Man else can give an instance of any Church in the World from the Apostles times to these our days but what had a set Form of Prayers for though all have not used the same yet there is no Church but has used some Form or other 4. You condemn the Example and Practice of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ himself for it is evident that he himself made use of a Form of Prayer Matt. 26. v. 44. E. D. I will not undertake now to return you a particular Answer to what you have here alledged but shall onely say that Praying by a Form has by experience been found a hindrance and obstacle to true fervent Prayer in the Spirit and to deal plainly with you this seems to be one great reason why the Ministers of the Church of England are so dull and ignorant in this point and so little acquainted with spiritual Prayer F. P. I am not a little surpriz'd at this your Answer for having but just now proved to you that the Prophets and Apostles the Holy Catholick Church and Christ himself made use of Forms of Prayer you after all this come and tell me that Praying by Forms is a hindrance to Praying by the Spirit which is as much as to say that neither the prophets Apostles the Catholick Church nor Christ himself prayed by the Spirit because they made use of a set Form which is a near step to Blasphemy E. D. I did not design to say so much neither though I must confess that Praying by a set Form seems to me for I find it so by experience to be a great Obstacle to true spiritual Prayer F. P. Though it may seem so to you yet your Charity should lead you rather to question your own Judgment than to pass so rash a Censure upon the Saints of the Old and New Testament yea upon Christ himself besides you ought to be very wary of exposing your self to the derision of all men by supposing your self wiser than all the Prophets and Apostles than the whole Christain Church and Christ himself since it is most certain that they made use of Forms and not onely so but our Saviour himself prescribed a Form of Prayer to his Disciples commanding them when they prayed to use the same which he would never have done had it indeed been so great a hindrance to servent Prayer by the Spirit as you pretend E. D. If it be not a hindrance to others I am sure 't is so to me F. P. I hope I shall understand you better if you please to explain to me what you mean by praying by the Spirit E. D. I suppose no true Christian can be ignorant of what Praying by the Spirit is and therefore I can't see any necessity there is of explaining a thing so obvious to the understanding of all F. P. Since you seem unwilling to give me your meaning I am very free to give you mine to pray by the Spirit is as I take it to pray by the help and assistance of the Holy Ghost so as to have our hearts and minds deeply affected with the sense of our wants and all our Faculties and Affections inflamed with the Love of God and stedfast Faith in his Promises E. D. I perceive we do not disagree at all in the meaning of the words F. P. I am glad we are so far agreed for it is evident that according to this meaning of the words a set Form of Prayer is so far from being a hindrance that indeed it is a great help to fervent praying by the Spirit and on the contrary Extemporary Prayer must needs be a great impediment to it To convince you of this I desire you would consider that when we pray by a Form we have more time to study the import of our Requests and to weigh and examine every Petition with greater attention we have more leisure to understand and discern our wants and to present them before God we can the better prepare and dispose our selves for so holy a Duty and in a word we can be more intent and recollected to improve the motions of the Spirit having nothing else to doe but to fix our mind wholly on God whilst we are praising of him and have our hearts suitably affected with the things we pray for Whereas in Extemporary Prayer the mind of the Minister or whoever else it is that prayeth is taken up in hunting for expressions to utter his thoughts and for fear of being put to a stand he is forced to follow not the motions of the Spirit or the dictate of his understanding but the fluency of an acquired habit of Praying and by this means doth often begin where he should end and end where he should begin And those very men that speak so much against the necessary and edifying Repetitions that we use in our Common-prayer do very frequently in their Extemporary-prayer repeat the same things over and over again though it may be in different expressions And as for the People that hear a Minister pray an Extemporary-prayer as they do not know before-hand what he will say they must first attend to what he saith in the next place they must consider whether what he prayeth be according to the Word of God and fit for them to join with but whilst the Hearer is thus employ'd he that prays is got to another thing and leaves his Hearers behind to overtake him as they best can which according to my apprehension makes the way of praying extempore so difficult and uneasie that it is morally impossible for both Minister and People to pray so devoutly or at least so understandingly as they ought to doe If you please well to weigh and consider what I have here offered I question not but you will be convinced that a set Form of Prayer is so far from being a hindrance that it is a great furtherance