrical pompous sort of Worship was first hatcht at Rome where a great many other Ecclesiastical Gewgaws and Gibble-Gabbles have been invented and had no meaner Person for it's Original than a Soveraign Pontiff and he none of the best of the Purple Order for by M. Prideaux he 's rank'd in the Class
to the deceit of Idols And in another Place he saith to this Effect †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Comment in Ps 32.2 3. that those Musical Instruments spoken of in the Old Testament agree to us if they 're understood spiritually And we must render our selves an Harmonious Organ to God and Praise him by the Instruments of all the Senses 6. Ambrose who Di'd Anno 397. ‖ Aug. Confess IX 7. introduc'd the Eastern Way of Singing at Milan to divert the good People that watch'd with him in the Church to prevent Justina Valentinian's Mother from delivering it to the Arians whose Heresie she favour'd And from Milan that more artificial way of singing spread through the Western Churches 7. This melodious Singing did so tickle St. Austin's Ears and cause in him such a degree of carnal Delight that the wishes 't were laid aside in the Church †Ab auribus meis remcveri velim atque ipsius Ecclesiae Conf. X. 33. and reckons it much safer to imitate the Alexandrian Way of singing in Athanasius's Time who made his Reader to sound the Psalm with so small a turn of his Voice ut pronuncianti vicinor esset quam canenti * Ibid. If the more artificial Way of Vocal Singing seem'd ensnaring to this devout Father what wou'd he have said to our Modern Organical Consorts 8. Add to all these the Account we have of the Primitive Worship viz. When the Congregation was assembl'd they first read the Scriptures and sometimes other Writings then Pray'd and then Preach'd and concluded with Prayer In our Publick Assemblies saith †Scripturae leguntur Psalmi canuntur ad locutiones proferuntur petitiones delegantur Tertull de Anima Cap. 3. Tertullian who Liv'd about the Year 202. after Christ The Scriptures are Read Psalms are Sung Sermons Preached and Prayers presented Not a Word of Common Prayer nor of the Vitalian and Gregorian Organical Cant which things were not known in the Primitive Church Thus you see the Venerable Fathers unanimously declare against the Ecclesiastical use of Organs and therefore you must either Rebel against their Paternal Authority or be content to Knock under as we say The Church of Old look'd like it Self a Pure Holy Virgin and had no Superstitious Ornamental Appendages to enhance it's Native Simplicity But Alas How is her beautiful Face now mangl'd As some of our modish Ladies who tho' Nature has accommodated 'm with comely Features yet ridiculously paint ' mselves So some of our Prelatical Tantivies have so miserably daub'd the Face of the Church with Organical and Spanish Dyes and other Ceremonious Untemper'd Mortar that if the Primitive Fathers were now alive again they cou'd not know their own Daughter Hinc illae Lachrymae We 'll conclude this Chapter with that excellent Prayer of our Church viz. God grant all us the Kings Highness faithful and true Subjects to feed of the sweet and savoury Bread of Gods own Word And as Christ commanded eschew all our Pharisaical and Papistical leven of Man's fained Religion Homily of good Works Part III. Page 38. CHAP. III. Many of the Reformed Churches without Organs Animadversions on those that have ' m. Several Modern Divines Church-Men Papists and others and the Church of England it self against the use of Organs in Divine Worship IN the next Place we 'll consider the extent of this Organical Worship and in doing that it mayn't be amiss to lay before you an Account of those Places where 1. Organs are not us'd in their Spiritual Worship And 2. Where they are us'd 1. There are many of the Reformed Churches and some of 'm the best in the World that never us'd Organs or any other Musical Instruments in their Sacred Assemblies and Worship As the Reformed Churches in Germany the Helvetian and French Protestant Churches Many of the Protestant Churches in Poland Sweedland Denmark and many of those in the Belgic Provinces The Hungarian and Transilvanian Churches and those of Piedmont The Scotch Churches All the Protestant Dissenting Churches and indeed the greatest Number of Parish Churches in England and Ireland Observe here 1. That the greatest Number and some of the purest Protestant Churches in the World have always been without Organs And 2. That the defect thereof has been no hindrance to the flourishing State of those Churches nay 3. If we may judge of the Tree by it's Fruit some of the Anti-Organical Churches have been the most eminently Pious and have most remarkably signaliz'd their Courage and Constancy in the persecuted Cause of Christ and Defence of Gospel-Simplicity which is the main Thing pleaded for in this Essay in Opposition to pompous and carnal Devotion 2. On the other Hand Organs are us'd in some of the Dutch Churches in some of the Lutheran Churches in Germany and Poland and the Greek Churches In our Cathedral Churches in England and in some few Parochial Churches and in the Popish Churches But then 1. As to the Dutch Churches it must be remembred that Organs were forc'd upon 'm by some Civil Magistrate against the Consent of the Dutch Ministers for at the National Synod held at Middleb Anno 1581. and in the Synod of Holland and Zealand in the Year 1594. 