Newtes Chargeable Organ But our Author the better to countenance this Critical Remark of his cites a passage from a discourse of the Bishop of Derry Ser. p. 12. ‖ Of Inventions of Men in the Worship of God c. 1. §. 1. A Reverend Prelate saith he observes from hence if they had not approved the Jewish way of singing them which was with Instruments they would not have used a word that imported it And I think a Reverend Presbyter * Mr. Boyse Remarks p. 18. has long ago given a sufficient reply to the Argument of this Reverend Prelate For saith he I confess his Lordship would perswade us the Apostles recommend such Musical Instruments because the Apostle James when he exhorts those that were merry to sing Psalms uses the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jam. 5.13 which he tells us signifies singing with Instruments But surely his Lordship can lay no stress upon this Argument when it is so apparently weak and so often concludes wrong of which I shall give him a Parallel instance of his own He tells us p. 111. that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word generally used in the New Testament for Worship signifies to pay homage by kissing the hand And might he not as wisely infer from thence that we are still obliged to pay our external homage the same way But if he look again upon that passage of the Apostle James he will find this slender Criticism too weak a Foundation for Organs to stand upon because the Apostle could not reasonably suppose all those to have Instruments of Musick by them or to be capable of using them whom he there Exhorts to vent their Spiritual Joys by singing of Psalms Of which reply the Bishop has that I can find taken no Notice in his rejoinder Ser. p. 12. But our Author goes on Nay it is not to be doubted but that they who took so much care for the Regulating and well Ordering of the Church in after Ages would have cautioned against it if they thought it improper 1. That the Apostles took care for the Regulating and well Ordering of the Church in after Ages is not to be doubted but will it thence follow that they must needs have expresly cautioned against whatever might be improper in the Worship of God What thinks he Are Oyl and Cream and Spittle fit to be used in Baptism Are Kettle-Drums and Horns fit to be used in the Praising of God in the Sacred Assemblies of Christians Which things are used by the Papists sometimes in their Publick Devotions I will take leave to suppose for once that our Author will say these things are very improper And yet we do not find that ever the Apostles cautioned against them It is enough that they have in general cautioned against a Pompous Superstitious and Theatrical Worship 2. This Argument if such it may be called may easily be Retorted upon the Author of the Sermon and may be as well imployed if not better against Organs than for them For if Organs are of so excellent a use in the Worship of God of so great an efficacy to excite the affections to exalt the Devotions of Christians to compose their thoughts to drive away evil suggestions from their minds and to render People more Reverent and Serious in Sacred Solemnities all which our Author affirms of them It is strange the Apostles who took so much care for the Regulating the Church in after Ages should give no Charge to Christians about them They have been careful to instruct Christians as to Vocal Melody but as to the use of Instrumental Musick they are totally silent Certainly had the Apostles apprehensions of it been conformable to those of our Author they would not have passed it over in so absolute a silence This Argument I think recoils upon him to his own disadvantage But he has recourse to some other places of the New Testament which he presumes may do good service to the Cause he has espoused For he tells us That Instrumental Musick has an Analogy with the Angelical Songs and Heavenly Exultations in the Quire of the Blessed Saints who are represented Rev. 14.2 as Harpers harping with their Harps and having the Harps of God Rev. 15.2 Which places concern the Publick Worship of God in the Church the Joys of the Saints in Heaven and in Earth and the Triumphant Rejoicings of Christians for the Victory over their Enemies according to the Judgment of some Expositors In the Margin refering us to Baxter Bullinger and Hammond But to this a few things as 1. The obscurity of a considerable part of the Book of the Revelations is confessedly so very great that an Argument drawn from the Obscure part of it cannot be thought to be very satisfactory For if the premises are dark and of an uncertain sense the conclusion will not easily gain Credit Therefore I think it a weakness in any Man to go about to establish any Doctrine or Theological Position from any passage of the Revelations the sense of which may be very dubious or uncertain 2. But saith he Instrumental Musick has an Analogy with the Angelical Songs and Heavenly Exultations in the Quire of the Blessed Saints I suppose he