to zealous praying by the Spirit whereas the Prayer you are so much taken with is indeed a great obstacle to it E. D. However Sir I suppose you will grant me that it is this tying themselves up to a Form that hath made the Ministers of the Church of England so dull and devoid of the Gift of Prayer that they cannot pray without Book and may rather be compar'd to those Dumb dogs whom the Prophet reproves than be look'd upon as Ministers of the Gospel F. P. Though I am a Stranger here yet I have very good reason to believe that I am better acquainted with the Ministers of the Church of England than you are and am better inform'd of their parts and abilities than you can be for I have made it my business to be acquainted with them not maliciously to slander and abuse them but to the end I might the better understand and value them and profit by them And if you will give me leave to speak my Judgment which is not grounded upon hear-say but upon good knowledge of and converse with
THE PRINCIPLES OF A PEOPLE Stiling themselves Philadelphians Discovered in their nicest Points and Matters accurately handled shewing their Rise Continuance and Tenents in Doctrin and manner of Proceeding c. ALSO A Curious Discourse between an English Dissenter and French Protestant by way of Dialogue in Vindication of the Church of England against Novelties in Religion LONDON Printed for W. Whitwood at the Rose and Crown in Little-Britain Price 6d 1697. The Principles of a People stiling themselves Philadelphians c. THere has lately appeared in England especially at London the great Metropolis of this Kingdom a Sect or certain number of People who attribute to themselves an extraordinary Sanctity pretending to Revelation of glorious things to come in their Church and to be very near at hand Wherefore finding the Discourse of them has made a great noise and is much talked of I have thought fit among other matters by way of Essay to give a Light into their Principles considering several who have heard of them are ignorant of what they pretend to and that from their own Writings and Sayings They seem to derive themselves from a Sect long since started up calling themselves the Family of Love now stilling themselves Philadelphians or the Little Virgin Church of Philadelphia waiting for and expecting the Kingdom of Christ and inviting all People to come into their Congregation absurdly intimating as if Salvation was no where else so sure to be obtained promising themselves to grow by degrees into a glorious Church adorned with Purity and Holiness a Virgin Church undefiled and this in some of their Writings is said to be revealed to them by the Holy One However they keep up much Mirth and Jollity sing Hymns of their own making and would make the World believe they are extraordinarily gifted above others and now hear their Principal Opinions and Tenents They hold there shall be a total and full Redemption by Christ but that it is a hidden Mystery not to be understood without the Revelation of the Holy Spirit That the Holy Spirit is now at hand to reveal it to all loving Enquirers and holy Seekers and that at present the Completion of such a Redemption is withheld and obstructed by the Apocaliptical Seals wherefore as the Spirit of God shall open Seal after Seal so shall this Redemption come in time to be revealed not only particularly but also universally That in this gradual opening the Mystery of Redemption in Christ doth consist the unsearchable Wisdom of God which continually may Reveal Truth and new things to those that worthily search after them In order to which the Ark of the Testimony shall be open in Heaven before the World shall end and the living Testimony contained therein shall be unsealed That the presence of the Divine Ark will constitute the Philadelphian Church and where-ever that is there of necessity must the Ark be and that the unsealing of the Living Testimony within the Ark of the Lord must begin the promulgation of the everlasting Gospel of the Kingdom That the proclaiming of the Testimony of the Kingdom will be done as with the sound of a Trumpet to give notice of it to all the Nations upon Earth and particularly to the Professors of the Christian Religion because it will be all ended with the power of acting Wonders and Miracles so that there shall be an Authoritative Decision immediatly given forth from Christ for the putting an end to all Controversies relating to the True Church and this Decision will be by the actual Sealing of the Members of the True Church with the name of God giving them a Commission to Act by Virtue of the same and this new Name say they will distinguish them from the Seven Thousand Names of Babylon but however the Election and Preparation of this Church is to be after a secret and hidden manner as in his Minority David was approved before his other Brethren and anointed by the Prophet Samuel and though by that means appointed King yet did he not presently enjoy it in its outward Possession till after Saul's Death Of the Stem of David afterwards arose a Church and another Virgin Church is yet to arise from the same Stem that has not known Man but as yet not Born and shall be ignorant of Humane Constitution And if it be yet to be Born then some considerable time will be required before it can outstrip its Minority and come to considerable Age or Maturity The Birth say they of the Virgin Church was