't was decreed That they wou'd endeavour to prevail with the Magistrates to banish Organs out of their Churches Nothing less than Banishment it seems wou'd serve their turn Such clamorous noisie bawling Creatures were not fit to dwell within the Calm and orderly Territories of the Church 2. As to the Lutheran Churches they ought not to be admitted as Patterns for they approve of and use many other Popish Novelties which all other Protestants justly abhor and condemn as Auricular Confession the Pictures of the Trinity singing Psalms in Latin Crucifixes in their Devotion Cum multis aliis But what if a Parcel of Consubstantiating Lutherans are inclin'd to divert ' mselves by the inarticulate sound of a few Musical Pipes must it therefore follow that English Protestants shou'd Dance after ' m As to the Greek Churches their Errors in material Things are equally obvious But 1. Zepperus observes that the Organs us'd in the Transmarine Reformed Churches are to Delight People at ordinary Times when the Worship of God is not perform'd But some of our high-flown Cassandrian English Love a little innocent Auricular Diversion in their Ecclesiastical Retirements and will not as much as open their Eyes towards the Heavens till they 're awaken'd and rouz'd up by the sound of an Organical Machin But that which makes me smile is to see poor little diminutive Parishes so eager for Organs when some of the Richest Parsonages in England are content to go to Heaven without ' m. But oh what a cursed Misery is it to be Poor and Proud And 2. He that Writes the late History of Denmark An Account of Denmark as 't was in the Year 1692. Edit 3. Chap. XVI pag. 233. tells us in Particular of the Danes That
they 're all great Lovers of Organs and have many very good ones with skilful Organists who entertain the Congregation with Musick during half an Hour either before or after Service Nay 3. It seems in Dr. Rivet's Time only Vocal Musick was us'd in our English Service and saith he * Si in Anglia vel alibi iis utuntur id aliis fit horis quam iis quae praeipuo Divino cultui sunt destinatae A. Rivet Cathol Orthod Qu. 36. p. 564. If Organs were us'd 't was not in the Hours of Divine Worship but at other Times and that to divert and recreate the People and not to edifie ' m. 3. And as to the English Churches there are Three Things I wou'd observe concerning ' m. 1. That the Churches that have Organs are very few compar'd with those that have no Organs at all If they are so eminently useful in Devotion as a mouthing Cathedralist Swears they are there 's no doubt but the Patrons and Rectors of our Rich Parochial Synagogues that are without 'm wou'd soon make their Ecclesiastical Arches eccho with the sound of Melodious and Charming Organists 2. Several eminent Church-men and other Reformed Divines have expresly show'd their dislike of Organs in our Divine Worship We 'll begin with The Learned Dr. Taylor 's Opinion about this sort of Ecclesiastical Musick He delivers himself to this Purpose The Vse of Singing Psalms is very apt for the Edification of Churches but as for Musical Instruments they are more apt to change Religion into Fancies Duct Dubit lib. 3. about the 329. p. and take off some of it's simplicity and are not so fitted for Edification He seems plainly to assert that this sort of Musical Service is really repugnant to spiritual Worship which is particularly injoyn'd in the Gospel And I've heard many Devout Kirk-men complain that instead of elevating their Affections it distracts their Thoughts and diverts the mind from being seriously intent on the Matter Sung But alas Sir you 're mistane in our Organists for they ne'r intended to be Religious among their Pipes Mr. Maxwell a Divine of the true Prelatical and Tory stamp In his Book entituled The Excellency of the Church of England above that of Geneva saith We agree with Reformed Divines that Instrumental Musick is neither a Part of nor a help to Divine or Ecclesiastical Worship Bravely said Maxwell The high-flown Scot is in the right on 't and the Confession is the more considerable because it 's voluntary and not forced by the pressure of a Scotch Boot Cowper * His Works in Folio Printed at London 1621. p. 371. Bishop of Galloway saith That the best Musical