in a setled state of things exceptions to the expediency of them can never justify the interrupting the Order and Quiet of the Society On of the chief of these Expediences is that those Rites have a real tendency to make good Impressions on peoples minds that they put those who practice them in mind of their duty so that there is some good signification in them The objection against Significant Ceremonies as being of the nature of Sacraments will appear to be founded on a great mistake If we state a little the difference between the signifying or expressing some part of our duty with such proper acts of our minds as do become the occasion and the signifying some blessing that is offered or conveyed to us by God in the use of that Action The former is far from the nature of a Sacrament and indeed is only a mute way of speaking For actions as well as words may become instituted Signs to express our thoughts But indeed if we should fancy that such Rites did offer or convey into our minds those things that are signifi'd by them as a foederal Institution to which a Divine Vertue were annexed this were to consider them as Sacraments the Institution of which is unquestionably beyond the power of the Church but it is quite another thing when Rites are appointed as means only to raise in our minds suitable and corresponding thoughts To instance this in one particular If we pretended that by the use of the Cross in Baptism a divine vertue were conveyed to the Person baptized that deadned him more entirely to the World and wrought him up to a greater conformity to Christ then here were a new Sacrament set up which could not be justified But when it is only meant as an exhibiting the form of the Cross of Christ to put us in mind of our obligation to imitate him and to suffer for him here is only a Rite that speaks to us in an â—ction which is explained by the words that accompany it It is more important which is urged from the abuse of Rites to Idolatrous Practices This was the first objection that was started among us against the Habits in the Worship of God and had without doubt a very plausible appearance since a great part of the Mosaical Law seemed to be the establishing many Rites merely to put them in a great opposition to the Gentiles and to set them at the vastest distance possible from their Idolatrous or Magical Practices Yet at the same time many others of those Instituted Rites are by some very Learned Men proved to have been taken from other Practices of the same Idolaters that were more innocent in themselves tho abused as the rest of their Rites were to Idolatry The Iews had certainly very much corrupted their Religion by the addition of many Rites and by their over valuing those Additions And yet two of these were made use of by our Saviour to be the Sacraments of his Church But besides this a great difference is to be made between Rites that were in their first use invented for the pomp of Idolatry and were in their first use applied to it and those which had been in use long before those Idolatrous Practices begun and were afterwards applied to them In these last if their abuse is taken away and the first and simple usage is revived this seems to be no compliance with either Idolatry or Superstition To go on with the former Instance we find the Primitive Christians used the making a Cross in the Air or upon their Bodies on many occasions afterwards when a Divine Vertue was fancied to accompany that Ritual Action it was used in Baptism as a sort of Incantation for with the use of it the Devil was adjured to go out of the person that was to be baptized such an usage made it a Sacramental and a Superstitious Action and if it had been still retained in that form as it was in the first Reformation of our Liturgy in King Edward the VIth's time I do not see how it could have been justified but since it had been an ancient Form to use the Sign of the Cross the Church might well have retained this in some of her Rites and it belonged to none of them so properly as to the Initiatory Sacrament in which the first use of it was retained and the succeeding abuse was laid aside Since also we find that the Primitive Christians received the other Sacrament in the posture in which they prayed to God and since the posture in which all our Prayers are now made is kneeling it might be very proper to go through this whole Office from beginning to end in the posture of Prayer But this could not be so well excused if the posture were left free till the Consecration and if then only kneeling were required this were indeed to continue a practice that had been abused by Idolatry which could not be justified So that the abuse of Forms may require the altering them from that method in which they were abused but cannot import an obligation to abstain wholly from the use of them in another method It may be a very just matter for a publick deliberation whether such things ought to be retained they being freed from such Abuses or not On the one hand The People who are apt to be much struck with a total change of outward Forms especially when that is suddenly made may be more easily brought about if the Alterations are not too sensible but that some things seem to remain to which they had been accustomed and for which they retained a value Now since Mankind is so weak that some lesser Frailties ought to be indulged while more Criminal ones are not to be spared here was a very specious ground to persuade the continuance of those Rites and that the rather because we find the Apostles themselves complied with the Iews in Instances of a much higher nature They circumcised some they observed Iewish Rites and to the Iews they became Iews as they became all things to all men St. Paul took vows on him and went to the Temple to be purifi'd which could not be done but with a Sacrifice And though he still stood upon the exemption of the Gentiles from the obligations of their Law yet he himself together with other born Iews complied with them in their Observances Now when it is considered that these were typical Laws that were accomplished by the coming of our Saviour and that the Iews pleaded still for the continuance of them so that it was indeed the main controversy of that time it will appear that the compliance of the Apostles in such things was liable to much juster Objections than any that can be brought against obedience to Constitutions that are about things of their own nature innocent and indifferent But yet we see the Apostles judged that as long as the Temple stood and that God's Wrath was not yet poured out on