visionary Tippified to St. John by the great wonder in Heaven a Woman bringing forth her First-born which was caught up to the Throne of God Revel 12. For as a Virgin Conceived and brought forth Christ after the Flesh so say they a Virgin is designed by God to bring forth the First-born after the Spirit who shall be silled with the Holy Ghost and with Power and the Virgin hereto designed must be of a pure Spirit and a Radiant Body purged from Sin and Dead Works impregnated with the Holy Ghost c. The Church so brought forth shall be Sealed with the Mark of the Divine Name and have the gift of Miracles and Power beyond whatever hath been so that all Nations thereby shall be brought unto it and so it shall be the Catholick Church according to the utmost Latitude and genuine sense of the Word and Signification It also must be an anointed Church whereby it may truly bear the Nature of Christ or Christian being with him Anointed to the Priestly Prophetical and Kingly Dignity and hence there will be no Impositions or Bonds but the Holy Unction among the new Born Spirits will be all in all and this Catholick anointed Church must be truly holy as Christ himself is holy so worthily bearing the Name of the Lord our Holiness or the Lord our Righteousness That until there be such a Church prepared on the Earth so Holy so Catholick and so Anointed that is without Spot or Blemish Adorned as a Bride to meet her Bridegroom Christ will not personally descend to solemnize this Marriage say they nor present it to his Father but when such a Bridal Church shall be made ready then he will no longer delay his Personal coming There is not continue they at this day visible on Earth a Holy Catholick Anointed and Bridal Church all the Churches and Professions being found light when weighed in the Ballance therefore they cannot be termed this Church but out of them a new and glorious Church shall arise up in whom there shall be no fault to be found like as he findeth none with Philadelphia then shall the Glory of God and the Lamb be so rested upon it as the Clouds on the Tippical Tabernacle that it shall be called the Tabernacle Church and the Tabernacle of Wisdom Tho' this Philadelphian Church is not yet known in visibility yet it may lie hid at this time in the Womb of the Morning though time will bring it
into visibility as coming out of the Wilderness in this present Age then will it go on to Multiply and Propagate universally not only to the number of the First-born but also to the Remnant of the Seed against which the Dragon shall make continual War wherefore the Spirit of David must most eminently revive in this Church and especially in the most Eminent Members of it who shall have Power given them to resist and overcome the Dragon and his Angels This will be standing up of Michael the Great Prince of Israel Egypt figures out the servile condition under which each one of Abraham's Seed doth groan but a Prophet and Prophetical Generation will the most High yet raise up who with Spiritual Weapons will deliver his People For Christ before his own distinct and Personal appearance will first appear and represent himself in some close Vessel to be a Guide to the rest to bring them unto the Land of promise the new Created State whereby they shall make away to the Redeemed of the Lord to return to Mount Sion but none shall stand in any considerable Office under God but such as are tryed Stones after the Pattern and Similitude of the Chief Corner Stone Christ This will be a Fiery Tryal which but a few will be able to pass wherefore those that wait for the Appearance of the Visible Church are strictly charged to hold fast that which they have and wait together in unity of pure Love praying in the Holy Ghost according to the Apostolick Pattern that they may be sent forth to multiply more universally As for this Tryal say they will be of absolute necessity to every one in particular and to all in general for the Cementing and Constituting the True Philadelphian Church by clearing away all the presiding Infirmities of Nature and burning up all the Hay-stubble and Dross which they may have added to the Work of the Lord for in the pure Church nothing must remain but what can endure the Fiery Tryal for as a Refiner will the Lord purifie the Sons and Daughters of it that they may offer unto him an Offering in perfect Righteousness Though say they the Operation of the Holy Spirit in the Waters may contend for along with many Evils and Infirmities but nevertheless if it be kept warm and watched to it cannot but work out a perfect Cure and bring about a full and total Redemption from the Earth wherefore it is required on our part to suffer the Spirit of burning to do upon us the Refining Work Fanning us with his Fiery Breath and searching every part within us until all be pure and clear and we arrive at the fixed Body from whence the Wonders are to flow out and this Body continue they will be the Sealing character of the Philadelphian Church upon this Body will be fixed the Urim and Thummim Light and Perfection that are to be appropriated to the Priests of the Melchizedekian Order whose Descent is not to be accounted in the Genealogy of that Creation which is under the Fall but in another Genealogy which is from the Restauration Hence they will have a deep Search and a Divine Insight to the secret things of God and will be able to Prophecy in a clear Ground not