Instrument for God's Praise is an upright Heart And in 's Comment on the Revelations saith The Heart is the Harp the Strings of the Heart are the Affections The famous Dr. Lightfoot †His Works Vol. 11. p. 1060. has a very pertinent Passage to the Purpose saith he Christ abolisht the use of the Temple as purely Ceremonious but he perpetuated the Use of the Synagogue such as Reading the Scriptures Preaching Praying and Singing of Psalms and transplanted it into the Christian Church as purely Moral Now observe that Instrumental Musick was part of the Temple-Service and peculiarly so for 't was never us'd in the Jewish Synagogues or in their Parochial Worship And therefore we 've no more warrant to recall it into the Christian Church than we have to introduce Lamps Dances Frankincense Silver Trumpets or the like Peter Martyr ‖ Pet. Mart. in Judg. c. 5. who dyed about Year 1562 speaking about this sort of Church Musick saith It cannot be lawfully retain'd because the Auditors are so taken with it that they cannot apprehend and perceive the Words if they wou'd And therefore I think it 's almost as good for a Man to pay his Religious Devoirs to Heaven at B in the midst of Rosemary-Lane S where nothing is heard but the confus'd Rumblings of sonorous and clat'ring Tongues Or for ought I know his Advantage may be as great if he spends two or three Hours at a Quakers Dumb and Silent Conventicle The Truth on 't is Sir I Love Musick dearly well in it's proper Time and Place and Scruple not to divert my Self now and then by a pair of Domestical Organs but really I had almost as good hear the Mysterious Humms of a Parcel of Leaden-Hall Quakers as the loud inarticulate confus'd Noise of Ecclesiastical Pipes The one is as intelligible and edifying as t'other But I must not attend my demure Enthusiastical Quaker too long lest my Cloaths be sing'd for he smells strong of Italian Smoak which makes me presume there are some Roman Cinders in his Chimney To proceed Wendeline †Syst Theol. Edit Post p. 1643. saith of the same Musick That the Devil by a Canorous Musick tempts the Ears of Christians that it may emasculate and weaken their spiritual Vigor by a sweeter sound So that you may conclude hence when th' Organist Plays on 's Pipes there 's an invisible Dancer Zanchy on Eph. 5.19 saith read St. Jerom on this Place What he Writes against this Theatrical Gaudy sort of Musick by which Men are drawn to be more attent to the Melody of the Sound than the Words Calvin saith that the Jewish Altars and Frankincense are every whit as lawful as Musical Instruments in God's Worship But I 'll not insist upon a Geneva Cut when triangl'd Instances are so much in Fashion Zuinglius the first Reformer of the Helvetian Church is very warm against this sort of Worship * Zuinglii Act. Disp 2. p. 106. It 's evident saith he that Ecclesiastical Chanting is a most foolish vain abuse and a most pernicious hindrance to Piety Pezelius †Pez in Sleid. de Quatuor Imperiis who was Professor of Divinity at Bremen in the lower Circle of Saxony in his Notes upon Sleidan calls the Musical Instruments of Pope Vitalian the Thieves of Prayer and the Word Preached Many more might be added but I 'll conclude this Head with the Judgement of the Thirty Two Protestant Commissioners who were in the Reign of Henry VIII and Edward VI. appointed by Act of Parliament to examine and purge all Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial and Synodal do declare that they wou'd have all Instrumental Musick as Organs quite taken away out of the Church Reformatio legum Anglicarum de Divinis Officiis Imperf Tract The same Commission was reviv'd in Queen Elizabeth 's Reign but quickly dropt and to the great Prejudice of the Church has slept ever since as the Learned and Reverend Bishop Burnet saith The Persons Deputed to this Purpose were Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Ridley Bishop of London Ponet Bishop of Winchester Goodrick Bishop of Ely Coverdale Bishop of Exeter Hooper Bishop of Glocester Knight Bishop of Bath Scory Bishop of Rochester Mr. Taylor of Lincoln Mr. Cox the King's Almoner Parker of Cambridge