the Impieties and Vices of all sorts that are among us and not wonder rather that we have not been made a scene of Earthquakes and Ruins as Sicily Malta and Jamaica have of late been It is to these sins that we ought to turn the minds of our people when they are at any time dejected with ill success we ought to call upon them to repent of and to reform their ways and when that is done or even set about we may then hope that God will change his methods towards us and continue his Gospel among us together with the Blessings of a Iust and Wise Government and of Peace and Plenty These are Subjects on which we ought to dwell much and Preach often But that I may not dismiss this matter without any thing that looks like an Argument I will open to you two great Precedents which you have often heard me enlarge on with much seeming satisfaction and because you have thought that I laid them out in a more particular manner than you had otherwise met with them I will now spread them out before you and that the rather because Arguments from Examples and authorised practices have upon many Accounts a stronger Influence than general reasonings Matters of Fact are easier apprehended and more capable of full proof than points of speculation which do more easily bend to any turn that a Man of Wit may give them than meer Facts which are stubborn and sullen The first of these is taken from the History of the Maccabees which I desire you will consider by these steps That the Jews became the Subjects of the Kings of Babylon by the Entire Conquest which Nebuchadnezzar made of that Nation that after the end of 70 Years they continu'd to be subject to Cyrus who tho he sent them back to rebuild their Temple and tho his Successors suffer'd them both to finish that and to rebuild and enclose Jerusalem yet they continu'd still to be the Subjects of the Kings of Persia this was transferred to Alexander the Great when he conquer'd that Empire And finally they fell to the share of the Kings of Syria and were their Subjects above 140 Years They proved hard Masters to them Antiochus Epiphanes robb'd the Temple in the 143 Year of the Seleucida a great Massacre followed but these were particular Acts of Tyranny and so tho there was great mourning upon this yet it was submitted to For certainly the Peace of Mankind and the Order of the World require that special acts of malversation and even of Trranny should be born rather than that we should shake an established Constitution But in the year 145. he went on to a total Subversion of their Religion by an Edict which required that they should forsake their Law and become one People with him In pursuance os which the Altar at Jerusalem was defiled Idolatrous Altars were set up in all their Cities and every Man was to be put to Death that still adhered to the Law of Moses Here then were Subjects brought under a general Sentence of Death unless they should depart from the Laws of God special Oppressions and violent Acts of Cruelty were submitted to but when they saw themselves involved all in the same common fate they defended themselves Mattathias not only refused to join in the Idolatry that they had set up but killed both him that went to offer the Sacrifice and likewise the King's Commissioner upon which the Historian adds this Reflection Thus dealt he zealously for the Law of God like Pianehas he a nimated his Children to follow his Example and to trust in God but he vouched no immediate warrant that he had from God He charged his Children to be zealous for the Law and to give their Lives for the Covenant of their Fathers to be valiant and to shew thâ—mselves Men in behalf of it for by it you shall obtain glory and he ordered them to take unto them all that observed the Law and to revenge the wrong of their People to Recompence fully the Heathen and to take heed to the Commandment of the Law Upon this followed the Wars of the Maccabees in which they never pretended to any special Authority from any Prophet On the contrary their History tells us That they laid up the Stones of the Altar that had been prophaned by Idolatry in a convenient place till a Prophet should come to shew what should be done with them Thus then we see Subjects defend themselves against their Prince when he designed a total Subversion of their Religion and for this they vouched no immediate nor extraordinary Authority But to give this Argument its entire force We must next see upon what reason we may conclude that this was a justifiable and by consequence an imitable Action As for this tho I think it is scarce necessary to enlarge much on an Apology for the Maccabees their Wars having born such a venerable sound in a course of so many Ages yet to pursue the matter fully we find a Prophesy concerning them in Daniel which is by all Commentators Ancient and Modern applied to them that alone seems to import a full Iustification of them after mention is made of a King that should defile the Sanctuary and take away the daily Sacrifice and set upon it the abomination that maketh desolate to that this is added and such as do wickedly against the Covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries but the People that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits And they that understand among the People shall instruct many yet they shall fall by the Sword and by flame by captivity and by spoil many days And when they shall fall they shall be holpen with a little help but many shall cleave to them with flatteries As these words import a plain Prodiction in terms of approbation of the Wars of the Maccabees so all the Commentators that I have yet seen without exception do apply them to them There are also many Commentators who do apply likewise to them those words of the Epistle to the Hebrews Who out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight and turned to flight the Armies of the Aliens And there is a particular resemblance observed between these words and some Phrases that occur in the Books of the Maccabees Yet I confess those words are not so express as the former nor are they so Universally expounded in this sense But to conclude this matter The Authority of those Books as it is an Argument of full force against those who acknowledge them to be Canonical so since by the Articles of our Church these Books are to be read for example of Life and for the Instruction of manners tho it doth not apply them to establish any Doctrine and since we read so many Lessons taken out of the Apocrypha These must be acknowledged to be Books of great tho not of Divine Authority And tho according to