darkly or enegmatically but will know what is couched in the first Originality of all Beings and in the Eternal Archetys of all Nature and so will be capable to bring them forth according to the Divine Councils and Ordinances The mighty Spirit of Cyrus is appointed to lay the Foundation of the third Temple and to support its Building There are say they such Characters and Marks whereby the pure Virgin Church so Founded shall be certainly known and distinguished from others and whereby the true sound and union of the Holy Ghost shall be discerned from that which is Low False and Counterfeit for there must be a Manifestation of the Spirit whereby to edifie and raise up the Church suitable to the Resurrection of Christ This Manifestation therefore say they must be in the Absoluteness of Power as well as in the Beauty of Holiness to bring down Heaven upon Earth and represent here the New Jerusalem State In order to which Spirits that are thus pure Begotten and Born of God can ascend to the Jerusalem above and receive there such a Mission whereby they shall be empowered to bring down its Glory and none but those that are Risen with Christ in Regeneration can ascend and having received of his Glory can descend again to communicate the same and to be his Representatives upon the New Earth as subordinate under him But he that is Ascended and Glorified has made himself as it were our Debtor and will not be wanting to furnish and qualifie our High and Principal Instruments who shall be most humble for the drawing to them the scatter'd Flock and gathering them into one Fold out of all Nations Languages and Kindred Therefore there should be a Holy Emulation and Ambition stired up among all Lovers of Jesus that they may be the first Fruits to Him that is risen and be made Principal Agents for him and with him that they may be if possible of the First Born of the New Jerusalem Mother That all Lovers of Jesus and true waiters for the Kingdom in Spirit under what Profession soever say they or Forms dispersed ought to be numbred amongst the Philadelphian Spirits to which this Message appertains They own the Society is not the Church but a Preparatory of such as wait in the unity of Spirit for it Glorious Appearance and Manifestation This and much more they deliver but when all they can say iâ— done the Purity of the Worship in the National Establish'd Church and the soundness of its Doctrine ought to be adher'd to rather than new fangles and uncertainties and whimsies A curious Discourse of whose Discipline I shall now give you in a Dialogue between an English Dissenter and a French Protestant wherein many curious Points are nicely handled and controverted greatly for the Edification of the Reader A Friendly Discourse BETWEEN AN ENGLISH Dissenter AND A FRENCH Protestant Engl. Dissenter I Understand Sir you are a French Protestant I am heartily glad to see you Fr. Protestant You are truly inform'd Sir I am a French Protestant E. D. Pray Sir in what Condition are the poor Protestants in France F. P. When I left France their Condition was very deplorable and for any thing I hear it continues so still E. D. I am griev'd at my heart for them for I am so much one with them as to their Religion for which they are fo cruelly Persecuted that I cannot but extreamly Pity them F. P. Then I suppose Sir you are a Protestant E. D. Yes Sir and of the same Judgment as you are in matters of Religion F. P. I am glad to understand so much Like we say loves like E. D. Pray Sir how long have you been in England F. P. Almost
these five Years E. D. I do not doubt then but that you are a good Proficient by this time in our English Tongue F. P. Truly Sir I have nothing to boast of in this regard for whether it be the hardness of the English Tongue or the thickness of my Scull I know not but so it is that I can onely make a shift to speak some broken English E. D. Don't say so Sir methinks you speak very intelligibly and proper enough for a Foreigner I can understand you very well and if you please to enter with me for this is my House I shall be glad to have some further discourse with you F. P. Sir I accept of your kindness and if you please to shew me the way I shall follow you E. D. Sir you are very heartily welcome I am glad to see you here be pleas'd to take a Seat Pray Sir how do you like our Countrey F. P. Extraordinary well Sir and were it not for the unhappy Divisions that are amongst you especially in matters of Religion I should have reason to believe this with the adjoining Islands to be the Insulae Fortunatoe or happy Islands of the Antients E. D. I perceive Sir you are sensible then of the Divisions that are amongst us F. P. Ay Sir I am but too well inform'd of them and indeed very sadly concern'd to see that Protestants cannot agree amongst themselves which certainly casts a great blemish upon the Reformation E. D. So it doth indeed Sir and you may thank the Church of England for it F. P. Why the Church of England Sir E. D. Because 't is She has refused all terms of Accommodation that we Protestant Dissenters as they call us have offer'd to her F. P. I never heard that she had refused any But pray Sir be pleas'd to let me know what those terms are that you have offer'd her and she hath refused E. D. We have propounded to her the laying aside of the Common-prayer and parting with her Ceremonies and for other things we might probably comply with