means no more than that it does somewhat resemble the Angelical Songs and Heavenly Exultations in the Quire of the Blessed Saints Let this be granted him what would he thence infer What! That Instrumental Musick is now Warrantable in the Christian Worship I see no danger in denying the Consequence Because there may be some Analogy some resemblance between the Angelical Songs and Instrumental Musick I cannot think that sufficient Evidence of the Lawfulness of such Musick in the Sacred Assemblies of Christians The Joys at a Marriage Feast may somewhat resemble the Joys of the Saints above and the Sacred Scripture sometimes resembles these by those Rev. 19.9 is thus by many understood Shall we thence conclude that the Expressions of Joy at a Marriage Solemnity as Dancing Laughter and the like are Warrantable in the Solemn Worship of God Heavens Happiness in condescention to our weak Conceptions is frequently decyphred in Scripture by Comparisons and Images taken from Material things here below Will that warrant us to Conclude all those things fit presently to be adopted into the Spiritual Worship of Christians I cannot suppose our Author will own a thing so absurd and if he doth not he must confess his Argument inconclusive But the Saints above are represented Revel 14.2 as Harpers harping with their Harps and having the Harps of God Revel 15.2 Well be it so 1. Many Expositors explain those Texts as Importing the great Chearfulness and Triumphant rejoycing of the Saints in Glory and this in allusion to the sweet Melody of Old in the Temple of Jerusalem By Harps we may understand the Spirits of the Saints fitted and tuned by the Spirit of God And by the Musick of those Harps we may understand their great Chearfulness in their
of our Lord want this Did Ignatius Polycarp Clemens Romanus and the other Zealous and Affectionate Christians of those days need this sort of Musick to Exalt their Devotions I know no reason we have to believe that their Devotion then was so lame and languid as that they stood in need of Harps and Organs to raise and heighten it I am satisfied a Man may assert it without the danger of being caught in a mistake that the Devotion of the Primitive Christians was as raised and elevated without these Musical Instruments as this Gentleman is with all the Melodious noise of his pompous Organ The Devotion of the Ancient Christians was not so dull and flat as this Author would insinuate it to have been * Serious compass Enquiry Introduct Dr. Goodman †speaking of the Primitive Christians saith The Holy Men of those times that approached our Saviour had as it were some rays of his Divinity shed upon them and their faces shone like Moses 's when he came down from the Holy Mount A Christian Church was a College of Holy and good Men and the Glory of God filled the place where they Assembled and fire came down from Heaven too but not to set the World in Combustion but to exhale and lift up the odours of pious and devout Prayers but since those times Zeal hath decayed c. If you please to consult Dr. Cave's Primitive Christianity you will find much more to the same purpose I wish our Authors applauded Organ Pipes might revive the Primitive Zeal and Devotion but I see no grounds to hope that they should ever produce so glorious an effect 6. But adds our Author The just Encomium they give of it Ser. p. 11. shews what was their mind and desire about it though they were not able to bring it to effect By which he would fain perswade his Readers that the Primitive Christians have given ample Encomiums of Instrumental Musick as used in Christian Assemblies or as useful in Christian Churches For that must our Author mean or he speaks nothing to the purpose But supposing you to have perused the passages I have cited from some of the Fathers with respect to this sort of Musick I will leave it to you to judge whether it be probable they should give an Encomium of it But how does he prove that the Primitive Christians have given an Encomium of Instrumental Musick Why truly very strangely And it is very observable in this Author that the strength of his Arguments rarely equals the boldness of his Assertions In the Margin he refers us to some of the Fathers as having in his apprehension spoken great things in the commendation of this sort of Church-Musick He cites a passage from * Epist ad Donat. pâ—â—dâ—ctat aures Religiosa Mulcedo Cyprian which he conceives may give in some evidence to this But how little is this to his purpose How does he prove that by Religiosa Mulcedo the Father intended Instrumental Musick Let any Man read the close of that Epistle of St. Cyprians and he will be convinced that he speaks of Vocal and not Instrumental Musick Besides he speaks of Musick in Private * In Convivio sobrio at a sober Meal or Banquet And thus the Learned Dr. Cave †Primit Christian p. 265. understands him Now because St. Cyprian allows of Vocal Musick at a Private Meal will he thence infer that he commends the use of Instrumental