the Church of Rome had enervated the whole Ancient Discipline and had turn'd it all to be a secret practice between the Priest and the Penitent in Auricular Confession and that Dispensations and Commutations were brought in by which men know the price of sin and how to buy it off that all of the sudden this Church could not be brought back to the Primitive Constitutions tho we see that our Reformers did sincerely intend it and prepared a Model for it But our bad Circumstances have made that this great and good Design could never be effected since that time for which we still continue to make a publick Acknowledgment in the Preface to the Office of Commination But after all How faulty soever particular persons may be in not obeying the Rules of the Church the Clergy are obliged to Catechise the Youth and when they are duly prepared for it they ought to offer them to the Bishop to be Confirm'd and this ought to precede their being at first admitted to the Sacrament If this is not duly and punctually executed it is the fault of those who fail in their Duty and one of the best and most effectual Answer that we can make to this prejudice is to endeavour to do in this point what lies in us towards the Instructing and Confirming the Youth As for the Scandals of men's lives much more certainly might be done both in the way of private admonition and publick censure than is done so here the best answer will still return upon us We ought to do all that is incumbent on us for watching over those that are committed to our Care for correcting their Manners for making the incorrigible asham'd and for cutting off corrupt and gangreen'd Members that they spread not their Infection to those that are yet found Yet if another man fail of his Duty that can never excuse any one from doing his and so it can never be a just ground of separation Some except to our habit as a Ceremony taken from the Service of the Jewish Temple and this tho it is now esteem'd the least considerable of all the exceptions made against us yet was that which first began those unhappy disputes that have since increased so fatally upon us The chief thing stood upon at first was That it was a compliance with the Supestitions of Popery but that has been consider'd already to which I shall in this place only add this one Consideration more to justify those Compliances in matters that are in themselves innocent That in Fact the body of this Nation was in a very few years brought off from Popery to which it is highly probable that those small Compliances contributed not a little so that the single reason upon which this was at first oppos'd was the chief Reason for its continuance All publick Functions are perform'd in some special Habits and White being among both Greeks and Romans the colour that expressed Ioy it bearing also a Signification of Purity and Innocence it was natural for the Primitive Christians both to put such as were newly baptized in white and also to have Divine Offices perform'd by persons habited in the same manner It is true Popery had brought in much Superstition upon all this the several parcels of the habits were deliver'd with particular Devotions in the conferring of Orders which imported a peculiar Virtue and Sanctity to be in them and they were to be us'd with such constant Devotions that did all signify that a Sacramental Virtue was believ'd to be lodg'd in them Now all this was taken away by our Reformers only for the decency of Worship in compliance with Ancient Practices they retain'd the Habits themselves and since the greatest Bodies of those who divide from us have us'd Black Gowns which is both a peculiar form of a Habit and in a special Colour that signifi'd Gravity it will not be easy to find a good reason why a peculiar Habit in a Colour that expressed both Innocence and Joy might not be as well us'd If we pretended that Innocence is by this convey'd to us here were a just exception but we using it only as a decent Habit that is enjoin'd by Law it is enough to justify our Obedience if the thing is lawful and it is enough to justify the Law if this Robe was Ancient and have in it a proper expression of that temper of mind in which we ought to be when we go to perform Divine Offices And thus it appears on how weak grounds the first disputes concerning Rituals among us were begun upon the progess of which and the effects that have followed upon them one can never reflect without remembring those words of St. Iames Behold how great a matter a little fire hath kindled Some have excepted to our observing Holy-days as if this was an Invasion upon that Liberty which the Fourth Commandment gives for Work all the six days of the Week and as if Men pretended to an Authority to make any parcels of time Holy Some quarrel with the days for the honor of the Apostles as if this was a remnant of Popery others except even to the observance of Christmas and Ascension-day together with those other days that relate to our Saviour himself as if the observing them were a reproaching the Apostles with want of regard to the Person of Christ which we pretend to supply But those words of six days Labour are not to be understood as a perpetual Command otherwise God himself had appointed a violation of this by all those other days of Rest that were enjoined the Iews all which were called Sabbaths Every seventh year was to be one continued Sabbath Therefore the Importance of the 4 th Commandment is only this That when that Precept was first given God left Mankind free for six days and only reserved a seventh for Rest and Religion but that did not limit himself nor all other Lawful Powers from making further Impositions for Rest and Religious Exercises It is also certain that Men cannot make a Day Holy in one sense that is affix a special Purity or particular Virtue to any one day but the larger sense of a Holy Day being a day dedicated to Religious Exercises it seems to be in the power of every Society to appoint such Anniversary days as well as to appoint special times of Fasting and Thanksgiving upon one particular day and for one turn for since all do agree that this may be done for once the Arguments from the Fourth Commandment and against appointing a holy day are out of doors so it remains only to consider whether Anniversary Days may be appointed We see the Iews during the seventy years of the Captivity observ'd the Fast of the Fourth the Fifth the Seventh and Teâ—nth Month and the Prophet expostulating in the Name of God upon that Head does neither except to the Imposition nor the fixing Anniversaries but only complains of their being ill kept which plainly imports