them F. P. But Sir are you sure that what you demand is reasonable and may justly be granted E. D. Without doubt she may and she ought and she can do no less for us than to wave her Popish Common-prayer-book and cast off her superstitious Ceremonies F. P. Pray Sir let me beg of you to acquaint me what you have to object against the Common-prayer and afterwards if the time gives leave I shall be glad to hear what you have to alledge against our Church-Ceremonies E. D. That I will Sir and shall do it the more freely because I should be glad to undeceive you for I perceive by your discourse you are one of that Party F. P. To deal sincerely with you Sir I am a Member of the Church of England but withall a true friend to Dissenters and I hope you will be so too if in Answering your Objections I can convince you that the Common-prayer of the Church is very good and edifying and her Ceremonies lawfull and decent E. D. I shall consider what you have to say F. P. But Sir it lies at your door to begin by propounding your Objections against the Common-prayer E. D. I have many things to object against that Idol And in the first place I think it ought to be taken away because it is unlawfull to have a set Form of Prayer impos'd upon the Church F. P. Either you or I Sir are strangely mistaken in this point for I must own that my Judgment always hath been that it is not onely lawfull to have a set Form of Prayer in the Church but what is more that no Church can well be without one E. D. Pray how so Sir For if I be not greatly mistaken you speak now against the General sense of the French Protestants for I never heard that they had any set Forms of Prayer F. P. I perceive Sir you have been ill inform'd concerning these matters for the truth is we French Protestants have a Common-prayer-book which was compos'd by Calvin himself and therein we agree with the concurring practise of the Universal Church for I never read or heard of any Church in the World but had a set Form of Prayer so that for you to oppose it is no less than to deny the Authority Testimony and Practise of all the Saints of the Old and New Testaments both Prophets and Apostles and the express Command of our Saviour himself and in a word Sir you condemn the general sense and practise of Christianity and the Holy Catholick Church E. D. I hear what you say Sir and expect you should prove it F. P. Nay more than this you contradict the Example of our great Lord and Master the Founder of our Religion and the Author and Finisher of our Faith E. D. This is a high Charge indeed but pray be pleas'd to make it out F. P. That I will Sir First I say that you contradict the Authority and Practice of the Prophets in the Old Testament forasmuch as it is evident that they made use of set Forms of Prayer and had a particular Command so to doe to be convinc'd of this be pleas'd to reade the 26th Chapter of Deuteronomy from Verse 13. to 16. and the 14th Chapter of Hosea beginning at the second Verse Take with you words and turn unto the Lord and say unto him c. and the 2d of Joel Verse 17. Let the Priests the Ministers of the Lord weep between the Porch and the Altar and let them say Spare thy people O Lord c. Secondly You contradict the Command of our Lord and Saviour and the Practice of the holy Apostles which I prove from the 11th Chapter of St. Luke the 1st and 2d Verses where we reade that one of our Saviour's Disciples asked him in the Name of all his Companions to teach them to pray as John had taught his Disciples whereupon our Saviour addressing himself to all his Disciples said When ye pray say Our Father c. From whence I infer these two things First That the Apostles had a set Form of Prayer prescrib'd them by Christ himself for it is impossible to order any Form in more plain and express terms than our Saviour makes use of in recommending this Prayer to his Disciples Secondly I conclude from hence that the Disciples made use of this Form which will not be question'd if we consider the great desire they shewed to obtain this Form of Prayer from our Saviour and the readiness wherewith they always obeyed the Commands he laid upon them So that this cannot but be a sufficient proof to any thinking Man that when they prayed they made use of this Form or Prescription their blessed Lord and Master had at their request given them with this express Command When you pray say Our Father c. 3. You oppose the General Practice of Christendom and of the Holy Catholick Church because neither your self nor any
the English Liturgy and antient Discipline was like to be restor'd He alledgeth another Testimony of Monsieur Gache's then Minister of Chearenton one of the most eloquent and zealous Preachers the French Reformed Churches ever had who in one of his Letters declares That he had read the English Liturgy and had been wonderfully edified by it He produceth also a Letter of Monsieur du Bosc the Minister of Cane an extraordinary Person for Learning Eloquence and true Piety where he declares That he as much approves of a minister performing Divine Service after the way of the Church of England as he that officiates according to the manner of the French Reformed Churches Besides these he sets down the Testimony of Monsieur Bochart the Minister of Alancon a Man of great Repute and Learning who declares he found the Liturgy to be very good and well order'd as also that of Monsieur Goyon Minister