Cap. 14. Trumpets Cornets Dulcimers and with these Mens Voices are mixt Love-Songs and Filthy Songs to which Whores and Mimicks Dance are heard People run to Church as to a Stage to tickle their Ears and for this use are bred Organists and maintain'd at great Charge A Rabble of sordid and light Persons is bred and the Church is loaded with their maintenance and that too for a pestilent Imployment How many poor People that are ready to famish might be maintain'd with the Salaries of these singing Men It 's remarkable how our Author saith that People came to Church as to a Stage-play and Hospinian saith they went away ordinarily as soon as th' Musick for which alone they came was over And it 's well if th' Organical Part of Mankind be reform'd in our Days Now Sir shall Protestants declare so vehemently for th' use of these Ecclesiastical Whistles when even Roman Catholicks ' mselves condemn 'm as Enemies to spiritual Devotion And those of 'm that Dance after these Pipes how do they laugh at us for being their filly Apes It 's to me unaccountable that there shou'd be any English Protestants who in spite of Scripture Reason Antiquity and th' Church it self I say in spite of all these will yet be the Pope's Baboons and expose th' English Reformation to the Jears of Jesuits Priests and Fryers who deride us sadly for this notorious Piece of Religious Mimickry CHAP. IV. Organ Worship an improper Method to correspond with the End of Religion The Grand Organical Objection consider'd and answer'd The ill Consequence and the pretended good Effects of Religious Organs examin'd Th' Erecting Organs in a Parochial Church against th' Act of Vniformity and an unnecessary Charge to a Parish Organs rob the Poor Conclusion PRay Sir make your Conscience Chancellor in the Cause and tell me whether you really think the Heart-searching God is pleas'd with such Theatrical Pomp and noisie Ostentation in his Worship Or whether your Organical Chanting will recommend your Devotion any whit the more unto a Holy God Will that which tickles our itching Ears be delightful Melody in th' Ears of th' Eternal Being Will he be affected with that which pleases our distemper'd Fancies What has th' Almighty greater respect to the artificial sound of an Organ-pipe than to the dolorous Crys of a penitent Sinner To affirm any such thing wou'd be wickedly to represent Almighty God as if he were tinctur'd with the Vanity of degenerate Mortals It may be there are some Superstitious Fops and empty Noddies that may admire and applaud a Worship drest up Alaâ—node de Rome de Spain de Portugal I had almost forgot St. Germans En lay with the glitt'ring Ornaments of gaudy Ribbons and tow'ring Top-knots but I 'm sure wise and devout Protestants that know better things will Pitty their Childish Simplicity and Laugh at their Ridiculous Fooleries Lactantius Reprimands the Heathens severely for believing that their Gods did love what they affected Lactant. Instit Lib. 2. Cap. 7. and for believing that their Temples had so much the more Majesty by how much they were gay and adorn'd So the Church of England speaking of Church Images Precious Vestures Hom. against the Peril of Idol and Superstitious decking of Churches Part I. p. 12. and other Glittering Ornaments of the Church saith they 've nothing at all profited such as were Wise and of Understanding but have greatly hurt the simple and unwise occasioning 'm thereby to commit most horrible Idolatry Objection But Organs are helps to Devotion You must know Sir that generally we 're a Parcel of dull Souls especially at Church and the Senses of too many of us are extreamly stupify'd by Banly Opiats that the most charming Magick in our Rubrick can't possibly revive us and therefore have Thought of this Organical Expedient to New-vamp our Devotion For the Truth on 't is we 're e'en tir'd and I believe the most laborious Plow-man or Ditcher in the Parish wou'd not like it as hard as the Times are to be serv'd with Coleworts all the Year round and therefore we 're fully resolv'd to get a few Ecclesiastical Dainties to revive our drooping Spirits To which I Answer in these following Particulars 1. The Learned Bishop Burnet saith * Bishop B's Abridg. of the Hist of the Church of England Edit 2. Preface p. 7. All the helps to Devotion that the Gospel offers are in ev'ry one's Hands But Organs are not in ev'ry Bodies Hands and therefore according to his Judgment are no helps to Devotion 2. I must needs say that 's e'en a sad lame Devotion that stands in need of a few tweedling Organ-pipes to make it more brisk and lively Methinks by th' Air of this Objection your Organical Friends want a little Bottl'd Ale or a Dram of the Cask but because the Kirk-Wardens will not allow the Temple to be turn'd into a Tipling-House therefore you must have something else for that Time to elevate your depressed Minds and nothing like to a pair of rousing melodious Organs Surely Sir we 've a great many Phlegmatich Sinners among us and I wish there be no Saulites in the Hierarchy when there 's such violent Application made to Musical Diversions and Organical Plays The Learned Parous saith that to Advocate for Organs is impertinent for adds he In the Church the Mind is not to be rais'd to God and spiritual Joy by Pipes Trumpets and Timbrels which God of old indulged his People who were of a stiff neck and dull stupid Mind but by sacred Sermons Hinc vero Organorum usum templis velle defendere ineptum est In Ecclesia excitandus est animus ad Deum loetitiam non tibiis tubis