Musick in the Worship of God in Publick What might not a confident Man be able to prove from the Writings of the Fathers if this way of arguing might be allowed him But then our Author sends us to St. Basils Homilies on Psal 1. and to St. Austin in various places as commending and approving Instrumental Musick in the Worship of God What others may have done I cannot tell but I could never meet with any thing either in St. Austin or St. Basil that will any thing countenance what he asserts Had he found any thing considerable in these Fathers for his purpose I make no Question but we should have had it inserted in the body of his Sermon or at least he would have graced his Margin with it But when he shall think fit to produce any considerable Testimonies from these Fathers to prove what he has asserted I think it will then be time enough to give a reply to them I have taken no small pains in Consulting the Works of St. Austin to see if I could find any thing in the Writings of that Father which might look favourably upon our Authors position And after all the search I have made I must profess that I can find nothing which will warrant this Gentleman to say that St. Austin gives an Encomium of the use of Instrumental Musick in the Worship of God Indeed I have met with one passage in St. Austin in which he fairly makes the Instrumental Musick used of old by David to have been Typical consult the Margin ‖ De Civit. Dei Lib. 17. cap. 14. Erat autem David vir in canticis eruditus qui Harmoniam Musicam non vulgari voluptate dilexerat eâque Deo suo qui verus est Deus Mysticâ rei magnae figuratione serviens diversorum nomine sonorum rationales moderatosque concentus concordi varietate compactam benè ordinatae Civitatis ininsinuat unitatem c. I am satisfied that this passage says more against him than any thing he can produce from that Father will make for him Thus I have considered the strength of his Second Argument and have I suppose sufficiently discovered its invalidity 3. Now I come to examine his Third Argument which he takes from the sense of the Apostles in the New-Testament as he speaks Could he produce any evidence of the Apostles having recommended or encouraged the use of Instrumental Musick in the Sacred Assemblies of Christians it would be much to his purpose And the Cathedrals would have an admirable Champion in him and the Singing-Men would have cause to con him thanks in a grateful and melodious Song But let us attend his Argument He first cites a Text or two and then argues from them The Texts he cites are Ephes 5.19 St. Paul saith he there recommends the use of Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs and Singing and making melody in our Hearts to the Lord. And St. James saith Jam. 5.13 Is any Merry let him sing Psalms So dull am I that I should ne're have thought an Argument for the Lawfulness of the Use of Instrumental Musick in the Worship of God to have lurkt there But I see a Man may live and learn But how does our Author Improve these Passages to his purpose Why thus By which doubtless they understood the Psalms of David p. 11 12. which are used in the Jewish Church and by Singing of them in both those places it is to be supposed they mean with Instruments of Musick And to make
not be undermined by a treacherous Comprehension Should there be such a Comprehension as would take in Atheists Deists and Socinians into the Church it would really be a Treacherous Comprehension and tend directly to the Churches Subversion But if sober Protestant Dissenters who are sound as to the Doctrines they believe Lovers of Morality and of a good Life tho' somewhat differing in their Apprehensions as to less concerning matters from those of the National Establishment should be comprehended such a Comprehension would be far enough from undermining the Churches Foundation and would disclaim the Epithet of Treacherous The Church would be the more enlarged and strengthened by it and it would more conduce to her Glory her Beauty and her lasting Tranquility than a Hundred pair of Organs The Protestant Dissenters e're now have been thought of use to help to give a Check to the Growth of a Popish Faction amongst us And they are always ready to be helpful in that kind They would not undermine or betray the Church but do their utmost to strengthen and defend it It ought not to trouble us saith Dr. Goodman * Sermons p. 244. that some Men i. e. Protestant Dissenters should enjoy someshare of Advantage by this Revolution since it is not only what we vowed to God and promised to them in our Adversity but is that which cannot be denyed them consistently with our own safety And why should they not have an Advantage so great as that of a Comprehension amounts to Were there many more Persons of sound Doctrine of peaceable Tempers of Holy Conversations admitted into the Church would she be the worse for it Would it be Treachery to admit such for her Members I am satisfied our Author will never be able to prove it so If Persons