of Bordeaux one of the most greave and learned Divines of all the Province of Aquitain and greatly versed in Antiquity in these words There is not one Minister saith he in all the Province of Aquitain that thinks his Conscience offended by using of the English Liturgy and declares that those people dream and dote who are of that Opinion and those Gentlemen amongst you do extreamly wrong us when they quote us for to foment their Schism which cannot but be very scandalous But that I may not be further tedious I shall refer you to the foresaid Book of Dr. Durel where you will find enough to convince you that all our worthy Divines such as Peter du Moulin Monsieur Drelincourt Monsieur Daillé Monsieur Amyraut c. have express'd no less Esteem for the English Liturgy than any Son of the Church of England ever did To all which Testimonies I will add that of Spanhemius a French Divine and sometimes Preacher and Divinity-Reader at Geneva in his Epistle Dedicatory to the Lord Primate of Ireland prefixed to the Third Part of his Dubia Evangelica where commending the Publick Worship of God in the Church of England he declares that the like is scarcely to be found elsewhere E. D. According to what you tell me I cannot believe your French Divines to be Calvinists for I am confident Calvin was not of their opinion with regard to the English Liturgy F. P. To the end you may be able to judge what Calvin's opinion was about this matter I shall refer you to a passage of his in an Epistle Dedicatory to the Duke of Somerset Lord Protector during the minority of King Edward VI. which will convince you I suppose that he was of the same judgment with the rest of our French Divines his words are these Quoad formam Precum Rituum Ecclesiasticorum valde probo ut certa illa exstet à qua Pastoribus discedere in functione sua non liceat tam ut consulatur quorundam simplicitati imperitioe quam ut certius ita constet omnium inter se Ecclesiarum consensus postremò etiam ut obviam eatur desultoriae quorundam levitati qui novationes quasdam affectant Which may be englished thus As touching the form of Prayer and Ceremonies of the Church I do extremely approve that it be set and fixed so as it may not be lawfull for the Ministers to recede from it in their function as well to help and assist the simplicity and unskilfulness of some as to give a fuller evidence of the consent and uniformity of all the several Congregations and finally that by this means the changeable humour of those that affect novelties may be check'd and obviated E. D. I always thought Calvin had been of the same judgment that we are though you would seem to persuade me to the contrary But to make an end of our Discourse at this time I shall onely ask you one question more and then I have done which is this What your French Divines judge concerning us who for Conscience sake refuse to make use of the Liturgy in our Assemblies or to frequent the Congregations of those that do F. P. What you desire you may find in the forementioned Discourse of Dr. Durel where he sets down this Letter of the Reverend Monsieur Goyon Minister at Bordeaux which is thus translated SIR I Have received your Letter with an extreme satisfaction as having been informed thereby both of your own condition and of that of the Church of England I must confess that we have been strangely deceived in this Countrey by what hath been related to us touching the English Presbyterians I did always imagine them to be a People that followed the same order we observe in our Churches of France but it seems they are very far from it The Description you give of them shews them to be a strange Sect not fit to be tolerated and I conceive that the best remedy of this disorder and confusion would be to reduce them all to the Episcopal Government for I hold it impossible that the Church of England should ever be quiet or flourish otherwise The Convocation comes in a very fit time for this purpose and I question not but that Assembly will take order about it which will be a great satisfaction to me for otherwise you will be continually in trouble and the Adversaries will take advantage thereby either to blemish and slander our Religion or to contrive and foment Plots against the State I beseech the Lord that he would be pleased to rule and govern that Holy Assembly and pour his Blessings upon their Determinations for the Advancement of his Kingdom E. D. Though this Man saith too much yet he saith nothing in particular to the point of our refusing to reade the Common-prayer in our Assemblies and to frequent the Churches where it is read F. P. If you think that Monsieur Goyon doth not speak home enough to the matter in question be pleased to reade what Ludovicus Capellus Divinity-Professor at Saumur saith to it in the Body of Divinity published by him and his two Collegues Moses Amyraldus and Joshua Placoeus in which Book this Learned Man having at large proved the Lawfulness Vse and Necessity of a set Form of Liturgy in opposition to the then newly started Directory which the Presbyterians endeavour'd to establish instead of the Common-prayer It is also worthy our noting that he maintain'd a publick Dispute on this Subject in the Divinity-School wherein he defended the Common-prayer of the Church of England as good sound and expedient against the Cavils and Objections of the Presbyterians even at that very time when the Opposers of set Forms were in the greatest power in this Kingdom and that it was generally believed the Liturgy of the Church of England would never have been restored E. D. But what saith he in particular of us for if you don't tell me I shall scarce take the pains of reading over his Book to inform my self F. P. I am unwilling to give you his