tympanis quod veteri durae cervicis stupidae mentis populo Deus olim indulsit sed sacris concionibus Psalmodiis Hymnis Com. in 1 Cor. 14.7 p. 599. Edit 2de Psalms and Hymns Observe here 1. He calls the Votaries of Organs a foolish impertinent sort of People And it 's no wonder he brands 'm with so black a Character when they leave the Substance and run after the Shadow When an Heir is impleaded for an Idiot the Judge commands an Apple or a Counter with a Piece of Gold to be set before him to try which he 'll take and if he takes th' Apple or the Counter and leave the Gold he 's then cast for a Fool For he knows not the value of things or how to make a true Election And are not our Organical Sinners thus foolish For when Bugels and Diamonds Brass Counters and Gold are set before 'm they leave the Diamonds and Gold of the Gospel and please ' mselves with the Ceremonious Toys and Baubles of an abrogated Law And 2. He Asserts that spiritual Joy is not rais'd by Musical Instruments and if so then the Church-use of Organs is notoriously impertinent 3 He adds that the Jews were indulg'd in the use of 'm because they were
a stiff-necked stupid People Now methinks our Organical Neighbours look as like a parcel of Stubborn Jews as one Egge to another and some of 'm are as stiff-necked Bigots as ever the Jerusalem Jews were when besieg'd by Vespasian and as an evidence of their more than Jewish Bigotry they make Idols of Ceremonies and had rather see the Kingdom run down with Protestant Blood than Part with the least Hemm of a Consecrated Frock but they forward Souls will step more than half way o're th' Hedge to meet his Holiness of Rome But lest you shou'd think I 'm a little too uncharitable give me leave to tell you I deliver not my own Judgment but that of the Church of England her self for she in her Discourse of Ceremonies has this remarkable Passage And whereas in this our Time the Minds of Men are so diverse that some think it a great Matter of Conscience to depart from a piece of the least of their Ceremonies they be so addicted to their Old Customs And that you have a Pack of dull Animals in the Prelatical Constitution you acknowledg'd to me in your Fourth Letter wherein you added That these were the Poor Creatures that stood in need of a little Organical Assistance and 't was an Act of Charity to relieve 'm and you may remember that in my Answer I resolv'd this and a great many other Parochial Irregularities into the Ignorance ill Morals and ill Conduct of some dignified Drones among us who labour more for the Fleece than for the Flock But then Sir I made a Distinction and in particular assur'd you that the Parson of my own Parish was a Man of good Morals good Learning and of great Pains and therefore was justly excluded from those Censures If all that wear his Coat had but his Learning and exemplary Life I 'm sure our Critical Adversaries wou'd have no grounded occasion to hit us i' th' Teeth with the Scandals of Clergy-Men 3. If Organs may be us'd in Church-Worship to elevate our Affections Why mayn't other Inventions be added that may as effectually Answer the same End I 'll grant you as much as you desire that Musick may accidentally elevate a drousie Mind but so do a great many other things as a Skeleton a Bloody Lamb Devotional Images and Pictures and the Crucisix if you 're i' th' Humor to believe Lutherans and Romans but must they therefore be brought into Church and made a Part of the Ceremonial Service Risum teneatis 4. Are Organs helps to Devotion The Papists say the same of their Images Crucifixes Lighted Candles and all the stupendous Relicks mention'd in their Celebrated Legends Bellarmine makes a hideous Clamour about 's Altars Crosses Images Apud nos Altaria Cruces Imagines Relicks and pictur'd Walls those are they saith he that stir up Persons to Piety This is the very Language of our Organical Votaries By which we may Conjecture that there 's a Snake in the Grass for they can't plead for an Organ or Chant out an Ecclesiastical Ode but th' Old Cardinals Cant must be the Burden of the Song and then off it go's with a Bongrace The Papists say they don't adore th' Image but only use it as a visible medium as they do Organs Ne Imagini quidem Christi in quantum est lignum Sculptum ulla datur reverentia Aquinas by which they Worship the Invisible God and yet we count that Idolatry in 'm and Pray Sir are not our Organical Worshippers equally Guilty Or is that a Vertue in our Members of th' English Reformed Church which is a Vice in the Panders of the painted Jezabel of Rome And upon the same pretence as Organs are introduc'd into Divine Service the Walls of our Church may be fill'd with devotional Pictures to enflame th' Affections in fine what 's there that an English Protestant can say for an Organ which an Italian Papist will not