are sound as to their Doctrines unblameable as to their Lives and promise to live peaceably under the Government and to endeavour in their Capacities its support Why should they be kept out of the Church for their suspecting some Un-scriptural Terms of Communion to be unlawful I have read some Interrogatories in the Bishop of Worcesters Irenicum In the Preface which I never yet met with a fair Reply to I wish our Author would allow them a serious perusal Saith that Learned and Reverend Prelate What possible Reason can be assigned or given why such things should not be sufficient for Communion with a Church which are sufficient for eternal Salvation what ground can there be why Christians should not stand upon the same Terms now which they did in the times of Christ and his Apostles Was not Religion sufficiently guarded and fenced in then Was there ever more and Cordial Reverence in the Worship of God What Charter hath Christ given the Church to bind Men up to more than himself hath done Or to exclude those from her Society who may be admitted into Heaven Will Christ ever thank Men at the great Day for keeping out such from Communion with his Church whom he will vouchsafe not only Crowns of Glory to but it may be Aure ole too if there be any such thing there The grand Commission the Apostles were sent out with was only to teach what Christ had commanded them c. I wish our Author would calmly consider these things But our Author extreamly dreads any thing of an alteration in his Church For saith he every alteration in so well ordered a Constitution will be for the worse and give too great an occasion for the Triumph of her Enemies who would be glad to have her honour laid in the dust 1. Will every alteration in so well-ordered a Constitution be for the worse Then the introducing of Organs into the Worship of God in Parish Churches will be for the worse for it is no part of this Constitution 2. But I am not of this Gentlemans Opinion that every Alteration in the Constitution of the National Church will be for the worse I humbly conceive some alteration may be made for the better Suppose the Cross in Baptism the Surplice and Kneeling at the Sacrament were left indifferent as to use as they are pretended to be in their own Nature Would not this be better than to make them necessary conditions of Communion with the Church by which many Persons of eminent Piety are excluded the Church who would otherwise be admitted into it These little things as they are esteemed by the Imposers themselves occasion great Heats and Contentions and fruitless Controversies which would soon have a period upon the leaving these things indifferent What if some exceptionable passages in the Common-Prayer-Book were altered or expunged As the Rubrick concerning Baptism viz. It is certain by Gods Word that Children which are Baptized dying before they commit actual Sin are undoubtedly saved And those words used at the Interment of all Persons tho' never so Lewd and Vicious viz. Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great Mercy to take to himself the Soul of our Dear Brother here departed c. What if some Chapters of the Canonical Books were appointed to be read in the room of the Apochriphal Lessons What if one or both of the Parents were admitted to undertake for their own Children at Baptism to the laying by of God-fathers and God-Mothers What if the Pastoral Authority was taken out of the hands of the Lay-Chancellors and excercised only by the Clergy What if Persons supposing they were qualified for the Ministry by a Competent Knowledge by soundness of Doctrine an unblameable Life and by giving security to the Government of their Peaceableness and Loyalty were admitted to the Ministerial Function and the Exercise of it without giving their Assent and Consent to all things contained in the Liturgy or Book of Common-Prayer Suppose these and some such other alterations were made would it be for the worse I am satisfied they would not and our Author will never be able to prove they would be prejudicial or detrimental to the Church 3. But he offers at a Reason against all Alterations Because they would give too great occasion for the Triumph of her Enemies who would be glad to have her honour laid in the dust To which I have only this to say at present That such Alterations as would be for the enlargement of the Church for the strengthning her Interest and the rendring of her the more formidable to her Enemies would not occasion their Triumph although it might be the matter of their Grief and Envy I am prone to believe that few Persons who impartially consider the state of our Case in this Nation but will be forward to conclude that there is nothing which the real Enemies of the Church of England so much dread as a taking of the Sober Protestant Dissenters into the Bosom of the Church The Churches Enemies he saith would be glad to have her Honour laid in the Dust Then I am satisfied that the Moderate Dissenters are no Enemies to the Church