words because I fear you 'll find some of his Expressions too sharp and cutting E. D. As long as I suppose he was no English Tory I shall take all he saith of us in good part F. P. Towards the end of his first Thesis he saith Vnum superest examinandum c. which in English speaks thus There remains yet one thing to be enquir'd into viz. Whether there ought to be a certain set Form of Liturgy consisting of express words or Whether it ought rather to be left to the will of the Pastor to use what words or form he pleaseth and this because of a new Generation of late Upstarts which will admit of no certain and prescribed Form of Liturgy neither in the publick Assemblies of the Church nor in private Devotions but maintain that all ought to be left to the pleasure of Ministers and the Heads of Families And in his sixth Thesis he declares That the several Authors of the Reformation had every where compos'd and prescrib'd several set Forms of Liturgy and that the same were still made use of by the Reformed Churches in their several Nations and Districts with happy success and edification till of late there arose in England a froward scrupulous and over nice not to say superstitious Generation of men who thought good not onely to blame and find fault with but wholly to abrogate and cast off the Liturgy hitherto used in their Church instead whereof they have introduc'd their Directory as they call it He adds further That the Reasons and Causes you pretend to have for abolishing the Common-prayer were levissimoe nulliusque pene momenti very slight and scarce of any moment at all And in Thesis 28. he saith Certainly nothing else has stirred up these men so eagerly to reject all manner of set Forms of Prayer but partly the desire of innovating and corrupting to the end that under the specious pretext of Liberty to pray and prophesie they might introduce all manner of Sects and Errors into the Church and partly their false and prejudicate opinion persuading themselves that we are now arriv'd at that time wherein as in the days of the Apostles the Spirit of Prophecy of Prayer and Supplications is to be poured forth upon the present Church according to that of Joel 2.28 and Zach. 12. v. 10. which is the common and most pestilent Error of all the Phanaticks concerning the fending of the H. Ghost by Christ c. And drawing up his whole Dissertation into certain Conclusions he saith Thesis 49. The use of these set Forms of Prayer cannot justly be condemned forasmuch as the same may be always and every where profitable and convenient and because they have been receiv'd by the universal Christian Church for these 1300 years all the World over except onely among these new-fangled Independents so he calls all those who reject the use of set Forms And Thesis 50. he adds further So that the perversness peevishness and superstition or rather the malapert and obstinate wilfulness of these men is both prodigious and sensless who out of a mere humour or desire of lawless licentiousness or out of design to introduce confusion into the Church do superstitiously condemn and compare to an Idol forbidden by the fourth Commandment a thing which in it self is most innocent the use of it edifying and the practice of it most convenient which has long obtained in the Universal Church was never yet condemned by any Church and which all the Churches of God make use of with the greatest benefit that may be which yet these men most foolishly would have all to forbear and abhor And lastly in 51 Thesis he saith And amongst the rest those are most to be detested who either will not allow the Lord's Prayer to be said at all or will have it said alone and not in conjunction with any other Prayer whether publick or private and who think it a great sin for any godly man to be present either in the Church at Common-prayer or in any Family at private Devotions where any set Form is used and hold this for a just cause of Separation from the Church lest they should be Partakers of the Sins of those who use set Forms and thereby become defiled being not unlike to those of whom the Prophet Isaith speaks chap. 6. v. 5. which say Stand by thy self come not near me for I am holier than thou these are a smoak in my nostrils saith the Lord that is they kindle my wrath against them The Lord grant they may return to a better mind Amen And so say I too Amen Amen And thus I take my leave of you in the words of this Learned and most Renowned Divine E. D. But pray why in such haste We have not yet made an end of our dispute for when I told you I had done I meant with your Liturgy Wherefore now it remains that we discourse concerning the Ceremonies of your Church which I intended for a Second Part of this our Conference F. P. If I be not mistaken we have discours'd long enough for once besides I must give you time to consider what hath been said and if you chance to approve it and desire further to discourse me about the Ceremonies of the Church I now assure you that I shall at any time be ready to serve you to the utmost of my power The End of the First Part.