say for a Crucifix and Carved Images the darling Instruments of Romish Devotion The Truth on 't is for you t' assert that by th' use of Organical Melody your Affections are rais'd to the Supream Being is in Effect the same as if a Woman shou'd say that she keeps Company with another Man to raise her Affections to her absent Husband 5. By this Objection you acknowledge not only the grievous lameness of your Church-Devotion but th' ineffectualness of the Common-Prayer to Cure it otherwise what need of consulting the Vitalian Oracle This puts me in mind of Serenus Cressy * Vid. his Letter to Mr. B. about Baker's Book who forsook the Church of England because as be saith he found no spiritual Devotion in 't And Hutchinson alias Berry the Priest Writes †B. Cain and Abel p. 134 135. That the most of serious Godliness among English Protestants is found among those call'd Puritans But I 'm sure the Modern Puritans have more Charity for their Friends and Neighbours than th' Objector's Catholick Friend has Here 's then a very considerable defect acknowledged that the Prayers and Preachments of the Church are liveless and dull for the Affections of these Organical Gentlemen are not excited by them but that we mayn't always be dull and drousy her 's a Muisical expedient thought upon and the Church-Worship shall be turn'd into a Stage-diversion and an Artificial contrivance and which I think shou'd it universally prevail will transform all Religion into meer Mechanism However I am glad to hear your languishing Devotion is of th' mending Hand and that you are resolv'd to shake off that Ecclesiastical Rust which your Affections have contracted for the want of rousing and powerful Pulpiteers But oh the strange Effects of Organ-Pipes What charming influence have they on dull and Melancholly Souls And now therefore who more happy than the Inhabitants of Organical Parishes By consecrated Bells they can drive away the Infernal Hobgoblins if they have but Faith enough to Believe what a Spanish Jesuit will Swear to be true and by the help of a pair of Melodious Organs they may Conjure not only the lazy and Ess-hole but all the Calvinistical Parishioners to Church and so their Pews shall be as throng as three in a Bed This puts me in Mind of a certain Philosopher who complain'd that when he spake Soberly to the People they gave him no Audience but playing on 's Pipes Multitudes floct after him Oh rare Melody What pity it 's all our Parlors are not Converted into so many pompous Theatrical Quires and that all our Bairnes and Servants are not train'd up in this Organical way What more revicing than a Canonical Consort of Musick What strange and wonderful feats have been perform'd by the Melodious charms of Musical Pipes These were the sweet Syrens that charm'd the famous Vlysses and 's Companions And Theophrastus tells us that by the Art of Musick the pain of the Hip-Gout has been cur'd Here 's good news to our Gouty-Parishioners if they can but make shift
to creep to Church and lay their left Ear to the leading Organ-Pipe the Cure is Effected only they must be sure to pay the Piper for Money is all Nay Zenocrates cur'd Mad-Men by the means of Musick Well then if you 'l be advised by a Friend send your Organical Musick to New-Bedlam and first try the experiment there for I 'm sure there are many in that dismal Place that want help Particularly two forlorn Church Parsons Mr. Pr d. Who you 'l find 'i th Tenth Figure And Mr. Perkins who was put in but few Months ago by my Lord Mayor upon the Request of his Grace of Canterbury as the publick News told us I 'd have you make tryal of skill on 'm for a good pair of Organs are an admirable Catholicon and therefore don't despair of success And when you 've turn'd Bedlam into a Colledge of Wisdom I do assure you I 'll heartily joyn Hand and Heart with you and be the most forward in the Croud to Cry Oh happy Cathedralists And what mighty Advantage have those that dwell near a Cathedral or an Organical Church Where a Man Ears shall be constantly regail'd with Harmonious Melody and the Health of the Body secur'd by the secret Charms of Canonical chanting And what is more for we 've reserv'd the best Wine till last the sweet and Melodious sound of the Pipes especially if they be consecrated will Effectually dispel all gloomy Thoughts out of your Minds and you shall be as Merry as forty Beggars in a Barn and never fall any more into the Quagmire of Melancholly and madness But after all the Patriarchs of St. Davids and St. Asaph must confess that the charming Melody of Organs has not been able to preserve the Sacred Quire from the great Plague of Simony But both Church and State have honorably Acquitted ' emselves from this Guilt by exposing the Criminals to the Righteous and publick Censure of the Law But pray Sir to be serious upon what bottom do your Friends and you go I 've been told you can't regularly Erect a pair of Organs in your Parish-Church unless you be Authoriz'd by some just Power either by the King Parliament Convocation Canons or Rubrick And if you 're not authoriz'd by these or some or one of 'm I humbly conceive you're accountable to Authority for a breach of the Law of Uniformity But I 'm sure you 've no power from His Majesty no warrant from any Statute Enacted by Parliament nor from any Canon or any Convocation nor from any Rubrick in our English-Common-Prayer-Book for the setting up Organ-Worship in your Parochial Church And many of the Learned are of Opinion that according to th' Act of Uniformity and the Constitution of the Church of England no particular Pastor of a parish-Parish-Church is allow'd to introduce new Rites and Modes of Worship into his parish-Parish-Church over and above what are Appointed by the Act of Uniformity without a warrant either from a Parliament or Convocation The Church of England her self speaks expresly to this very purpose in her Discourse about the Abolition of Ceremonies Her Words are That no Man ought to take in Hand or presume to appoint any publick or common Order in Christ's Church except he be lawfully called and authoriz'd thereunto Pray then Sir have not your Organical Friends by their appointing this new Model of Worship out-run Canons Convocations Rubricks and Homilies and travel'd as far as Rome it self before some of their Brethren have crept as far as Canterbury And pray Sir mayn't overdoing the Rule as well as underdoing Mayn't excesses as well as defects in reference to the same Canon be a real Schism in the Church How comes it to pass that only defects in Dissenters are Sins and yet excesses in Conformists are such Vertues Why is' t that a Man may advance towards Rome and be no Schismatick but yet one glance o' th' Eye towards Geneva makes him a damnable one What is' t no Crime in a Church-Man to out run the Constable In a word mayn't the Statute of Uniformity be violated by a Supra-Conformity as well as by Subter-Conformity And if so your Organ-Adorers ought to be Excommunicated ipso facto and not restor'd until they Repent and publickly revoke this wicked Error As to Mr. Baxter's Arguguments for Organs I 'm ready to account for 'm if call'd upon And as to the Parish it self where these Organs are to be Erected It 's reported to be generally poor and not without just reasons complains bitterly of some late unreasonable Impositions laid upon 't by Lay-kirk-Officers And Sir shall we encourage 'm to add to the Burthen For you know that the purchase of a pair of Organs will be very chargeable And must the Purses of the poor Parishioners be squeez'd again to gratify the Musical fancy of a few Persons that are a little more Merrily giv'n than their mortifi'd Neighbours Besides will any of our Friends be so unnatural to Posterity as to entail perpetual Italian Gabels as an Inheritance upon ' m For you and they can't but know that a pair of Organs will be a constant Charge to the Parish and you 've already more Poor than you 're well able to maintain Therefore in the Name of the Poor of the Parish what do you mean Will you bring in the Babylonian Bell and Dragon among 'm to devour 'm a live I 've read that Pharoah's Lean Kine eat up the Fat Ones but for the Fat Ones to eat up the Lean is most horridly unconscionably But thus 't is in some Towns and Parishes as in some Fish-Ponds Five or Ten great Jacks devour all the small Fry and so if things go on at this rate in a short time we must all joyn in Consort with the Jovial Beggar and sing A begging we willgo The poor Parishioners must throw away their Money upon Organs when 't may be their Family want Bread at home Nay and these poor Sheep must not bleat neither tho' severely clipt they must be dumb and if any of them be so mad as plead Poverty or complain of Oppression then a parcel of sinful Scoundrels are immediately sent to rifle the House and these forsooth are authoriz'd to turn Auctioneers and to sell the Poor man's Goods by an inch of Candle and his Neighbour for 's impertinence is consign'd over to the Ecclesiastical Purgatory the most intollerable Grievance that the English Nation this Day groans under * Notes in usum Sarum p. where he 's worri'd out of 's Life by a mercyless Crew of Infernal Locusts that feed upon the Sins of the People Now Sir it 's hop'd you 're in some measure convinc'd how you and your Organical Companions have Erred and strayed from your Ways like lost Sheep and have followed too much the Devices and desires of your own Hearts for from the whole it 's evident that Organ-Worship was part of the Ceremonial Law which is now abrogated that the Apostolical and Primitive
Fathers have not as much as a favourable Sentence to befriend the Cause of your admired Organs that Organ-Worship is a Popish Neoterical practice foisted into the Church when Church-Men had prostituted ' mselves to the Babylonian Whore and ever since this and such like Meritorious Pomp has been accounted the greatest Splendor of the Romish Hierarchy The Church of England her self has born a very ample Testimony against you and what will the true Sons of the Church as they call ' mselves have no Umbrage of regard to her grave Dictates To own her as a Mother and yet to slight her Advice shows that you mind your beloved Organs more than your Fifth Commandment In a forequoted place the Church complains bitterly of the excess and Multitude of Ceremonies that the burthen of 'm was intollerable These are her own Words And what will you add more when your good Antient Mother complains there are too many already One wou'd think that they that cry up the Church the Church shou'd show greater degrees of Reverence to her Maternal Authority and not prefer sensitive Contentments before their Mothers Blessing But I perceive that those who Proclaim themselves the Sons of the Church and pray make Room for them for they be bulky ones God bless 'm after all are but a parcel of over-grown Children that are past Correction And Children will be Children still and therefore no wonder that there are so many tak'n up with Childish Toys and Bartholomew trifles but one wou'd think you and your Musical Acquaintance big enough to be asham'd to ride upon a Penny Colt or a two Penny Gelding tho the famous Alcibiades did once to please a Child Condescend Ludere par impar equitare arundine longâ To play the Fool at Even or Old And for a Hobby-horse ride a Rod. But if Organs are so eminently useful pray shall I ask you a few Innocent Questions before we part 1. Why have you been so long without ' m No doubt but ye are the Men and Wisdom shall dye with you But how then comes it to pass that you did not think sooner of this Ecclesiastical Artillery to mend your crazy Devotion Or were our Organical Friends born under a Midsummer-Moon Whether they were or not I dare not pretend to so much Astrology as to determine it But sure I am the Lord of their First-House was wonderfully culminant or else it 's impossible it shou'd ever enter into their Pericrany's to advance Folly and Vanity Pride and Pomp into the Ecclesiastical Throne in so notorious a manner 2. If Musick in Divine Worship be so good why don't you add more Musical Instruments For good added to good makes the greater good and you know two good things are better than one and the more the Merryer Ay but nothing compar'd to a pair of Organs Oh Organs dainty brave Organs they 're all in all the very Cream of the jest and Prim'st Jannock 'i th oon In a word we 've luckily hit upon a Soverain Remedy that'l never fail to rouse up the most Phlegmatick Endymion in the Paroch 3. If there be such Excellency in Organs why are there so many Parishes that were never yet honour'd with a Choir of Musical Levites If they 're ignorant and don 't know the worth of this sort of Musical Devotion Then the Beams of the Ecclesiastical Light are not so diffusive and penetrating as is usually pretended and our Parochial Guides are accountable for this our damnable Sin of Ignorance But and if they be poor and can't purchase and maintain a pair of Expenceful Organs without selling their Patrimony then in the Name of the poor Parishes of England I humbly beg and beseech all Parsons by what Names or Titles soever dignified or distinguished who have their hundreds and their thousands per Annnm to contribute towards the purchasing of Religious Organs for 'm and towards the Annual charge that attend them But mum not a Penny I 'll secure you But it 's time to think of parting for it 's late And besides you know it 's excessive Cold and that our Consort of vocal and Instrumental Musick has lasted long longer than any that has been known in Salisbury-Court for these Seven Years last past 〈◊〉 pray Sir Excuse my freedom and attribute the Exorbitancy of my Pen to that pleasant motion which the very thoughts of Melodious Musick put upon my juvenile Blood And as to this trouble I question not but you 'l be so just as to place it to your own Account because your excess of Reverence for Ecclesiastical Musick and your earnest Request to me for my Sentiments about it drew it upon your self and I hope you 'l Love me never the less because I part abruptly and conclude without Ceremony SIR Your's Affectionately to serve you without the Accent of Organs ADVERTISEMENT A Letter to a Friend in the Country concerning the Use of Instrumental Musick in the Worship of God In Answer to Mr. Newte's Sermon Preach'd at Tiverton in Devon on the Occasion of an Organ being Erected in that Parish-Church Printed for A. Baldwin at the Oxfard-Arms in Warwick-Lane 1698.